| The legend goes something like this... On the shores of what is now Wisconsin, a forest fire forced a mother bear and her two cubs into Lake Michigan.The mother swam to the opposite shore and climbed to the top of a high bluff and peered back across the water, searching and waiting in vain for her cubs. Sadly they couldn't keep up and drowned within sight of the shore. The Great Spirit Manitou took pity on her and raised the cubs up from the depths forming North and South Manitou islands to mark the spot where they slipped beneath the water. A solitary dune on the mainland represents the faithful mother bear. |
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| Sleeping Bear Dunes, Michigan |
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| This was when we went to 'Sleeping Bear Dunes' near Travers City Michigan. That's Lake Michigan in the background. I thought the sand dunes at Reiss Beach in Caithness were big until I climbed this ones! There is no comparison!! |
| Talk about a workout! Just when you think your about to reach the top, more sand appears before you.. If you look at the above picture real close the two dots are Kathleen and Michele. (You can see who the smokers are in the family!) |
| Made it at last, and what a feeling !! |
Click on any picture for more links about Sleeping Bear Dunes |
| They are the worlds largest perched dunes...sitting high above the shore on plateaus, glacial sands on top of these surfaces supplied material for the dunes.... With an initial climb at an incline of 50 to 60 degrees that rises 160 feet, you can make your way up the slope to an elevation of 890 feet... consider that to the 1050 feet stair climb of the Empire State building and you'll get the picture! The lakeshore includes the North and South Manitou Islands which play a role in the Chippewa Indian legend where the name of the dunes originated from. |
| Michele wondering if this was such a good idea after all! |