Fall Adventures

This fall we went on a few adventures to soak in the remaining sun and admire the colors.

At the beginning of October I decided to travel to the Upper Peninsula.  My youngest has never been across the Mackinac Bridge.  

The bridge was a delight for him.  He seemed to think he could touch the clouds.  It made my day just to see his glee at crossing the bridge.  From there we went and explored St. Ignace.  He explored a beach and climbed among the rocks while still being able to see the bridge.

We went to Castle rock and climbed to the top.  It is a lot of stairs of varying heights and depths.  At one point they also angle a bit.  It was well worth the climb.  The views from the top are spectacular.  However, being that heights and I do not get along well, it was a little uneasy for me to stay at the top.  The one thing I do wish was that we had waited another weekend before going.  It was beautiful, but the colors were not out in full yet.

This past weekend I decided it was time to go back to the Sleeping Bear Dunes area again.  This time we went to the Stocking Scenic Drive.  The colors were out, and it was busy.  When we reached the top there is a look out where you can park and get out. We took the trail that leads off from there.  This trail takes you down the dune and across them to even better views than the overlook spot.  You can walk across a very narrow peak of dunes just wide enough for your feet.  My son decided to roll down and climb back up these dunes.  The sun was shining and it was very windy.  A beautiful day for this walk.  This trail is short and very mild compared to many of the other trails in the area.  It was still well worth the stop.

A few days ago I decided to take one of the local trails along the boardman river.  This trail is very peaceful.  Beautiful and never very many people.  It is about a mile or so round trip.  Nothing strenuous.  It was hit pretty hard by our spring storms.  There are trails closed off.  his one in particular is still open, though the land has fallen away in areas.  My favorite trail is still closed.  The bridge just down from it collapsed in the spring flooding.  This trail takes you down near that bridge and connects to another trail that is also closed.  The entire area is very vibrant this time of year.  Hopefully it will be open by next fall.