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. 

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.

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

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.

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

Back up top, we were enjoying the views,

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!

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

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

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

Lots of pretty birch trees along the trail.

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.

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!

After lunch, we went in search of petoskey stones,

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!).

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

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!