Lake Michigan - summers in Charlevoix
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On the way home from Shabbat by the Bay, we passed right by the Sea World fireworks barge and enjoyed the show with the afterglow of sunset in the background.
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Old Trail Ridge Rd is north of the main Ridge Trail Rd that crosses the park. Lots of switchbacks, no guard rails, gravel road. It’s nine miles long, and winds up above the tree and early August snow line. Road ends at the Alpine Visitor Center. It’s a one-way road, open from July 4 through September.
We did it in a Prius and prayed we wouldn’t destroy the undercarriage heat shield, which has already been repaired twice. Got home yesterday after three weeks, 16 states and 6698.7 miles!
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We still have to get to French Polynesia. We were going to go during Covid because they were still open, but then they abruptly closed stranding travelers, so we shifted our plans. We weren’t affected by the closure - it just shifted our future plans.
Therefore, it remains on our bucket list…
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We drove through Charlevoix in June when touring that area for the first time. So beautiful.
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Walking the beach, ran into a sand castle building class for teenagers. Should I feel guilty that I homeschooled (beachschooled?) our son on this craft? 
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I was taught to build sand castles at age 4. We made dribble castles. Very gothic. Also taught to refill the holes we made afterward. Probably should have had sunscreen but that wasn’t a thing back then.
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D18 and I just hiked the John Muir Trail from Yosemite to Mt Whitney. Over 200 miles and ~40,000ft of climbing in 19 days. Stunningly beautiful landscapes, here’s a few photos:
Photo 1: At 12100ft looking south from Mather Pass
Photo 2: Near Palisade Lakes (at ~11000ft) looking at the climb to Mather Pass
Photo 3: Mono Lake from Koip Peak Pass (12200ft), not on the JMT but this was the back way in (to avoid problems getting a permit)
Photo 4: Marie Lakes (10400ft) near Seldon Pass
Photo 5: Above Guitar Lake (at ~11900ft) on the way up to Mt Whitney
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On my bucket list!
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Congratulations on completing that amazing hike. Your pictures are gorgeous. This is one of my favorite areas.
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@Twoin18 that’s outrageous…in a wonderful way - what a bonding experience and one you’ll both take with you forever!
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Yes I know how fortunate I am. The JMT has been a bucket list item for me since before the kids were born, and it’s wonderful that D had enough time (and interest) this summer after graduation to spend three weeks hiking it together. I very much doubt we’ll ever have three weeks together on our own again.
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We did a three day backpacking trip with our kids in the High Sierras during the pandemics. Permits were required but were easy to come by with due to lack of demand (unlike this year). It was magical. I assume you can get food delivered on the trail for a longer trip?
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You can ship buckets of food to Muir Trail Ranch (near Florence Lake) which is roughly halfway. But carrying 10 days of food up from there to Muir Pass is no joke: my pack weighed 56 pounds.
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I love Goderich! H and I spent time enjoying beaches where we were the only ones around. It was just beautiful. We keep talking about going again. Now that it’s easier to cross the border, we will have to plan another trip.
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