May 1-2, 2022
Harrisville, MI
I made it back. And I now have numerous pictures to commemorate my time at this park.
When we pull into our campsite, it is raining again. I curse the Michigan weather, and we settle in to wait it out. It is not quite 3 o’clock, so we have plenty of daylight to spare. I regret not packing my computer, as this would have been a great opportunity to start working on the hundreds of pictures I have taken thus far. Instead I open a book. An hour ticks by. My hopes of relaxing in the sun or hiking the trail here begin to fade. I get stir crazy. Another half hour passes. And the rain finally stops. I waste no time unloading my sleepy dog. We hit the trail.
Just over halfway through, the sun finally graces us with its presence. My pale skin reflects it like a disco ball. My black dog immediately overheats and lays down in a puddle.
Hike complete, we head to the “dog beach” conveniently located right next to our campsite. (As in, I chose our campsite due to its proximity to the dog-friendly beach at this park.) And I was super optimistic about sunshine and warmth and thought, just maybe, we would spend a couple of hours lounging on the beach. Or maybe even half of the next day. So optimistic in fact that I brought my swimsuit. Even though the weather was like, 50 degrees and cloudy. Spoiler alert: I did not break out the swimsuit.
Also the dog “beach” left a lot to be desired. I would call it more of a dog-friendly rocky outlet to the lake. I mean, Gob had fun barking at the waves, but he had no room to run and there was no sand for lounging. And if there’s no sand, can you even call it a beach?
We abandon the dog “beach” and wander the mostly-abandoned campsites. We find one the backs up to the lake and has a beautiful secluded sandy beach. We hang out for a bit.
We continue wandering. I’m searching for the beautiful sandy beach from our first visit (see below). We never find it.
Our evening is spent lounging on a blanket at our campsite. I have to move it periodically to stay in the sunshine. We watch as a few other dog-hopefuls check out the “dog beach” only to turn back full of disappointment.
The next morning we wake up in thick fog. We decide not to stick around for it to lift.
June 6, 2018
I have no proof that we graced this park aside from a single photograph of the beach with a geolocation tag thanks to technology. We did not hike any trails. We did not camp. We did not lounge on the beach.
I hesitate to even consider this a “visit”. And I likely will return to conduct a more thorough investigation. But for now it is half-checked off my list. And if I am unable to make a return visit, it will still count.
Interested in checking out this park? Find out more here!
Check out my other Michigan State Park adventures!
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