Dunes are hard work, too ...

We're back from the dunes!

Welcome to the too-many-pictures!-so-sorry-dialup-friends recap of the trip:

After a later-than-planned start and a 3 hour drive, we started with lunch at the foot of the dune climb:

And then changed into swimming suits and started up the dune climb hill, carrying water and towels. Halfway up the dune climb the children take their first rest-and-pose stop:

From the bottom you can't see the top. You see what looks like it might be the top. At what looked like the top, from the bottom, you could see part of the "Lake Michigan Hike" sign. When we got to that sign, this is what stretched before us:

Over and over again we would climb a tall dune hoping to see Lake Michigan beyond, only see another dune-valley and slow, hot climb ahead of us. This is looking back towards the start, before we could see Lake Michigan ahead.

Finally we crested a rise and saw Lake Michigan far in the distance. Several dune hills in the distance, it turned out.

After not quite two hours of walking, climbing, resting, and appreciating our now-nearly-empty water bottles, we reached the beach and began to play. We were a little disappointed to find that the beach is very rocky with round, smooth, slimy, medium sized rocks that were very difficult to walk on. There was a sandbar, but getting past the rocks to the sandbar was a chore. But the water was cold and refreshing after the very hot walk, and we didn't mind the slimy algae cloudiness. Too much. We swam and waded and collected rocks and built sand castles and played in the waves.

And then, finally, facing a long hot walk back, we started back. We made better time on the way back, maybe because we just wanted to be done with the hiking. Did I mention how much work hiking in sand is?!

We celebrated the return with rolls and runs down the main hill:

and at last we were back to the car. By now it was nearly 7 pm and we hadn't eaten since lunch, so we quickly piled in and headed off. But then we decided, since we'd paid the park fee, to swing through the 7 mile scenic drive. After all, how long could it take?

Of course, we arrived there just before sunset ...
and were glad we stayed for it ...

I realize I'm already picture heavy, so if you'd like to see the rest, the following thumbnails link to my flickr pictures of the dunes at sunset.

After sitting through the sunset and watching the pink fade from the sky, we finally headed home. We got home a few minutes before midnight, tired, sandy, and glad we'd gone.