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Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is a United States National Lakeshore located along the northwest coast of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan in Leelanau and Benzie counties near Empire, Michigan. The park covers a 35-mile-long stretch of Lake Michigan's eastern coastline, as well as North and South Manitou islands. This Northern Michigan park was established primarily because of its outstanding natural features, including forests, beaches, dune formations, and ancient glacial phenomena. In 2011, the area won the title of "The Most Beautiful Place in America" from Good Morning America. In 2014, a section of the park was named the Sleeping Bear Dunes Wilderness by the United States Congress. |
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Lee Duquette photographed
the map shown below, but he did not really read it, and Karen Duquette
did not even see it, or they would NOT have climbed this dune, or perhaps
they would have only climbed the first sand dune. They just did not
realize what they were getting themselves into. The sign said it was
an hour's hike to the steep bluffs 400 feet above Lake Michigan, but
it took the two RV Gypsies much longer than that. The whole trip was
about 3.5 miles and actually took about 3-1/2 hours, which they later
learned was normal for most people. |
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The two RV Gypsies have climbed
many sand dunes, so they wanted to climb the Sleeping Bear Dunes, located
north of Empire on M-109. Here they found pure, wind-blown sand to climb.
Then they expected to run or roll down the dunes to the picnic area
for a break and some refreshments and then head up the dune again. Then
they planned on driving to Lake Michigan for a swim. But things did
not progress as they thought.
Below: Karen Duquette getting ready to climb what she thought was
the one and only sand dune here. |
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Below: Half way up the dune,
Karen Duquette looked back to check on Lee Duquette, who was busy taking
photos of Karen's butt as she climbed higher. |
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Below: Karen Duquette laid
down to rest while waiting for Lee Duquette to arrive at the top of
the first sand dune. She thought they would relax, roll down the dune
and drive to the lake. She still did not realize what they had gotten
themselves into. |
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Below: Glen Lake and the parking
area from the top of the Dune Climb1. The two RV Gypsies
were already getting tired, but they were happy. The sand was so soft,
that each step left very deep footprints in the sand. |
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When the two RV Gypsies reached
the top of the first dune, people told them there were two more dunes,
so they took a deep breath and decided to keep going. They wanted to
get to Lake Michigan. In reality, that meant climbing and descending
about 8 more steep dunes before getting to the lake, (they still did
NOT realize that), and then they had to repeat the process to get back
to their toad.
Below: Lee Duquette made a joke that they were so tired that they
disappeared into the sand and only their shadows were left. When they
eventually returned, it was almost true. |
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Below: Each dune was steep,
but the steepness does not always show in these photos. Notice how small
people look even though they are not that far away. That is because
of the steepness of these dunes. Every the two RV Gypsies met kept saying
"only two more dunes to go". ------ Liar, Liar,
pants on fire! |
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Below: At the top of the next
dune, the two RV Gypsies could actually turn around and still see Glen
Lake because although they had gone a long distance from there, they
were high up on a dune. |
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Below: The two RV Gypsies
saved energy by taking breaks while on the Dunes Trail to Lake Michigan.
They met a nice man named Ted along the way that was having the same
level of difficulty. But the three of them just would not quit. This
is the most strenuous trail in the park. While only 3.5 miles round
trip, it is all very soft sand and they found that climbing the multiple
dunes along the trail was quite a challenge. This was especially true
because it was a hot, sunny day. They did not bring a lot of water because
they did not know how long this hike was. They really wanted to get
to Lake Michigan though, and tried not to think about how they would
get the energy to walk all the way back to their car. |
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Below: At this point, the
two RV Gypsies met several groups of young people who were
turning around here. But Karen, Lee, and Ted decided not to be quitters.
Notice the sign below telling people that they should be of adequate
fitness level in order to continue the still-to-go 1.3 miles
more to Lake Michigan. (What defines adequate ??? ) This sign
should be at the beginning of the trail. |
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Below: The two RV Gypsies
could got a glimpse of Lake Michigan in the distance, so they thought
this would be their last dune. NOT true! |
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Below: Lee and Karen Duquette
got to the top of that dune and realized they were not even close to
Lake Michigan yet. |
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Below: The texture of the
sand changed and there lots of prickly tufts of vegetation, so Karen
Duquette put her water sandals back on. |
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Below: There's no
help for the weary! Miles of trail could be seen behind Karen Duquette. |
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Below: The two RV Gypsies
never figured out what the numbers on the posts meant, because they
went from 16 to 17 to 18 and then to 23. At first Lee Duquette thought
it meant how many tenths of a mile to the lake, but that sure wa not
the truth. |
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Below: Karen Duquette was
so tired that she CRAWLED up the next steep sand dune. Even crawling
took a lot of energy, (maybe even more). The steepness of the dune makes
her look so tiny in the first photo below. Distance is always farther
away than it looks in these photos. |
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Below: The two RV Gypsies
eventually got to the top of the last dune and looked down at Lake Michigan
- Finally! |
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Below: The waves looked pretty
big and everyone thought it was too dangerous to go into the water,
so Karen Duquette sat at the edge figuring the waves would wash up to
her and refresh her. The water was cold, but not as cold as Lake Superior
had been. |
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Below: The waves looked
even bigger as they approached Karen Duquette and the shoreline. |
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Below: Look
at the size of the rock that a wave threw at Karen Duquette. It landed
ON her belly. Look at the size of the wave coming at her. Karen was
not aware of the danger about to attack her. |
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Below: The next wave rolled
Karen Duquette over sideways. Lee Duquette yelled at her that if she
got washed out into the lake, he could not save her. |
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Below: The waves grew bigger
and stronger, so Karen Duquette decided it was not safe to sit there
anymore. Her bathing suit was full of sand. |
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Below: Then it was time to
start the long walk back to the car. The two RV Gypsies took a lot of
rest stops along the way, and at times Karen Duquette just plopped down
into the soft sand and wondered how she was going to continue. But of
course, they had no choice, and an hour and a half later they were at
the top of the last sand dune looking down at Glen Lake again.
Along the way they met mostly young people, and when the two RV Gypsies
told them how many more dunes they had to climb to reach the lake, most
of the people turned around and did not continue their journey.
Karen Duquette thought about rolling down the last sand hill like
she had done at other places in the past. But there were too many people
at the bottom of the hill. A tour bus had arrived and the tour bus people
were just walking all around the bottom of the hill. So Karen had to
walk down the last sand hill like everyone else. This was the only sand
dune hill that anyone could roll down, because it was the only wide
one. Karen knew from past experience that a person does not roll down
a sand dune in a straight path. The two RV Gypsies were mighty hungry
because their lunch was in the car all of this time. This was definitely
an adventure to remember. |
