A special save-the-date weekend
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A special save-the-date weekend
And some wildflowers for your spring.
As I thought about today’s news for you, plus the essay I wanted to share, the word season came to mind. My swirling thoughts lately center on the different seasons of our lives, as I shared in my most recent newsletter about venturing into different and exciting territory with a new job starting soon, and I’ll never tire of talking about embracing the seasons in Michigan by traveling and exploring the state year-round.
Truthfully, spring isn’t my most favorite, but I can’t deny its ability to make me pause and reflect. Seemingly overnight, the trees in our yard are coming alive, sprouting tiny buds and reminding me that we can always count on this renewal, even when it takes its sweet time to arrive. I think back on a late-April excursion I took with Andrew, my 20-year-old, a couple of years ago that allowed me to see nature’s re-birth up close. (More on our adventure below.)
I would love for this edition of Moving Through to leave you with a knowing that good things are ahead. I also hope you’re embracing the here and now—what might be happening and unfolding for you this spring. I’d love to hear what’s happening in your world right now—and what you’re looking forward to in the seasons ahead.
First, some big news …
Earlier this year, when I met up with more than 50 women from all across Michigan (and from Arizona, Wisconsin, and Indiana, too!) for a weekend of outdoor movement, relaxation, and connection in northern Michigan, I was asked if this annual event would continue. The question was understandable, given I had shared during our live podcast recording that I had started a new community—this one, the Moving Through newsletter and community—and there were changes underfoot with Michigan Runner Girl.
But I assured everyone that we planned to keep this event going, that Michigan Runner Girl wasn’t—isn’t—going away but rather evolving. In fact, this winter weekend, I shared, encapsulates everything that Moving Through is all about, too: a welcoming space to share life’s interesting moments and learn from one another; connection with others who find solace in the outdoors and lean into movement to make sense of our world; and a community for those on a journey to be the best versions of themselves—and who want to enjoy life to the fullest (while reading great books, traveling to new places, and enjoying good food!).
And, with my new, about-to-begin writing position with the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, I’m more excited than ever to continue, and build upon, this event that from the beginning has been possible because of a partnership with the DNR. There may even be more of these kinds of events and activities to come, because of my new job. This is all to be determined, and I will most definitely be sharing the latest news here first.
In the meantime, please save the date of this weekend: Jan. 19-21, 2024. More details to come! If you’d like to learn more about past winter weekends, including what these retreats have come to mean to those who have attended, head over to the MRG site here.
Wildflowers and water views with Andrew
Andrew at Pyramid Point, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
A string of early spring days gifted us with exceptionally warm weather— sunshine and mid-70s in April!—but on the day we planned a couple of hikes in the Lakeshore, in search of the earliest wildflowers of the season, the day is crisp, in the low 50s. The sky, though, is cloudless and bright, the shade of blue you can’t help but stare at, and comment on, for its perfection. It would be an ideal day for wandering in the woods, we decided.
Our family is well acquainted with Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, having explored countless of its beloved (and more-hidden) gems over the years. Picnics at Little Glen Lake after conquering the Dune Climb were June traditions for me while growing up in nearby Traverse City, and then it was my own kids’ turns—starting when they were toddlers and babies, lazy Lake Michigan beach days peppered our summer, then it was elementary school field trips to historic Glen Haven for all three, and as they’ve grown, long bike rides, hilly hikes, shorelines strolls, and kayak and tubing trips down winding rivers are part of our all-seasons treks to the Lakeshore.
What we hadn’t yet checked off our list until recently? Seeking out—and identifying—the Lakeshore’s abundant wildflowers. We knew of the park’s varied plant life, and have enjoyed the changing landscape each season we are there exploring, but knowing just how numerous the wildflowers are in the Lakeshore, and the best places to view them? All new to us.
To understand Sleeping Bear’s lovely array of wildflowers—and where to find them—I turned to Craig Olsen, a park ranger with the Lakeshore. “It’s like seeing an old friend again,” Craig tells me of hiking in search of trout lilies, violets, Dutchman’s breeches and Carolina springbeauties, to name just a few that peek out this time of year. His knowledge is vast and impressive; the names and spots along the various trails I’d find the flowers roll off his tongue quickly and easily.
