Well anyone who knows me will be quite shocked to hear that I went to a beach. First off I am one of the palest people I have ever met… I am one shade darker than powder, and that is because my parents did not grow me in their basement.
Anyhow I went to the dunes yesterday and had a great time. We left at around 10:30 am and were at the Warren Dunes in Michigan by 12:30 central, 1:30 local time. It was quite a bit warmer on the beach than the area surrounding it, and the sun was quite intense. Luckily I came prepared with SPF 30 sunblock to prevent me from burning.
One of the coolest things at this park is that there is a natural clay deposit / clay basin / clay stream. You have to hike up this little stream for about 15-20 minutes and then there it is… a area full of clay…gray clay like youuse for ceramics. People go over there and grab a chunk of it and paint theeir bodies with it, some use it for sun block.
There were kids crying who got a little crazy and put too much on, people were sliding down sides of the area on slides made of clay. You could see the roots of the trees and watch the water dripping down being filtered by the earth. It was pretty awesome. I did not bring my camera so I cannot post anything about it , but this is what the people looked like:
And here is a link to a “virtual tour of the beach”
We also climbed some of the dunes and those things are killer. It is really hard to limb loose sand going up a large hill.
If you are ever in Michigan you should check out Warren Dunes State Park.
The moral of this story is I need to spend less time in front of the computer and more time seeing and experiencing the world around me.
Anyone else out there getting a case of computer/internet burnout?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
hay! im going to the warren dunes tomorrow with my boyfriend i cant wait i heard the clay slide is loads of fun,
While you were digging into the clay I wonder if you noticed the filthy grey water full of washed off clay, the absence of any fish or aquatic life, and the erosion caused by the people sliding down the banks of the creek or digging into it looking for clay? Did it occur to you that the natural condition of water is usually to be clear, rather than choked full of particulate matter? Did you notice the way the creek dumped its dirty contents into the lake, making the entire swimming area at its mouth murky & cloudy? If you did, you would probably be the first person who considered the effect of their actions on what used to be a clean, healthy creek ecosystem. Please don’t use the clay beds and don’t encourage others to do so- it has severely damaged the creek. Besides, it’s only clay that you could dig up in your back yard- there’s nothing special about it!!
Please Respect the Nature as Maggie said and Let others Know that messing with the clay is Destroying the natural environment.. Since we all love this Planet’s Natural Wonders we must work hard to Keep them around for Generations 🙂