Home»One Night in Michigan

August 28, 2011 - My conference in Milwaukee Wisconsin ended at noon and the 6 hour mad dash to make it to the Big Sable Lighthouse in Ludington, Michighan began. I watched the sun lowering in the sky as I hit delay after delay, with heavy traffic in Chicago and two lane highways through the small towns along the lake shore. Finding a stretch of open road with 50 miles to go, I floored it as I watched the sun sink further down towards the water. Praying for the sunset to wait for me as I approached the park, another delay at the entrance booth, the ranger directed me to the campground path. Parking in a lot but not knowing which way the path was I quickly headed for the beach with just my camera and my tripod. Asking for directions to the lighthouse, I was told I could go back about 1/2 a mile to the campground path or just follow the beach..it would be about the same distance. With the sun setting I headed to the shoreline. No lighthouse in sight I walked and sometimes ran, hoping I would be able to go the 1.8 miles before the sun sank below the horizon. The sand so heavy in my sandals that they felt like concrete, but the sky was beginning to light up and there in the distance I could see the silhouette of the tower. So tired, I resigned myself to the fact I wasn't going to make it and began taking shots along the shore as I make my way to the lighthouse. Towards the end taking my shoes off and actually wading in the water thigh high as I shot the waves rolling in. Getting to Big Sable just as the sun went below the horizon and twilight was beginning. I took a few shots and started looking for the path from the beach to the lighthouse...suprise there wasn't one. I tried climbing around breakwater unsuccessfully (another story) and decided to climb up one of the big dunes, slipping the whole way up it, my wet jeans now covered in sand, I found the campground trail that would take me back to the parking lot. In complete darkness, only the white sand of the path to lead the way. 2 miles never seemed as long as they did that night and probably won't ever again.