Saturday’s Up North Adventure

After a week of sickness and with the sun shining, we knew it would be good for the whole family to get out of the house. Ryan suggested a hike at Shalda Creek, which we ventured to last October. Here’s a few snapshots from that outing. I sure do miss t-shirt weather!

Early Saturday afternoon, we loaded the boys in the truck with a cooler of snacks and headed out toward the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. It took about 30 minutes to get there, and the blues of Lake Michigan caught my attention immediately.

We turned down a side road to park. The boys wanted to explore around the creek first and look for fish. No fish, but we did see evidence of beavers at work which the boys were pretty excited about. If you noticed above, they found chewed trees last fall too. Owen shouted right away, “Beaver! Beaver! Look mom, beaver!” I love his enthusiasm for little things. It was pretty chilly, but the sunlight coming through the trees felt wonderful.

After exploring a little, we decided to venture toward Lake Michigan. It’s a pretty short walk to the beach and the view never gets old. If I ever need balance in my life, Lake Michigan sure does deliver.

We got right to rock hunting, and I stumbled upon a small Petoskey stone rather quickly. It has such a distinctive pattern and a perfect roundness to it. I wonder if I can polish it pretty to make into a necklace. Stay tuned!

The wind was pretty darn cold coming off the lake, so we did not stick around too long. Ryan did bring along the cooler, so the boys had some snacks. Then we decided to head back (if Ryan’s cold then you know it’s cold ha-ha).

After getting back in the truck, we had two choices: turn around or go off the beaten path. Well, if you know my husband, I am sure you can guess which way we went. So off we headed further into the wilderness. It got a little bumpy, no way our minivan would have handled it. I have a dream to own a white Jeep Gladiator truck. It would be the perfect vehicle for our northern Michigan lifestyle, right? We also play the “jeep” game as family but that’s a whole other story…

We drove a short distance, trying to locate Shell Lake and came upon Elliott Road which is even more off the beaten path. There was a sign that read “Enter at Your Own Risk”. I told Ryan probably not the best idea to drive the truck on so he agreed to park, and we would hike the half mile to the lake. Once we arrived, we realized we could have driven easily, so now we know for next time.

While walking, we heard a very strange noise. It almost sounded like a cat in some kind of distress. We tried to investigate further but coincidentally the noise stopped as we approached closer. Who knows if it was really a bobcat, but there was definitely something out there! Or maybe we’ve been thinking about werewolves too much and it was just some creaking trees;)

After a 10-minute walk, we made it to Shell Lake. While not big like Michigan or Leelanau, it had this serene beauty about it. I would later learn that Shell Lake is one of the only lakes in the area enclosed by wilderness.

The boys wanted to walk out on the ice, so we followed an ice fishing sled track. We didn’t venture too far since we’ve never been on this lake frozen before.

Ryan and I started to get excited about the summer possibilities at this secluded lake: kayaking, fishing, swimming, picnic lunch…I can’t wait for summer!!!

We made it back to the truck, drove around the dreamy chalets at Sugar Loaf (a former ski resort), then headed home. The boys were starving (when are they not?) so Ryan grilled up some hot dogs for them. I poured myself a glass of red and started working on this post while fresh in my mind.

I hope everyone enjoys a wonderful Sunday! Maybe a nap is on order to make up for that lost hour of sleep!