back to the (nordhouse dunes) wilderness

Consider the question "What is your favorite spot in the lower peninsula of Michigan? Before Friday I would have thought about it a sec and said perhaps the Au Sable River (parent’s cabin) or Traverse City or something I wasn’t sure on. Why the lack of confidence? Because I would have been wrong. The only answer is Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness.

I touched on how the Nordhouse experience lies somewhere between camping and backpacking a couple of years ago on my first visit when I didn’t know what to expect. Located about 4 miles north of Ludington State Park (by hike…NOT by car), I was pumped to revisit this isolated beach with my friends Chris and Ryan and my brother Tyler.

Of note, Michigan in June can be hot…it can also be Michigan. I mean cold. Weekend forecast:
Friday: 62/51 (about 55 when we arrived at 7pm) cloudy with rain at night.
Saturday: 59/46 cloudy and windy
Sunday: 65 sunny

Of course this meant Ryan (who by the way STARTED packing when Chris and Ty got to his apartment to pick him up) did not bring a sleeping bag…instead had a sheet and a think blanket stuffed into a trash bag. Anthony Weiner is to Twitter what Ryan is to packing.

It was COLD both nights (like seeing our breathe with the sun still up). Friday night it rained…I had a brand new never been used tent we all slept in…there were a couple small but significant assembly errors (in my defense Ryan and Ty setup 100% of the tent while Chris and I rushed to build a fire and get dinner going) that led to Ryan, Ty and I getting soaked, Chris was on the highest ground of our not quite flat site and remained dry. Tyler retreated to his hammock, Ryan shivered. My sleeping bag held tough despite being wet and I was never cold. Not warm exactly, but never shivered. Saturday night was dry, but even colder. I didn’t dare crawl out of the tent until 10:30, and even then I had to be in the sunlight or it was too cold.

Despite Sunday being our only nice day, we had a great time. Epic 2-on-2 football, frisbee, cold Lake Michigan (“I have an ice cream headache…on my balls!”), saw only one other person, only a 1.7 mile hike from the car, opening the tent door to Lake Michigan, hiccups and remedies, remembering we should hang our food about 3 seconds before the raccoons got to it, and cards.

Yeah, Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness is the best part of the lower peninsula.

Card break on Saturday for a group shot. Lake behind us = happiness

Our first glimpse of the sun…at sunset.

Ty shivering I mean sleeping.
Another group shot.

Same campsite I used last time with Devon. Nostalgia.