After having such a great time backpacking North Manitou Island last year, my wife and I decided to return. This time we invited our niece Carolyn, and we all enjoyed the peace and solitude of a place Karen and I have fallen in love with.
The passage from Leland across the historic strait.
We were met this time by a National Park volunteer, who warned us of the spirits that arise on solstice nights under a full moon.
We stuck to our plan and headed down the east shore, then across to the west side where we would set up camp and take day hikes.
The history of the island is fascinating, and every clearing and passage through the woods has a story, many of which we are beginning to learn.
This was once among the forty miles of roads that have now mostly returned to a natural state. It doesn't take much to see the old road cuts that extend into the forest, tho.
Carolyn was a real trooper. We dubbed her hat "Goby".
The beach is wild and the sunsets are wilder.
Our campsite sat on a bluff overlooking Lake Michigan, with a view toward South Manitou and the Sleeping Bear Dunes.
We got super lucky with the weather; the days were sunny and blue, and the nights were just chilly enough for a sleeping bag.
South Manitou in the distance.
Miller's Beach and Dimmick's Point, the site of the Piping Plover Sanctuary. We had a great time hunting Petosky Stones.
The colors are nearly tropical.
Woke up the second day and hiked the shore up toward the site of Crescent City, following deer and coyote tracks part of the way.
On the way back to the east side, we made the short hike to the Stormer Place, a beautiful homestead clearing that is slowly being reclaimed by the wilds.
This was our campsite on the third night, a short walk to the nearly white sand beach, crystal clear water and a view that rivals any place I've ever been.
The water was a bit chilly on the east side, but we had the beach all to ourselves. That evening we visited the island cemetery; the names and the stories are slowly becoming familiar to us.
Carolyn swam a bit too long and had to spend some time warming back up. Karen and I took a nice stroll down the beach and found the remains of the old Stormer Dock and the plank roadway that once extended down the east side of the island.
Our tent perched up on the secondary dune.
We made it back a little early on the final morning, and the volunteer showed us a pair of Piping Plovers that had taken up residence on the beach near the dock.
We got into some cool conversations with some fellow backpackers on the ferry boat ride back to Leland, ate a good meal at the cool restaurant beside the dam, then drove Carolyn to the big dune at Sleeping Bear. She vowed to return and do the climb, and we said goodbye to the island in the distance for another year.
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