Friday, July 27, 2012

Pyramid Point and Good Harbor Bay

Thursday started out a little cloudy and cool (low 70s for a change!), so we decided it was a good day for a hike. 

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The Pyramid Point trail is a fairly short hike, although steep, through the woods to a sand dune bluff overlooking Lake Michigan and the Manitou Islands.

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When we reached to top of the bluff, the kids decided they were up for the trip down to the water.

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It was REALLY steep, and Bryce ended up taking a tumble on the way down!  A few scrapes . . . a bunch of sand in his hair . . . but otherwise no harm done!  Nicolas decided he was up for the challenge, too, and headed down after them.

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Almost to the bottom (or at least as close as we could see from up above!)

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Back up top, we were enjoying the views,

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when Tom got a phone call from Nicolas at the bottom!  No broken bones . . . no casualties . . . he just wanted us to time his ascent back to the top!

The 4 younger kids got a head start, and Jensen was the first back up to the top.  Nicolas overtook the other three, and made it up in 13 minutes!

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He paid for it though – he wasn’t feeling too good when he got up to the top!

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Seven minutes later, the rest of the group made it up to the top!

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After some water and rest, we took the trail back to the trailhead and parking lot. 

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Lots of pretty birch trees along the trail.

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By the time we go back to the trucks, the sun was peeking through the clouds, it was warming up a little, and we were seeing bits of blue sky.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just up the road a bit is Good Harbor Bay, and a public beach on Lake Michigan.

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Well, I guess we’ll stop here!  We had all packed lunches, so we spread out the blankets and had a picnic on the beach!

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After lunch, we went in search of petoskey stones,

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and the water proved to be too much of a temptation for the kids (regardless of the fact that they didn’t have bathing suits on!).

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We didn’t find a lot of petoskey stones, but we did get a few to take home with us –

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now I just need to find somebody to tumble & polish one to make a necklace for me!

When the clouds started moving back in, we packed up our stuff and headed back to the campground.  After some cornhole and dinner, we started a fire and enjoyed a nice cool evening around the campfire.  What a pleasant change after all those 90 and 100 degree days!

This morning we woke up to a nice gentle rain . . . it greatly needed, but tends to make a muddy mess of the campground!  Oh well, we’ll just spend some time inside, watching a movie and reading until the rain ends.  The next couple of days are supposed to be sunny and beautiful, and we can get back to the beach!

4 comments:

  1. Looks like you all had a great day... good ol' Lake Michigan!!!! I'm curious about those Petoskey stones... I like the coloring, but don't know much about them... are they a little rare? They sure would make a nice necklace.... Hummmm, wonder of Joe or Dave could drill through them? ( lol, I'm thinkin')

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    1. Hi Char! Petoskey stones are actually a fossil, and they are only found on the northern beaches of Lake Michigan ... maybe only on the Michigan side, I'm not sure . . .

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  2. Marci when were you there? We were at that exact beach Thursday night for swimming and a bonfire! Boys golfed in the morning nearby and we hit Sugar Foot for dinner. Small world!

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    1. Hi Amy! We were there Thursday afternoon. We've been camping at Indigo Bluffs in Empire since Wednesday . . . headed home today, though . . .Boo!

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