My favorite thing about having friends in town is the opportunity to go explore places you go often but not nearly enough. This weekend we knew we had our friend Michael Newsted coming for a few nights, but when my cousin, Andrew, his girlfriend, Tobin, and our friend, Will, all came down from Harbor Springs and we realized they had not seen Leelanau County, we made the decision that we all had to go! Thus, we enjoyed the night before drinking the new White Whale Skinny Dipper and Mob Man (more on those this week), and then we woke the next morning to hike the dunes.
The easiest hike in to the dunes is Pyramid Point. There is no need for a National Parks pass, and in less than a quarter mile uphill walk, you can see one of the best views along the northern west coast. It was a hot and steamy day and unbeknownst to us, it was also the day the black flies decided that they were hungry. Arriving on the shore, we stopped to take it all in. The water was amazing as we stood nearly 400 feet above the shore on the dunes. Standing still too long was not a good idea with the bugs, so we kept moving toward the bowl that overlooks the rest of the northwest coast of the Leelanau Peninsula.
We ran through the woods that connect the dunes and arrived on the other side to a beautiful view of dunes and the vastness of Lake Michigan. Together we walked the ridge to the overlook. We joked about feeling as if we were in a Hunger Games video between the persistent and nasty black flies biting us and the heat. There was some sort of element of survival to the whole thing that was both fun and miserable all at the same time.
image via: Michael Newsted
image via: Michael Newsted
Even in the heat we snapped photos and enjoyed the cool breeze coming across from the chilly lake. It felt like a little slice of heaven. Sure the journey was slightly miserable in the moment, but the view was worth it.
The journey back was a little harder (okay a lot harder) than getting there. There were a few points where I think we all regretted the number of cocktails we had the night before or the fact that we ever thought that this would be fun. When we finally got to the top and we had escaped the ungodly amount of flies that had left their mark on our legs and arms, we got back to the car and decided it was time for a dip in the chilly water to cool off and wash the sand and sweat from our bodies.
Nothing says Northern Michigan summer like an ice cold dig into Lake Michigan on a hot day while you have been hiking in the woods or in the dunes. I took us all to my favorite secret swimming spot and we all plunged head first in to the water to escape the feeling that only a really hard hike leaves you with.
It had been a long time since I had been in water that it literally HURT because of the icy chill that still lingered. As quickly as we jumped in we were out, but we felt perfectly refreshed. Honestly it was the exact thing we needed in that moment.
image via: Michael Newsted
We headed north to Leland from Pyramid Point and grabbed Cheese Shanty sandwiches and a view of the harbor at Fishtown. The weather was amazing and the bugs were no where to be found in town so it felt pretty amazing just to sit there and enjoy our lunch.
image via: Michael Newsted
On the way back home we decided to have a small taste of the local grapes and stopped at L.Mawby for a tasting. We enjoyed a glass of wine on the patio to cheers to an insanely hard and beautiful day that left us truly feeling as if we had officially christened summer.
It was one amazing day that I wouldn’t trade anything for.
Thanks to Michael Newsted for sharing the above tagged images with us for this post…he is amazing!