Tuesday, September 7, 2010

The Dunes


One of the best things about this trip is the unexpected turns that a day can take. Yesterday, as I headed West to Sleeping Bear Dunes, the road I was traveling suddenly turned to dirt. The dirt road then became a seasonal road, all loose sand and gravel. At that point I was too far along to turn around. Unable to get any traction, I was forced to push my bike up a steep hill. While climbing the hill, I noticed the darkening sky above the trees. Claps of thunder were shortly followed by a downpour. When the road turned into an open field I saw the lightening strikes just to the North. I was in the middle of my first storm of the trip.

Two hours later I was sitting on the beach at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, eating a simple dinner. The water was as calm as it has ever been during this trip. The clouds had thinned to reveal blue sky. None of this seemed likely as I trudged up that muddy road a few hours earlier.

One of the worst things about the trip is the wind. The wind defined my ride today. I was reminded that when biking through Kansas I thought I understood strong winds until I hit Wyoming. Similarly, I thought I faced tough winds out of St. Ignace, but those paled in comparison to today's winds. It felt like some of the worst headwinds I had ever experienced. This was confirmed when I read this wind advisory on the Weather Channel website:

* HAZARDS... STRONG WINDS.
* WIND SPEED... GUSTS OF 45 TO 50 MPH.
* WINDS THIS STRONG CAN MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT... ESPECIALLY FOR HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES. USE EXTRA CAUTION.
* LIGHT LAWN FURNITURE CAN EASILY GET BLOWN OVER.

At least I wasn't hit by any lawn furniture.

My day started with a hike up the Dune Climb. The early morning skies were clear, but the wind was howling. People pay good money for the exfoliation I received. As I hiked along the undulating path I was repeatedly deceived into thinking that the lake was just past the next crest. It never was. After an hour of hiking, I settled for a nice view of the water.




After battling the wind for a few hours I stopped in Frankfort to eat. The one restaurant that was open was packed. As I waited for a table I struck up a conversation with a man, who invited me to join him and his wife for lunch, so I didn't have to wait. A recently retired couple from South Carolina, they had spent the summer in Frankfort. We talked about their travels in their first year of retirement and Venezuela, where the husband had done doctoral studies.

After lunch, I reluctantly headed back out into the wind. It took all my effort to stay upright. After crawling along, I stopped for another meal. I had significantly scaled back my goal for the day, opting to spend the night in Manistee. Finally, I arrived at the Riverside Motel. I appear to be the only person staying here. The owner told me that the weather had killed business.

1 comment:

  1. Great pictures Brian! And hope the wind is better to you

    ReplyDelete