Sleeping Bear Dune, on the shore of Lake Michigan, is one of those things that looks like fun … from a distance.
Right up there on the bluff, since that is what it really is, one quickly gets a sense of what a crazy idea this is, at least for a still-chunky 66-year-old with artificial hips.
It’s beautiful, it’s fascinating, it’s captivating, but it’s 460 feet down to the lake and 1,460 feet back up, what with all the backsliding in the sand.
Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll take my pictures and move along.
At Sleeping Bear Dunes National Shoreline, they might let you go down the steep slope to the lake 400 feet below, but getting back up is going to be tough. Also, in the artwork, I get the guy at risk if the water level is high in Lake Michigan, but for the other stick figure, is that a warning arrow or is it projectile vomiting? Not sure.This gives an idea to the steepness, perhaps, but not to the sheer length of the drop to Lake Michigan.And it goes down and down and down, with no good sense of distance, to my eye. Thanks, but no thanks.Over the hill is the trail to the actual Sleeping Bear Dune, which is but a shadow of its former glory. At this point I’m tired of walking on sand.Be sure to read the 1935 entry. Oops. Bye, bye, bear!None of these photo do justice to the steepness of the sandy slope. If it were rock I’d call it a cliff, but it’s just sand. This shows the viewing platform off to one side.
Two Sheeps to the Wind 