SLEEPING
BEAR
Northern Michigan Trail
Offers Peak Experience
Take my word for it. Bay View Trail in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore ranks among the top running areas I've experienced.
Top Ten! Maybe not quite equal to the run through Haleakala on the island of Maui, but close. We're talking a 9.8 vs. a 9.9 here. Certainly, a peak experience.
I ran Bay View Trail while researching places and events surrounding the Cherry Festival in Traverse City, Michigan for an article in Runner's World. The Festival (held July 6-13) includes a number of running events, including a 15-K which I ran.
I probably didn't help my 15-K time by going for a two-hour trail run 36 hours before the race, but I'm motivated as much these days by achieving running experiences as setting personal records.
GREAT TRAILS
What makes a great running trail? Spectacular scenery for one. Some combination of woods and water and sky. Clean air. A soft running surface helps. Variety. Enough miles so that you can run an hour or two without tripping over your own footsteps or bumping into too many other runners or hikers.
The Bay View Trail has all that plus some weathered barns that make you recognize that you are in the Upper Midwest. During two midweek tours of the trail, I encountered only one runner and four hikers in a group, all of them near trailheads, which made me suspect they hadn't penetrated the woods as deeply as I.
I hiked the trail before I ran it. My wife Rose and I arrived at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on a Wednesday afternoon. It was shortly after noon, and we had reservations at The Homestead Resort, just north of the town of Glen Arbor. The Homestead is located in an enclave of land bracketed by the National Lakeshore. The Resort features golf summers and skiing (downhill and cross- country) winters.
Alas, our rooms were not ready, so we decided to hike the trail we had skied previously. Access to Bay View Trail is across the road from the Village that serves as base for the ski area. (Additional access is available further north along M-22.)
TOUGH CLIMBS
The trail is not for the faint of heart. It climbs immediately through a thick, beech-maple forest, then dips into a valley. A wooden holder contains trail maps.
The trees formed a canopy through which little light penetrated. The surface of the trail is firm, but springy, ideal for hiking or running. The day was cool, a breeze riffling the leaves overhead. Few bugs bothered us--although that can change from day to day.
The first loop (2.1 kilometers) is called the Moosewood Trail. It was here we encountered the only other runner, presumably also a guest at the Homestead.
We crossed Thoreson Road (dirt, unplowed in winter) and hiked along the High Trail, which follows a bluff for 2.0 kilometers to the Trailhead accessible from M-22. Midway, the trail enters a meadow, allowing a view of Lake Michigan. We strode knee-deep through grass speckled with wild flowers.
At the Trailhead, we encountered four young hikers headed toward their car in the parking lot. We returned to the Homestead via the Low Trail on the side of the bluff away from the lake. The hike took several hours. By the time we returned to The Homestead, our room was ready.
LOOKOUT POINT
The next afternoon, following a day touring the Leelanau Peninsula, I was fatigued but decided to run the Trail anyway. I told Rose, "I'm not sure how long I'll run. I may be back in 15 minutes."
Fifteen minutes stretched to nearly two hours as I continued past the Trailhead and onto another 3.4 kilometer loop to near Port Oneida Road. I circled an aged barn before heading back along Thoreson Road, which features several stiff climbs.
On my outward journey, I had passed a sign pointing up a side trail to Lookout Point. Returning, I decided to leave nothing unseen.
Lucky choice, because the hill provided a spectacular lakefront panorama, including South and North Manitou Islands along with meadows, forests and farmlands. It reminded me of the scene at the start of "The Sound of Music," where we see Julie Andrews spinning atop an alpine meadow before bursting into the title song. I couldn't resist: I did the same.
Returning to The Homestead, tired but exhilarated, I found that Rose was worried by the length of my absence. "I was about to call the state police," she suggested.
I smiled and responded: "They would have loved the view!"