A year ago on August 2, a powerful storm packing winds in excess of 100 miles-an-hour rolled off of Lake Michigan and took dead aim at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
Fortunately, no one was killed and very few people were injured. While there were dozens of homes and businesses damaged, the majority of the devistation was to the canopy of trees in the area. A prime example of that is Alligator Hill.
Named for its resemblance to a resting alligator, this rise of thickly-forested land lies within the boundaries of the national lakeshore. A series of hiking and cross-country skiing trails, totaling over 7 miles, traverse the length of the hill. The winds from the storm raked along the ridge, funneling into the ravines on either side and laying 150 year old trees into piles exceeding 10 feet in height. The trail system was closed following the storm and was only recently reopened to hiking. After our friends Lane and Patti hiked it, we decided to go check it out on our anniversary this last Saturday, August 6th.
As the map at the trailhead suggested, we snapped a photo to take the map with us. It’s nice that these signs are clear enough to be able to read on a smartphone. The NPS really does a good job at Sleeping Bear, and we appreciate it. Our route for the day would take us to Islands Lookout and Big Glen Lookout. Including a side trip to view additional storm damage, we totaled 4.7 miles.
Once on the trail, we were greeted by the cool canopy of trees that made up the majority of the path, prior to last August. Having not hiked here before, we aren’t sure if the two-track appearance of the trail existed before the storm. A lot of equipment had to come through this area to reopen the upper portions of the route.
Before long, we started to see some of the downed trees. There was no doubt that this was the result of straight-line winds, as these giants were all dropped in an easterly direction.
After a short stretch of blown out forest, we returned to the canopy of trees. It was there that we came upon one of the best views we’ve ever seen at Sleeping Bear…the Islands Lookout.
Look at that water. One of the hikers at the overlook commented that it reminded him of the Carribean. We never get tired of looking at these waters, and this particular viewpoint really puts it all in perspective. Off in the distance is South Manitou Island to the left and North Manitou Island to the right.
Continuing around to the right, you are able to see just how wide the vista is here. Looking with the naked eye, I spotted something on the horizon between the islands. I zoomed my camera in as best I could, but I still couldn’t tell what I was seeing until I got home.
It was a fairly large Great Lakes freighter steaming north towards the Straits of Mackinac!
Leaving the viewpoint, we headed towards Big Glen Lookout.
This is the ‘spine of the alligator’, so to speak. This area was hit hard, as you are able to see. Still, it was interesting to see how other plant life was coming up from the forest floor.
Common Mullein were sprouting up everywhere!
Again, we entered an area of forested canopy before we arrived at our next viewpoint.
Big Glen Lookout overlooks what is considered to be one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, Big Glen Lake. Almost perfectly round and surrounded by high hills, the lake doesn’t have a lot of big waves, making it a boater’s paradise.
Heading back towards the trailhead, we took the path that runs below the ridge on the south side. This is the area that the storm hit first.
It looked like a war zone. The National Park Service is contemplating what to do with the timber. One school of thought is to leave it natural while the other is to remove it to lessen the extreme fire danger. Either way, it was an amazing thing to see!
These trees were shattered. It was interesting to see how the core of the tree seperated from the rest. We saw several examples of this.
We can’t imagine what it would have been like to have been on the trail that day, as there was nowhere to hide. It’s humbling to think of the power the storm was packing.
It wasn’t too long before we were back at the trailhead and our vehicle. What would have normally been a nice hike to a couple of great viewpoints has become a lesson in the tremendous forces that nature unleashes from time to time. We are really glad we did this hike and we recommend it to anyone visiting Sleeping Bear.
exploRVistas 
Looks like you had a great weather day for your hike! You are so right about good ‘ole Mother Nature – we have no control at all! Glad no one was killed – 100+ mph winds are strong! Thanks for sharing – great pics of the beautiful views!
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Thanks, Kelly! We were on US-2 in the Upper Peninsula that day, looking back south across Lake Michigan. The sky was black and we knew it was bad down this way.
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Those views were breathtaking!! Wow!! The damage from the storm was amazing…so sad! Nice to see they cleaned up enough to open the trail. Great hike!
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It’s amazing to see how much work they did to get those trails open, Pam.!
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Great hike. Crazy the devastation that can happen in a flat line storm. We had one when we lived in Upstate NY, 90+ winds. Scary! We all hid in the basement overnight. Trees on our property were uprooted and many snapped in half. Those pictures really show how powerful that can be. The color of the water there really does look like the Caribbean!
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They are like quick little hurricanes, Deb. We had one in Grand Rapids in 1999 that did a bunch of damage.
It’s amazing the water quality difference in Lake Michigan between the southern and northern end. So crystal clear up here!
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We were in Owen Sound Ontario visiting my mother… your storm must have gone north of us… missed us completely. Glad you’re OK. Mother Nature can sure be a great humbler… ask me how I know this. Been thru enuf of her antics.
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We were actually in the UP when this hit last year, Brian. It sounded like it was crazy !
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There have been so many similar instances in the past few years of Momma Nature’s wrath. They do a good job of putting humans in their relative place — but sadly they are also extremely costly to recover from.
Nugget lake near us lost over a hundred trees in not very many acres. Gull Lake campground was hit by straight line winds last year and just reopened a month or so ago. Our momma is awesome, but it would seem someone’s gone and ticked her off pretty good lately.
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So true, Peter!
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Looks like a recent storm even a year later – until you see some of the new growth. Amazing what Mother Nature can do just by breathing hard! The views are incredible – wonder if they’re better now with less canopy in some areas? Hope you’re enjoying cooler temps along the water.
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It’s actually been fairly warm this summer, Jodee…much more than last year. When it gets too hot, we can jump in the lake! 🙂
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Holy cow. Wonderful storm picture by the way and I loved the ones of the downed trees. The power of nature is something. I noticed the trails were cleared right away, that was good to see. Thanks for sharing this with us.
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That’s a borrowed storm photo, Trace. It took a full 10 months to clear the trails…I guess that is quick, considering how much lumber is down. 🙂
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Looks like they have quite the storms up that way. We would get those straight-line winds once in a while when we lived in Wisconsin. Very devastating!
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Quite often, the lake cools off a storm, Jim. Not that one though!
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I am so glad that we were able to hike these trails before that storm. Wow, what devastation.
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So you know first hand what it used to look like! Wow….I wish I had seen it before.
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It was beautiful and will be again, I’m sure.
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The first picture is incredible, and scary. It’s good to know no one was killed with such high winds.
I thought Glen was a Scottish name and that you would rather used lake. I’m surprised to see it’s used in the US ! 🙂
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A man by the name of John Fisher gave Glen Arbor, the neighboring town, its name. Fisher sounds Swedish, so I’m not sure where he got ‘Glen’ from. Remember though that many place names here have European origins, Gin…that, and Native American. It’s a small world! 😀
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