School Lake | exploRVistas

There is nothing quite like getting on a lake.

One thing we had been wanting to do for quite awhile is to get out on the water in our kayaks. We had plans to do so in north central Florida, but we chose to push farther south to Naples instead. We had an opportunity last weekend, but thunderheads rolled in before we could get out there. Well, today was the day. The temperature climbed to 80 degrees, and the rains were supposed to hold off until mid afternoon, which they did. Time to get out there! 🙂

For today’s paddle, we chose School Lake, located within the boundaries of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

School lake is connected to the smaller Bass Lake by a channel that might allow a kayak to get through. The reason we chose School Lake is that Bass Lake borders right on M-22, and carries some traffic noise. Except for the boat launch, School Lake is all natural.

The launch is decent, even for small, trailered boats. There were two aluminum boats on the lake while we were there. The lake itself measures in at approxametely 2/3 of a mile across, and is somewhat round in shape. The bottom appeared to be sandy, and the water was clear.

There is a fairly high ridge that runs south of the lake. The wind was coming from that direction today, and we found the calmest water along that shore.

To the north, there is a large dune that is actually the back side of Pyramid Point, which we showed in an earlier post. Today, we witnessed a Bald Eagle skimming that end of the lake. We also saw (and heard) a loon. Both of those sightings made our day. 🙂

Here is Ketchup and Mustard, ready to go! We did not take any photos on the lake, as we have to still get a waterproof case for one of our phones. If anyone has recommendations, we are all ears!

We asked a young couple who were mushroom hunting to take our photo. They were kind enough to oblige.

One other thing to note about Sleeping Bear, are the ‘facilities’.

This beauty was at the boat launch. It was extremely clean, had no odor, was handicap accessible, and had fully stocked hand sanitizer and toilet paper dispensers. The interior is all one piece, no-seam Fiberglas, so they are easy to keep clean. Very nice, indeed. 🙂

Changing subjects, here is a wildflower update:

Diana spotted these Jack-in-the-Pulpit up near the yurt at Wild Cherry. They were huge!

She also spotted these marsh marigolds after we got off School Lake today. They are popping up everywhere.

One of the places we visited a couple of weeks ago was Good Harbor Beach. We decided to drive out and take a look today, as it is just up Bohemian Road from School Lake. We got there, and we were the only ones there.

Hmmmm… 80 degrees, partly cloudy… What is up?

Not a soul on the beach…except for the flies. Tons of them! Yikes! We know that the northern Great Lakes can be iffy for flies in late May and early June, so we will have to keep tabs on the conditions. It may have been because there was rain coming in. At least they weren’t biting, and they were confined to the beach itself.