When he gets to the ever-popular white trillium, whose prime time is late April to mid-May, we swap stories of stumbling upon this stunning spring flower (a few mountain biking and trail running adventures revealed their beauty to me). “I get so excited seeing the carpet of trillium on the forest floors,” Craig says. “That spectacle lasts for a few weeks and then they fade. I just like that idea of seeing a long, lost friend after not seeing them for a year.”
I like that idea, too—spending time with treasured friends, in the quiet of the forest. On this cool, early spring day, Andrew and I head out together to hunt for these friendly perennials.
Sunday hike on Windy Moraine
Craig had suggested four trails for our weekend wildflower excursion. I’m intrigued when he mentions the Windy Moraine Trail, a 1.5-mile loop off Welch Road, near Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. I realize, as Andrew and I pull into the trailhead parking lot, that I’ve driven past this parking lot dozens and dozens of times and never stopped. We’re both a little amazed we’d missed this spot before today.
We’ve brought our phones along, for picture-taking as well as wildflower-identifying—Andrew recently discovered a new app called Seek by iNaturalist that uses image recognition technology to identify the plants and animals around you. We figure we’ll match up what the app identifies with the list of wildflowers we can expect to see on this particular trail (thank you, Craig!).
The Windy Moraine trail takes you through a field to the moraine left from when the last glaciers melted about 10,000 years ago. (In case you’re wondering what a ‘moraine’ is exactly, I looked it up for us: a mass of rocks and sediment carried down and deposited by a glacier, typically as ridges at its edges or extremity.) The trail includes a climb to the top of the hill on a modest incline through a beech-maple forest and a pine plantation. From the top of the moraine, you will get a few good views of Glen Lake—this time of year, the views are gorgeous, particularly at the top, and even as we breathe a little harder on the way up. We catch glimpses of both the lake and the dunes in the distance.
It doesn’t take us long to see our first wildflowers alongside the dirt-and-root covered path, though the green plants aren’t yet in bloom. “Look at that one—I wonder what that is,” we take turns saying to each other before crouching down at eye level with a plant and snapping a picture. We identify a Canada Mayflower, a white trillium and a few patches of wild leeks. Then, Andrew spots a delicate purple flower—a Carolina springbeauty!—pushing through a mound of brown leaves, a sure sign of spring’s awakening.
The closer we get to the hilltop, the greener the forest floor. The trail narrows into a singletrack and the view stops us in our tracks. We see another wildflower in bloom, the white-petaled Dutchman’s Breeches. As we make our way back toward the trailhead, the path winds through towering trees, some felled and laying criss-crossed and quiet. We wonder if windstorms took them down, or if it was just their time.
At one point we cross paths with a family of four. A young boy, maybe two or three years of age, walks ahead of his mom and abruptly, shyly, stops when he sees us approaching. He stands still while waiting for his mom to catch up. We wave hello and he slowly smiles. A backpack-clad man follows behind, a younger child on his hip. I fight the urge to tell them, “Just wait. It only gets better. Someday your little boy will be over 6-feet tall and will be on a wildflower hike with you.”
Back at the trailhead, we’re famished and ready for our stop at Anderson’s Market in Glen Arbor for sandwiches and cold drinks. From there, we’ll head to can’t-not-visit Pyramid Point to witness that expansive Lake Michigan view on such a glorious northern Michigan spring day.
Tips for your spring wildflower hike, courtesy Craig Olsen of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore:
Be sure to purchase your park pass for your visit. You can buy 7-day or year-round passes. We got ours—it was time to get our annual pass—at the Philip A. Hart Visitor Center in Empire, which is open year-round.
These four trails are especially great spots for spotting spring wildflowers: Windy Moraine, Shauger Hill Trail, Old Indian Trail, and Pyramid Point.
Be sure to stay on trail during your hike—you don’t want to inadvertently trample plant life or contribute to erosion. Also, there’s been an uptick in, well, ticks. Poison ivy is also always a possibility.
You can learn more about the Lakeshore and plan your trip here.
Thank you for being here today. I’ll be back soon.
Until next time,
Heather XO