It was quite a weekend up here in Traverse City. We got about 17 inches of snow where I live on the Leelanau Peninsula over the weekend, causing me to have one of those rare days where I don’t leave the house.
That was Saturday. On Sunday, it was back out on the trails. After a sermon at Bayview Church, I headed over to Hickory Meadows for a hike in the snow. There were a surprising number of people out. The trails were by no means full, but the skiers were happy to be on the groomed trails. Me – I stuck to the woods.
I hope you all had a happy New Year’s Eve and Day. At the Stoecker house, we started our year with bubbly wine from Bel Lago and many, many snacks along with sushi from Fuji.
Before the bowl games of January 1st, I needed to get out and hike, and Alligator Hill in Glen Arbor won out as my first hike of the year. When I arrived, I was happy to see no footprints in the snow, so I was the first to climb these hills for 2024. I didn’t win a prize or anything, but I could count on having the place to myself.
When I entered the parking lot, I was greeted by these brick and concrete structures. These are kilns built in the 1950s by Pierce Stocking, the man the Sleeping Bear dunes drive is named after. Pierce was a lumberman and there was quite a bit of waste wood left over, and these kilns were used to produce charcoal.
The trail soon gave me a choice, left or right. I chose right because in that direction led the advanced trail, a section of the trail I hadn’t yet hiked. I can’t claim it is any more hillier than the other trails – Alligator Hill has a lot of vertical changes – but it was stepper than most of the trail system. And it escaped most the damage of storm of eight years ago, so you will see many more tall trees.
Along the way, I saw numerous animal tracks. Animal footprints are not a specialty of mine, but my best guess was a coyote. I suppose it could have been a lone dog, but I went with the coyote theory because there were no people tracks beside it.
Much of the trail still suffers from the damage of the August 2nd, 2015 windstorm that torn through the Glen Arbor area, downing many trees and damaging buildings. It will be decades before the damage is finally erased, hidden by new growth.
My first hike done, I spent the day rooting for teams that lost in the bowl games. Nothing new there. That didn’t mar the great hiking I had done earlier. And as I only hiked four miles of the 9-mile trail system, I have many more miles to look forward to.
If you are a fan of fall colors, this is the time. Right now! October 22nd, 2023. Things are at their peak, and if you read this next week, you’ve missed the best of the colors and will have to wait until next year.
But in case you do, here are some photos of yesterday’s hike at Lost Lake Pathways.
Lost Lake Pathways is north of Interlochen. I’d give directions, but you have Google Maps. Or Apple Maps. Or MapQuest, if you’re still in 2005. There is a generously large dirt parking lot to begin your hiking pleasure. Or if you’re the camping sort, there is a campground. I don’t camp much – found memories of when I did – but for whatever reason, I do like wandering around empty campgrounds. And in the fall and winter, Michigan is full of them.
And what looks nicer than clouds and colorful trees and their reflections on water.
I realized as I passed the duck hunters that I needed to start wearing neon for the next several months. But I safely navigated the trails and waterways to make it back to that fabulous dirt parking lot.
We all have those spots that are special to us, and Pentwater is one such spots for us. We first started going to the area (as a family) when my daughter was very young. We would rent a cottage south of town in Shelby and make trips into Pentwater and Silver Lake and other great beach towns in the area.
This year, we were coming to Pentwater from our new home in Traverse City, taking a break from our home in a resort town to visit a resort town. We stayed at the Channel Lane Inn, just across the street from the channel that connects Pentwater Lake with Lake Michigan. If you enjoy watching boats, this is a good place to sit and relax. It is also a great place for a stroll or, in my daughter’s case, a smooth ride on a skateboard.
The big draw of the town is Mears State Park – specifically, the beach. The beach is large and the water is shallow enough to wade quite a ways before being over your head. (I’m 6’2″, and despite being fairly distant from shore, I didn’t go out far enough to be completely submerged.) It’s one of those beautiful beaches that the eastern shore of Lake Michigan is known for, and despite the crowds , there is always a spot of open sand.
If you are not in the mood for the big-crowd scene of the main beach, a narrow strip of sand runs north along the shore. This strip has gotten even narrower in recent years, but there are still plenty of space for a beach blanket and cooler.
I’ve noticed a trend lately, from time spent at Pentwater, Traverse City, and visiting friends in Port Huron – the boat invasion. As you sit on the beach, enjoying a clear view of the lake and horizon, here come the boats to anchor as close as they possibly can to your spot. Nothing says relaxing day at the beach better than wall-to-wall boats, each with their own playlist. Is there a place online I can purchase torpedoes? Asking for a friend.
Downtown Pentwater is made for shopping. If you’re in the mood for lake-related knick knacks, you are in the right spot. T-shirts and ice cream can be found is large amounts. Which is not to say you can’t buy nice things – there are several shops with high-quality stuff, several of which we visited and to which we made a generous contribution. Also, Cenzo’s, the local market, has ready-made sandwiches to take to the beach if you’d prefer to limit your fried food intake, at least for one meal.
If you’re there early enough, you will not be able to buy much – perhaps coffee – but it is peaceful.
I want to single out one store, Storybook Village. This children’s book and toy store where 6th Street curves and turns north into Hancock Street, Storybook Village was the favorite place for us to buy books when my daughter (now a teenager) was younger. These are not your normal kids books, but really interesting stories with nice artwork, many of which you will not find in a big chain bookstore. If you have young children in the circle of people you buy for, definitely give SV a visit.
And my personal favorite way to end the day in Pentwater is with a sunset over the lake. Sunset over water just never seem to get old.
