Nordhouse Dunes, Part 1

So like I wrote in my last post, I went on a little trip this past weekend and it was to the Manistee National Forest, with most of my time in the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness. The forecast was incorrect because there were no thunderstorms - but it got the windy, cold, rainy part right. The consistent rain throughout the weekend did help keep the crowds down since I saw all of one person when I would usually expect to run into a couple groups. However, I did see a couple of the largest porcupines I've ever seen, several herds of deer, multiple bald eagles, and two piping plovers - an endangered species. A sampling of photos:


The first portion of the trail was pretty standard for the Midwest: narrow trails, mixed trees, modest terrain, and many small creeks. The forest had been heavily harvested in the past so I might casually describe its appearance as a "new growth" forest. A unique feature is how sandy it is, which seems to lend itself to "sandslides" along the various ridges and cliffs, such as here.


I actually started outside of the Nordhouse Dunes area and hiked my way to it through the forest. As the established trail petered out, it opened up into open sand dunes and pristine beaches. Once in the dunes though, I made my way towards the beach to avoid disturbing the area. I'm not sure what the official rules are, but I know dunes in Michigan are relatively fragile and I'm not about to go tearing around in there - especially in such a small wilderness area.


Another reason to be careful. This is a well-tagged Piping Plover, an endangered species here. This is the first time I've ever seen one outside of the Manitou Islands, which also has sandy, pebbly areas by water (the bird's preferred habitat). Only 30 years ago, the population of this sub-species was barely a few dozen. Anyway, they make lay their eggs on the ground so you have to watch for them when moving around the beach here; it's all too easy to step on a nest.


Big Sable Point Lighthouse. The lighthouse, which is still functional and relied upon, is a tourist attraction but it was closed at the time so there were no visitors. But as I explored the area, a friendly volunteer keeper stepped out and gave me a little tour. He even waived the $2 fee to climb to the top of the lighthouse, although I ended up donating some funds anyway.


Real nice view to the north, looking at the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness, from the top of the lighthouse. During this little break, the rain let up and so I decided to get going. I wanted to backtrack to scout some potential sites I passed earlier which I had put into my GPS (to my joy, dispersed camping was permitted in certain areas).

I'll continue my trip summary later.

Unfazed

This weekend I'll be headed off to one of (hopefully) many semi-local mini-backpacking trips. How do I know I love this stuff? Well, the weather forecast for the area calls for thunderstorms, strong winds, and cold. Not only was I unfazed by that information, but I was kind of happy to see that what was originally a cakewalk hike might now be a bit more interesting. I'll report back next week.

Unfazed:


That's pretty much how I looked when I read the forecast (yes that is me). Also, sweet haircut.

(blank)

Grill

Sunrise, Sunset

With the onset of spring, I'm actually waking up to sunrises and coming home before the sun sets. Good stuff.


Good morning Monday from the balcony...


Good night Friday from the parking lot...

Headed to MI this weekend, looking forward to it.

Got a weekend hike next weekend, looking forward to it.

I'm just plain looking forward to it.

Birthday Food

Generally speaking, Cathy and I avoid really fancy restaurants. The ambiance and attitude of some of those joints make us expect the food to shoot magical rainbows and mini-unicorns directly into our brains and, unfortunately, it never happens.

Despite this, we've developed the habit of checking out some of these places on her birthday, and this year we went to Charlie Trotter's. The food was good, although there were certainly no lasers or mythical creatures flying off the plate. However, the most interesting aspect of it all was that we sat at the kitchen table, a single table that Trotter's has inside the actual kitchen. This time around, I geeked out and took some photos - however, the lighting was mixed and I was using a slow lens...do not prepared to be wowed.


View from the table. It's great because we get to watch our food get prepared, see some techniques, and interact a bit with the chefs. Being able to learn a bit more about food and cooking while eating is a nice bonus. Plus the dining room decor was reminiscent of a vomiting antique rug (at least from what I saw).

Anyway, there was a lot of food. There's no menu, they just "spontaneously" make you food - which basically turns out to be their tasting menu plus a couple made specifically for our table. It came out to a lengthy 15 courses. Some of them:


Maine diver sea scallop with fingerling potato, foamed parsley, and veal heart...


Deliciousness with Oaxacan mole sauce...


and Meyer lemon sorbet with black sesame. Sidebar: my brother used to have a Meyer lemon tree in his backyard.


A somewhat ridiculous but amusing part of the experience was that we each assisted a chef in plating a dish, as Cathy is so expertly doing here. She was asked to plate one of our desserts:


Claudio Corallo chocolate truffles with red wine cherries and thyme.

Good food, good fun.

Chicago Geysers

So when the weather gets even remotely better around here, something I do for fun/exercise/training/exploration is to take long urban hikes. This usually means a 15-ish mile wandering walk through the city with a 10-15 pound backpack (containing sandwiches and photography equipment). I took one such walk a couple weeks ago on a sunny but chilly day and it was pretty routin for the most part. Most of my photos were more pointless than usual. However, at one point I got close to the lake and I heard these loud booming sounds. Upon closer inspection, I realized that the booms were waves from an uncharacteristically brown Lake Michigan that were slamming into the corrugated sea wall and blasting geyser-like columns up to 40 feet into the air.


I wish I could have put something along the boardwalk for scale since it's hard to understand how huge it really was, but: (1) there was a solid sheet of ice covering the whole area; (2) the waves were unpredictable; and (3) anything on the lower section would have been immediately sucked right into the lake from the receding water.


Wall of water.


There was a serious wind rolling off the lake and as the "geysers" erupted, the mist was being pushed into a chain link fence up on a small hill. Although it had not been cold enough deeper within the city for ice for some time, it was cold enough by the lake for the mist to totally envelop the links in solid ice. I imagine the whole fence was a solid block of ice at some point before the sun came out.


Frozen links.


Absolutely epic. It was an amazing find, and the fact that it was totally unexpected made it that much better. I spent at least an hour watching the show as I enjoyed my morning sammich, and since it was so cold/icy/misty/inherently dangerous (and a weekday), I was the only one there - which also made it that much better.