Author: PigTailz

I'm the girl with no name.

Sleeping Bear Dunes, Michigan

Summers in Michigan are amazing enough that the 9 months of bad weather is worth it… almost. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore has both drive in and remote camping sites if you are up for about a mile hike into the woods. I have done this trip both ways, but this particular visit is the hike-in camping.

We came for the Perseid Meteor Shower. We had some business to attend during the day and arrived pretty late at night. We were able to make the hike in and set up camp just before the sun set. We had a bite to eat before it was too dark.

As we made our way from the tent down to the lake to watch the meteors, we were stalked by a mountain lion! It gave a little growl, but we kept going. There are not so many options for dealing with cats that outweigh you, on a trail, in the dark. We decided the best bet was to keep walking, slowly, to open space rather than turn around and go back through the woods. Cats tend to prefer to stay hidden and you can’t run and you can’t bend down to grab a stick or open a tent… So we kept on to the beach with the occasional hint of his continued presence. Wow oh wow are lions silent hunters. We made it onto the beach and went near the water line, as far from the trees as was reasonable. After a bit, we could see the cat leave the safety of the trees to come a little closer. But a flash of his eyes and he was gone.

We sat in the sand and watched the stars. We had a clear sky just above us for a while despite so many clouds. When it was too overcast to see anything, we made our way back to camp. If our friend was still with us, we did not hear him.

AND NO ONE BELIEVED US. It was another year or more before the first trail camera caught a mountain lion in the area.

The next day was lion free. The weather was perfect. And we hiked around the back trails near Lake Michigan.

We made our way down to the beach as the clouds rolled in.

There was a little nautical museum to visit that tells the story of the area.

There was no storm, only a bit of wind, so we continued our adventure.

This history of this place is interesting. Michigan has a bit of its own fairytale and folk lore. If you visit, you can get a sense of why. The weather is so harsh and extreme for much of the year, that tranquil days seem to be days of waiting for the storm. The story that gives Sleeping Bear dunes its name can be found here. It originates with the indigenous people that inhabited this area. Read at your own risk though. It is pretty sad.

Mesa Verde National Park, Arizona

What happened here is one of those stories you don’t tell because people won’t believe it anyway. I will save this memory for myself.

I will say it is hands down the most magical place I have been in the US. I’m not sure how to explain it, there is something in this place that tells your soul to smile and be still. The old gods of the Pueblo and Hopi people must still be living here to watch over their people.

While no one really knows why this place was suddenly abandoned, even the petroglyphs seem to be telling a story of happiness.

And I found a later park brochure that descbribes the meaning of the image above! Some Hopi men provided their thoughts in 1942. It appears to be a tribal origin story if you will.

Vermilion Cliffs, Arizona

An unplanned stop on the roadtrip turned out to be one of my favorite finds. We saw a sign that read “cliff dwellers” and we had to go.

Cautionary camping tales…

I let my daughter wander a bit while I took some photos. Ummm… don’t do that. I found her chasing this bright orange fuzzy ant thing. Fortunately she did not touch it before I got there. Bright colors are a bad sign in nature, so I told her to stay clear. I Googled later. This GIANT insect of doom and destruction is called a “Cow Killer” ant. It is not an ant at all. It is a wingless wasp which is named after its powerful sting. So yeah. Pretty guy. Big nope.

Zion National Park, Utah

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We arrived early enough to set up camp and aventure a little. You have to drive through a mountain tunnel to get into the park and it is so amazing. Checking in took a little longer and the drive into the park was a bit slow with traffic. But that is to be expected this time of year.

This is maybe the most beautiful place I have been in the United States.

The park is walled around, by steep cliffs and makes an oasis in the middle of the desert. I think my favorite spot was the Weeping Rock. I spent so much time sitting there in the cool, calm, alcove listening to the water dripping overhear.

For another cautionary camping tale…

When camping in the desert in summer, stay hydrated, be careful, and watch your friends for signs of strange behavior. I think my friend nearly had heat stroke during this trip. The temperature was up to 45C (113F) in the early morning. This was the direct temperature, and not the heat index. During breakfast, he started behaving a little strangely. I watched him take the rain fly off the tent and walk across it while mumbling. Ever the boyscout, always so careful with his tools, I knew this was incredibly out of character for him. Although a subtle sign to anyone unfamiliar with the person, I can say that after 20 years of friendship, this was enough of an indicator of confusion for me that I knew he needed to cool down ASAP. My Tiny Grown Up was red in the face already and acting tired. So I packed them up some bottles of water and marched them immediately down to the river.

I sat them in the shade, told them to put their feet in the water and drink the water. I returned to camp for towels and snacks and whatever else we might need to spend the day in the stream. When I returned, there were two completely different people waiting for me. Both were energized and refreshed. I told them to stay in the water anyway. We played in the water until the midday heat had passed.