Without Fear, Go: Up North Birthday Bustle

It’s fall in Michigan. It’s a time of year when we Michiganders are drawn to the mythical “up north,” which is a point 2 or more hours north of where you started, if you are anywhere in the Lower Peninsula, plus all of the Upper Peninsula. The fall colors are spectacular and the weather can still be pleasant.

And so last Friday we dropped off the old guys at the farm and then headed “up north” with Django, Maebe, and Cadence for a long birthday weekend (mine).

We set up camp at Interlochen, which is on a sand bar between two glacial lakes. From there, we embarked on our many adventures, because that’s how we roll on “vacation.”

The weather was beautiful; sunny; 70’s. The leaves were about at peak color. There were, surprisingly, no crowds.

Our first activity was to drive a little farther northwest to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We hiked up to Pyramid Point, a several hundred foot sand bluff overlooking Lake Michigan and the Manitou Islands, once a stopping point for steamships en-route to Chicago.

The dogs seemed to enjoy their first hike. Cadence wore his backpack and carried water for all of us. Django and Maebe were more than happy to let Cadence be the sole backpacker. I think they’re just jealous because their backpacks look pretty lame compared to Cadence’s.

This part of the state is known for its massive sand dunes and the clear blue water of Lake Michigan. It was once also known for expansive stands of massive pine trees. All but a few of the trees in the state were cut down to rebuild Chicago after the Great Fire of 1871, which occurred 139 years ago on the exact date of our visit, October 8. The remnant of one of the surviving stands occupies a small section of the park at which we camped, and so in the evening, when we returned from Sleeping Bear, we took a walk through the forest.

We capped off the evening with a nice campfire and got to bed a little early, because the next day, my birthday, I thought it would be fun to celebrate by running a 10K trail race on part of a popular trail system north of Traverse City, the cherry capital of the world.

On Saturday we were up at 5 to get everyone fed and to get out to the trail head in time to have our pick of parking space. Picked up my race packet before dawn.

When the sun came up, a wonderful scene was painted with red, yellow, and orange maple leaves against a backdrop of clear blue sky.

While Django and Maebe rested in the car, Angela and Cadence were there to see me off on my run and to cheer me on when I approached the finish line.

Seeing Angela and Cadence really helped me to finish strong.

The race itself was tough, but nice, because it was so beautiful. There were more than a few hills and it was actually 2K more than advertised, but some of my strongest running was actually in those last 2K. I ran hard and my reward was a 3^rd place finish in my new age group.

When we got back to the car, Angela presented me with a very thoughtful gift. She got an artist/blogger/agility enthusiast we follow to draw a Maebe “logo”, which Angela then had printed on a number of clothing items and a tote bag. It was the coolest gift.

I changed clothes and then off we went, back onto the trails, for a 5K hike with all of the dogs. It was nice because Angela got to see some of the same trails I had just run through and to appreciate the trees in their colorful glory.

During the hike we came across a stream and Cadence got to get his feet wet. That dog loves water.

Keeping Cadence’s love of water in mind, our next stop was back at Sleeping Bear, on a trail that brought us to the shore of Lake Michigan. The five of us trekked over a few low lying sand dunes and were rewarded by a virtually private beach that went for miles in either direction. Maebe and Django relaxed while Cadence had his first encounter with waves. I bet he couldn’t believe it. All of that splashing and he didn’t even have to cause any of it. He just stared and bowed and barked. We could have probably left him there all day and he wouldn’t have moved, but eventually, it was time to move on.