This place not
only has clean, gorgeous water and luscious trees of many
kinds, but it has dunes, folks! Yep, dunes! This was totally
new to me and I didn't realize it was rare for this side
of MI. And I'm sorry, but this doesn't make it any easier
for me to believe that this is not an ocean...
The author of one
of the best books I saw about camping in Michigan's public
parks (Jim
DuFresne), listed P.H. Hoeft as one of Michigan's
Top 5: State of the Parks: Gather Together for some of
the same reasons I heard from people camping here: the mile-long,
ideal stretch of sand for beachcombing and Luke Huron freight-watching,
among other things.
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Green
flag (good conditions) day at the beach at Hoeft! This boardwalk
is an easy walk from the campground... |
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or
there's another path that will lead you to being able to climb
over the dunes. |
| From
here you can walk along that mile of sandy, Lake Huron shoreline.
At the northwest end you come upon... |
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...Sacred
Rock.
Explorer
Guide Beckey (blue shirt) took us on a walk down the beach
and told us the facts and legends...
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According
to geologists, the boulder was probably deposited by the receding
glacier at the end of the last Ice Age. The rock is presently
about 50' from the shore, but there have been times when the
rock was completely covered by water.
The
more romantic (and the one I like best) Indian legend explains
that The Great Manitou got angry at two "red brothers"
who could not get along. While they were arguing, he picked
up a big stone and threw it on them, burying them deeply into
the ground. Good argument for, "Can't we all just get
along???"
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On
another night as darkness fell, Beckey took us out for
a star gazing session. I saw both big & little dipper,
Cassiopeia, more stuff I can't spell, but the best part
was a shooting star! The moon was half full so it wasn't
the best night for star gazing, but still a lot better
than city lights! |
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| This
was Beckey's first year working at the park, but she grew up
nearby on a farm and loves it here. When I remarked that the
kids obviously took to her, she shared her ambition is to work
with kids who are disabled using therapy horses ... very inspired
and inspiring, Beckey! Actually, I found the whole staff here
to be great and dedicated from the warm greeting when I arrived
to the fond farewell when I had to leave. More park managers
should understand the importance of that kind of hospitality
and what a difference it can make in a camper's entire stay.
Blake, the Park Supervisor here, gives new meaning to that word
- more on him in the history of the park page coming soon... |
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As
usual, one of my favorite things about RVing are the people.
Rod & Mary from Saginaw were my neighbors and Rod was so
great from the start, helping me get backed in, telling me about
things to do in the area, etc. |
| After
enjoying their company and swapping tales over a campfire at
their place one early evening, I went back inside when I got
cold. But shortly after that, Rod came and got me and said to
bring my camera to see this next shot...you gotta love people
like this! |
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...they
knew I wouldn't want to miss this perfectly beautiful sunset.
Thanks for sharing, guys!
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Sunrise,
Sunset... The East Coast
(Lake Huron side) of MI is called the Sunrise Side for obvious
reasons, but one of the really neat things I learned about this
park is that you can actually see both the sunrise and sunset
by the water here. Because of the particular way the park is
situated, you are looking north at the dunes, so you can see
the sunrise at the east end (Rogers City) and the sunset on
the west end (toward 40-Mile Lighthouse). Notoriously not a
morning person, I never made it up early enough to catch a picture
of the sunrise, though, so I can't swear to that... |
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