By Guest Blogger Mark S. Carlson (www.markscarlson.com)
Aging Large-Flowered Trillium in Foggy Woods (c markscarlson.com)
It was mid summer when my parents informed my brother and I that our family would soon visit the Sleeping Bear Dunes for a few days vacation in the ‘Little Finger’ of Michigan. At the time, I was just a little boy whose greatest pleasure was derived from playing in the backyard sandbox at our home in Lansing. To prep me for this exciting excursion, my Mother and Father explained how these ‘sand dunes’ consisted of more sand than I could ever imagine. I was blessed with and still possess, a wonderful imagination, so this description sent my thoughts soaring. To add to the magic, we were going to climb them too!
Before we arrived at the ‘dunes’, we spent the night at a quaint Bed & Breakfast somewhere between Beulah and Empire. It was like trying to sleep on Christmas Eve. My restless dreams were filled with anxious anticipation and images of huge mounds of sand, like those found at a gravel pit, only with park-like fencing around them.
Death Camas Empire Bluffs (c markscarlson.com)
The next morning, my tired eyes awoke to a beautiful sunny day. For some reason, we didn’t eat breakfast at the B&B, instead we stopped at a cozy little restaurant along M-109, just a half mile or so prior to the famed Dune Climb. It was from our table near a large picture window that I first gazed upon Sleeping Bear Dunes. There, high above the treetops, stretched a blanket of golden sand across the horizon. I was mesmerized by its vastness and seemingly endless scope.
That was nearly 50 year ago. Today, I’m still in awe of the magnificent splendor known as the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Every year since the early 1960′s, I’ve visited the region, appreciating it’s diverse natural features, it’s charming rural history and spacious scenery. As a professional naturalist photographer for many years now, I’ve visually explored just about every nook and cranny the area has to offer.
Barn and Orchard thru Blossoming Cherry Trees (c markscarlson.com)
These days, during May and October, I’m happy to share my favorite spots with other kindred spirits, guiding them to highlight locations throughout the ‘Little Finger” peninsula. Along with fellow instructor, Robert Grzesiak, our Great Lakes Photo Tours treat participants to some very exciting photo opportunities while enjoying wonderful weekend accommodations at The Homestead, a resort in Glen Arbor, Michigan.
It’s still a thrill for me to scan the horizon from the Dune Climb, walk an endless shoreline beachcombing for photographs or compose a farm scene through a tunnel of cherry blossoms. My heart beats faster each time an eagle soars overhead or a loon wails from the lake. To Michigan photographers, the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore represents our very own “grand landscape.” For me, it is my artistic inspiration and I will always be content if my seasons are full of sand.
Sunset Through White Pines Good Harbor Bay (c markscarlson.com)
