I commend my friend Devon for introducing me to Nordhouse, now my favorite place in the Lower Peninsula.
Backpacked Nordhouse Dunes north of Ludington. This was beautiful...and it really wasn't backpacking. I went with my friend Devon and her brother (Dillon) and girlfriend (Cassie). Of course I was picturing a weekend of backpacking and packed accordingly; Kept my pack weight to 30 pounds, didn't pack a beach towel, etc. We get out of the car at Nordhouse and I pulled Dillon's bag out to discover it weighed like 50 pounds and had a full-size STOVE inside I grew skeptical. Then I saw Cassie pack big iPod speakers and iPod (with ONLY country music. I'm a somewhat convert in that I don't mind some country inter-mixed with my non-country tunes...but a weekend of just country into her pack and I was ready to take Jason Aldean's Big Green Tractor and run over Rascall Flatts, over and over until I ran out of gas) and frowned. The last straw was when I realized they were carrying a DUFFEL bag with an axe, huge propane stovetop and other heavy equipment that wouldn't fit in Dillon's 50 pound pack (though I admit the pancakes were a pleasant and tasty morning surprise)! Exasperated, I was forced to ask how long we'd be hiking. Answer: about a mile with a question mark?
I can definitively say it is 1.8 miles now. Also after various trips back, I have only ever hiked northwest out of the parking lot and taken the dune trail. More people seem to take the southwest trailhead. Probably shorter and less elevation, but I have my favorite spot I have to have on the northern end of the dunes. :)
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