Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

The Empire Bluff Trail is one that I revisit many times each year.  Here it is in late fall.

Enjoy:

2017 is Record Year for Great Lakes Piping Plovers

I once spent a week with piping plovers.

Great Lakes Piping Plover with colorful leg bands

This small shorebird is endangered, so the population is monitored during nesting season. 

I volunteered to help monitor the population nesting on North Manitou Island as part of my 

1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure.

Piping Plover on the edge of Lake Michigan

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At the lowest point in the 1980s, the population of this diminutive bird had dwindled to just 13 nesting pairs.

Scoping to identify individual plovers

Keeping track of the birds was a meticulous and difficult task. Each bird has a unique set of colorful bands on its legs and that code had to be deciphered in order to know the identity of each individual bird.  

Piping Plover nest 

Putting a protective cage around nests is the best way to keep predators from stealing the eggs.

Protective netting around a nest

2017 was a milestone year for these little birds as a record 76 breeding pairs were recorded this summer.

And, it was the first year that this bird nested on all five Great Lakes since 1955. The Fish and Wildlife Service called this "a remarkable development for the recovery program."

Nesting areas are restricted and protected

These little birds still choose Michigan's Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (including the Manitou Islands) as their primary nesting site. This year a record 41 pairs nested there.

Tiny plover tracks

Learn more about this record year HERE.

Great Lakes Island Adventure

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and Great Lakes speaker. She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has written three books about the Great Lakes [A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach *a Heartland Indie Bestseller*, A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk *winner of the Great Lakes Great Reads Award*, and A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure]. To learn more about her work, or to book her as a speaker, go to http://LakeTrek.com

Three years ago I completed my 1,000-mile adventure exploring the islands of 
our Great Lakes.

As I hiked, biked and boated through the region, I saw hundreds of islands, setting foot on many of them.

The story of this journey is in my third book:

Here are some highlights:

Columbine on Washington Island

Stavkirke on Washington Island

Watching over the piping plovers on North Manitou Island

Kayaking the Les Cheneaux Islands

The Apostle Islands

Kayaking the Apostle Islands

Kayaking the Apostle Islands

Hiking Grand Island with my niece and nephew

Chain coral on Manitoulin Island

Kayaking the Thousand Islands in the St. Lawrence River

Isle Royale

All of my books are available as audiobooks on 
audible.com

Great Lakes Walk Anniversary

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and Great Lakes speaker. She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has written three books about the Great Lakes [A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach *a Heartland Indie Bestseller*, A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk *winner of the Great Lakes Great Reads Award*, and A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure]. To learn more about her work, or to book her as a speaker, go to http://LakeTrek.com

Five years ago today I completed my 1,000-mile hike exploring all five Great Lakes.

The yellow line in the map below traces the route of this adventure. I spent time on each Great Lake and also hiked some of the watery connections between the lakes.

The yellow route is my Great Lakes Walk

 Here are some highlights from this journey:

Pictured Rocks along Lake Superior

Hiking along limestone-strewn Lake Huron

Niagara Falls

St. Clair River and the Blue Water Bridge

Hiking along Lake Erie

Lake Huron

Lake Huron

Lake St. Clair

Hiking the Waterfront Trail along Lake Ontario

Group that hiked final miles with me to finish line of Niagara Falls

  I learned so much about our Great Lakes on this adventure. Each lake has a unique "personality." The geology differs in each basin. And each lake has unique conditions for aquatic life.

The full story of this walk is in my second book (also available as an audiobook):

Flowers Emerge

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and Great Lakes speaker. She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has written three books about the Great Lakes [A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach *a Heartland Indie Bestseller*, A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk *winner of the Great Lakes Great Reads Award*, and A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure]. To learn more about her work, or to book her as a speaker, go to http://LakeTrek.com

I have hiked a Moosewatch Expedition on Isle Royale three times, all in the month of May. 

This year was early in the month and snow and even icicles persisted in secluded places on the island.

Icicles on a rock wall 

Spring was making inroad while we hiked, though, and flowers hesitantly emerged.

Wild violets

Creatures Awake

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and dynamic speaker. 

She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has authored three books about these adventures: 

A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach  [A Heartland Indie Bestseller]

A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk   [Winner of the Great Lakes Great Reads Award] 

A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure  [Long-listed for the Chautauqua Prize]

 

To learn more about her work, or to engage her as a speaker, go to http://www.laketrek.com/great-lakes-speaker/

Islands are isolated ecosystems and generally have a limited number of creatures on them.

Isle Royale has only 15 mammals living there, and only three species of snakes (garter, red-bellied, and rat snake).

My Moosewatch Team came across two species of snakes this May:

Garter snake (upper photo) and Red-bellied snake (lower photo)

Another life form was waking up on the island.

This ant colony was still huddled together for warmth, but check out their antennae on the video below...

In-island Lakes

Loreen Niewenhuis is an author, adventurer, and Great Lakes speaker. She has completed a trilogy of 1,000-mile adventures exploring the Great Lakes and has written three books about the Great Lakes [A 1,000-Mile Walk on the Beach *a Heartland Indie Bestseller*, A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Walk *winner of the Great Lakes Great Reads Award*, and A 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Island Adventure]. To learn more about her work, or to book her as a speaker, go to http://LakeTrek.com

This year I hiked my third Moosewatch Expedition on Isle Royale. We explored the island east of Malone Bay and around several inland lakes including the largest, Siskiwit Lake. This lake is not only the largest on the island, but also has an island in the lake, Ryan Island. And Ryan Island is therefore the largest island on the largest lake on the largest island on the largest freshwater lake in the world.

Whew!

Enjoy these photos and videos of a few of the dozens of inland lakes.