Beaver island — Day2

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We arose to the gentle early morning light. No motors, no cars, no garbage trucks. Just quiet with a little breeze. Looking around the apartment I found some very old coffee. it was all we had, so I dumped it into the coffeemaker and we got by on what we had. Though it was the worst coffee ever, we enjoyed with with eggs and toast and fruit.

We headed out to the first of our biking hiking outings for the day. The first was to a little birding path that led to the shore followed by a stroll along the shore that we had to ourselves.

The northeast side of the island has rocky shores.

We walked further down the shore, passing the northeast point and heading south.

The shores of Lake Michigan have a unique flora. Here the spiked lobelia with it’s exquisite purple flowers.

This hike was rather short, so we identified another natural area to bike south towards. As we headed down the main road towards the “downtown”, we came upon a house being moved. A large crew of workers ran ahead of the house to trim trees and elevated electric lines so that the house could get through.

A house is move to another spot on the island. It’s so expensive to move things to the island, that homes are more likely renovated or moved than merely demolished or built anew.

While heading to a second nature center, we took a false turn and conincidentally came upon a coffee truck with excellent espresso!

A beautiful little coffee truck provided us with lattes. They will shut down for the season within days.

After finishing our coffee, we explored the unusual derelicts along the shore, and then headed to a nearby nature trail.

This ancient boat is also an oil drlling company. I’m not sure if the oil drilling started after the boat was grounded or what.

Soon we found our way to the second nature trail.

Another of the many natural areas under protection of the Little Traverse Conservancy
Playthings lie peacefully as families have retreated to the mainland for school to start.

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We were hungry after these hikes and bike rides, and found a cute little sandwich shop

The Wild Strawberry Cafe

We were ready to head back to the apartment to rest. As we headed back of the hill we came upon a historic marker and a park filled with historic machines from the early agricultural history of the island.

An old generator lies peacefully, it’s productive days long past.

Still with time left in the day, we opted for biking to a third natural area, the Little Sand Bay Nature Preserve. This time we biked 4 miles to an ancient house, one of the oldest left standingon the island, and then walked back through paths through 5 different ecosystems until we came out on the Little Sand Bay.

A fascinating walk through a cedar swamp in which all of the roots are intertwined and interlocked, with a boardwalk on top.

We were tired now, and headed back to the rental apartment, and prepared a humble dinner of beef sandwich, chicken sausage, fruit and a little cookie — everything that we had been able to scrape up. It was time to rest up and read….. until going out for sunset and to try to see the milky way

Though we had a short slice of time before the moon would rise, we were able to capture the milky way looking south over the bay.

And now we know why our rental is called Starry Night and why we love Beaver Island so much.

We biked back to our apartment in the pitch black night, our strong bike lights illuminating the way, and slept soundly.

5 thoughts on “Beaver island — Day2”

  1. Gary

    Eric,
    Enjoying reading about your visit very much. Never been there, so am finding your experience novel. I have read of the time Beaver Island was ruled by a Mormon dissident.
    Gary

    1. ebouwens

      Yes, King Strang was a very strange Mormon character, finally assassinated by a group of his former followers. I wonder who was stranger, Trump or Strang?

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