Pictures From the Island

We left home at 4:30am and arrived in Leland just before 9am. The night before, Tony was unable to sleep and I only slept for about three hours. The boat left the dock shortly after 10am and we were on our way.

The boat leaving the main land. No turning back now.



We made it to the island! This is the line of people unloading all of the packs.



We have all of our gear and are ready to go.



Tony is full of energy and excited to get started.



Camp for the first night. We had just finished breakfast and were preparing to tear down.

At this camp site we spotted a few eagles and a deer. Along the trails, there were numerous chipmunks and snakes. The island has an abundance of wildlife.



View from our camp on the first night. The waves were dangerously high and the beach was full of rocks. We had to make the climb up and down the dune twice to refill our water bottles.
This is on the west side of the island. We were hoping to watch the sunset, but the clouds were too thick and there was nothing to see.



Hiking day number two.



This is the beach we went swimming in. This picture is unable to capture the beauty of the beach. The water was crystal clear and refreshing to be in.
Unfortunately, there were an insane amount of flies so we tore down camp and kept hiking back to the ranger station.



This is the cemetery. The last person buried there was in 1988.



Starting the last stretch of the hike.



Resting. We are nearing the end of our 15 mile hike and Tony is exhausted.



This is one of the many historical buildings on the island from when people use to live on the island. Because they are unmaintained, you can not enter the buildings.



Camp site number 3, night number 2.



Leaving the island.



Back at the main land.

Unfortunately, the pictures were unable to fully capture the beauty of the island and the amazing sites we enjoyed. This trip was great. There were a few disappointments, but I would go again any day.

While we were there an elderly man that was on the northwest side of the island had seizures and had to be flown off of the island. We saw the helicopter flying over the island and knew something was wrong. It took eight hours for the search and rescue.

Also on the trip, a man named Fritz was quite comical. We happened to sit next to him on the boat ride home and he had quite the story. He also camped at Sleeping Bear Dunes and lost most of his belongings, then proceeded to walk nearly nine miles bare foot.

Once we arrived back on the main land, we walked to our vehicle and went to a restaurant to get some comfort food. We were on the road by 2:30pm and arrived home at 6:30pm fully worn out.