Ludington State Park - The Road to Rome, Part One: America - CycleBlaze

June 21, 2021

Ludington State Park

This was such a spectacular day.  It’s chilly and quite windy, making us glad that we’re staying in Ludington and don’t have a long ride ahead.  Instead, we bike ten miles north to Ludington State Park, which we’ve been told we shouldn’t miss.  Before leaving town we bike over to Big Apple Bagels and pick up lunch: a ham and cheese bagel sandwich for Rachael, and a pair of cinnamon raisin bagels with peanut butter for myself.  Big Apple is a great place - we’ll have to research to see if it’s  a chain and if other outlets lie ahead for us.

It’s an easy ride north to the park, if conditions are right.  Conditions are not right today though, as we push into a 20 mph headwind most of the way.  Toward the end we bike through sand dunes with gusts of sand blasting in our faces.

The park truly is a can’t miss sight.  Encompassing a large expanse of current and former sand dunes, it consists of very diverse environments: dramatic shoreline, diverse woodlands, lakes and ponds.  It’s crosscut by many walking and cycling paths, has car-accessible and walk-in campsites.  Something for everyone, and large enough to offer a secluded, wilderness feel once you get away from the campsite and pavement.

And it includes what must be one of the most striking lighthouses in the country!

And it has porcupines!!

We enjoyed a splendid six mile hike through the woods and dunes, and at the end of the the day we were blown back to Ludington where we enjoyed a blackened salmon dinner at Ludington Bay Brewery.  A perfect day, really.  

We locked up our bikes beside the dam on the Sable River that forms Lake Hamlin. Right after we locked up, a young man threw his line in the water and immediately caught a bluegill. He couldn’t believe it - he’d only been fishing for about ten seconds.
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The elevated wooden walkway along the Sable River.
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We’ve seen a few black squirrels in the distance but I thought they must be some other small mammal, because I didn’t know squirrels came in licorice. They’re really eastern grey squirrels with a genetic defect, found now primarily in Michigan and Ontario.
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On the Ridge Trail, walking along the crest of old deforested sand dunes. The next two miles of the walk to the lighthouse are like this, through a complex forest of hemlock, beech, black oak, and sugar maple.
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Through the beech trees on the Ridge Trail. Note how the land slopes off on either side, into troughs between neighboring dunes.
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A stone shoulder on the Lighthouse Trail. This looks like it would be a beautiful ski route in the winter.
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We’re out of the woods now, and have fine views the rest of the way to the lighthouse. When we lost the trees we also lost the soil, and the next mile is a slow slog through soft sand.
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Sand bouquet.
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Bill ShaneyfeltNew to me, but might be Carolina puccoon.

https://www.minnesotawildflowers.info/flower/carolina-puccoon
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2 years ago
Porcupine! We’ve never seen one close in the wild before. He waddled slowly down the trail in front of us for a few minutes before finally slipping off into the brush.
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Rich FrasierKudos for the first porcupine picture I’ve ever seen in a bicycle tour blog! I love it!
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2 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Rich FrasierThanks, Rich. This was so great - the real highlight of an overall fine day. It reminds me that I forgot to post a short video I forgot to take before it was almost too late. I’ll include it tomorrow.
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2 years ago
Ron SuchanekGreat! They really like belly rubs.
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2 years ago
Are we ever going to get a side view?
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Yes, finally, sort of.
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Near the shore the dunes shelter small pools and ponds, apparently residuals from fluctuating lake levels.
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Our first view of the Big Sable Point Light is spectacular. Arriving this way from across the dunes makes for a dramatic sighting.
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Just another variety of thistle?
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Bill ShaneyfeltSeems to match dune thistle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirsium_pitcheri
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2 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Bill ShaneyfeltYes, everything about it fits. It sounds like these sand dunes along the Great Lakes are it’s only natural habitat and it’s considered endangered, so we’re lucky to have spotted it.
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2 years ago
Bruce LellmanI love this photo!
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2 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Bruce LellmanIsn’t this great? This was the only one of these I saw walking across the dunes. I was lucky to be looking down at the right moment.
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2 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Ron SuchanekSo that’s where they come from! Who knew porcupines grew on trees? Must be a porcupineapple.
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2 years ago
There’s that lighthouse again. It’s the most striking lighthouse I recall seeing other than on the French Atlantic coast. It merits a few photographs from different angles.
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Out, damn sand! Out, I command you!
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Some background in the foreground.
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At 112 feet tall, this is significantly taller than the nearly as dramatic Cana Island Light we saw last week. It’s also a bit older, built in 1867. And, like the Cana Island Light, the original yellow brick was eventually encased in steel cladding to prevent further erosion.
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I like two things about the photo of this curious structure. One, I like the brick chimney which seems very odd on a structure perched high on stilts. And two, it reminds us of how cold and windy it was at the point today - the incessant winds seemed about 25 mph.
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marilyn swettI wonder if the crossing on the Badger would have been rougher today with all that wind? Looks like you guys might have missed another "can't miss" spot in Ludington - the House of Flavors for incredibly HUGE and tasty ice cream dishes!
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2 years ago
Scott AndersonTo marilyn swettI think some folks would have needed their Dramamine today. We were lucky to have had such a game crossing.

I see that we’re going to need to start shipping you our itineraries in advance so we can quit missing all the can’t miss sights. Personally though, I’m pretty happy with the porcupine.
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2 years ago
Bruce LellmanSo, what exactly is this structure? A sub-lighthouse? With a chimney it must mean that someone basically can live in it for a time because it must have some sort of heat. Very mysterious structure to me. Also, I don't see a ladder.
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2 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Bruce LellmanHa! I discovered what it is. I’ll discuss it in the next post.
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2 years ago
And two things about this photo also. The unusually fine three bedroom lighthouse; and the biker in purple huddled in the only spot around sheltered from the wind. We ate our bagel sandwich lunches on the step there before beginning the walk back to the bikes.
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Some chic beachwear.
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We’d had our fill of slogging through the sand, so we took the road on our way back from the lighthouse.
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Buddy in the back.
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We liked these matching outfits with inverted color patterns.
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After a mile on the coastal path we took a trail through the woods back toward the bikes. These two trees intrigued us, a sagging hemlock and a slender red maple that looks like it’s holding the other up. It looks like a pair of ballroom dancers in a swoon and embrace.
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We finished this wonderful hike with an out and back along the Island Trail. With its plank walkway across the water it reminded us of those amazing walks in the Plitvice Lakes last fall.
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On the Island Trail.
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Includes a six mile hike.
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Today's ride: 21 miles (34 km)
Total: 865 miles (1,392 km)

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Rich FrasierLovely pictures, Scott!
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2 years ago