This week’s solar eclipse summoned me to return to Michigan’s Silver Lake dunes, where I was for the eclipse in 2017, to witness the emergence of ancient dune dragons. The 2024 eclipse would be extraordinary, as I noted back then, as it was happening in the Year of the Wood Dragon! I bet while you were worrying about the rapture, you forgot all about that, didn’t you?! But before I prepared for their brutal competition to swallow the sun, I visited the dunes at sunrise that morning to scout the unique landscape on Lake Michigan beforehand. It’s been seven years since I’ve been there last, with some new tools for exploring on the ground and from the air.
Some things fade over seven years, particularly my memory of how difficult traversing the dunes can be. I seem to recall, poorly I suppose, that the stairs to just the top starting point went higher than the 1/3 of the way they actually go. Michiganders and non-Michiganders alike may be unfamiliar with this isolated spot on Lake Michigan, but it is particularly unique because of the absence of trees and most other vegetation except on the perimeter. This contributes to its otherworldly/vast desert appearance once you are deep into the hiking area (as opposed to the section designated for ORVs). Prevailing winds blowing across Lake Michigan carve and sculpt the landscape excitingly. The dunes are constantly changing, shifting, and morphing – much to some local property owners’ struggles.1
Just getting to my first spot, where I decided to stop for some photos, reminded me that I am not the spring chicken I was seven years ago. If this epic battle for the sun later in the day gets out of hand, I may not be as fit as I need to be to scurry out of the way across the sand peaks and valleys. But it was a good perching spot overlooking a lone tree in this barren landscape. Perhaps an obvious, if not trite, choice for an intimate landscape photo, but nonetheless irresistible. I don’t think Elliot Porter would pass it up, no matter how often he’d seen something similar.
Atop this perching point, the wind is blowing steadily at about 20 mph, gusting higher as I wait for the light to start crossing the treetops to the East. The tree itself has a windblown, asymmetric appearance, symbolizing a long acquaintance with the wind here. I imagine it whispering, “You think this is windy?”
I have my camera on a tripod, my small camera backpack with a couple of lenses, my Mavic drone carrying bag, and a hanging water bottle. At the first hilltop, you are already above any wind blocks from trees. Anything I set down is going to get sandblasted a bit. I noted my drone launch pad was sitting back in my car, down that big sand hill and steps that only cover 1/3 of the way. Oops.
As it turns out, this lone tree helps provide some scale context to my aerial photos. As I exhausted most compositions I could think of with the tree, I became quite enchanted with the unique dune patterns behind it—something that might look quite wild from the air!
As I couldn’t set the drone down anywhere without sand clogging every intake port and motor the drone has, I launched it by hand. I’ve seen others do this with kayaks, but I never tried it myself. This seemed to be a fitting situation, and it worked out quite well!
I snapped an initial photo of the same tree from above but then quickly moved on to view the patterns on the dunescape in the small “valley” the tree was on the edge of. I began to think that this looked like aerial photos you might see of some remote place in Namibia or the Sahara, but certainly not Michigan. Everywhere I pointed, looking straight down was a unique pattern. Then I noticed the blowing sand lit up by the early morning sunlight like light reflecting on fog and off a dune hillside. Just beautiful.
As I explored this little valley from the air, the wind was getting gustier, and the drone was letting me know by sending high wind warnings several times. That meant it was time to start wrapping this up. I safely brought it back to my perching spot but then thought – well – I can’t land this in the sand. I would have to do another little trick I’ve seen done by snatching it from underneath by hand. Kinda tricky to do since the drone has obstacle avoidance turned on, which I didn’t think to turn off. If you move close to it, it moves away.
Like a praying mantis striking its prey, I reached up beneath it and grabbed it while hitting the control’s land button with the other hand. Fair warning to any dragons observing this puny human’s antics from a distance! While my dune climbing stamina may be questioned, I am not entirely without skills!
After putting the drone away, I continued my hike deeper into the dunes to seek signs of the dragons I encountered back in 2017. The morning started with intriguing views of their unique, dynamic habitat. It is a couple of hours past sunrise now, and I am still the only human around this barren landscape. The wind is really picking up now. The footprints I left from first thing in the morning have been erased from the landscape. Leave no trace indeed! The forecast is for winds to be stronger around eclipse time. It should make for quite the match to take out the sun.
- Family fighting to keep dunes back from property, Detroit Free Press, 2017, accessed 10 Apr 2024 ↩︎
The sand patterns are a beautiful background for the tree. My dune climbing skills are similarly limited. Glad you escaped the blades of your drone!
Thank you Tom. I am pretty sure someone out there is selling a dune cardio program. 🙂 The sand patterns were gone by the next morning showing how much the landscape can change, literally overnight.
An other-worldly scene from the air because we just do not see this perspective. very often I like them a lot and one of the gifts of the drones. I also like the solitary tree and would focus my attention around it. I checked out the link to the dragons and loved that experience also. A few years ago I made a trip to the Great Sand Dunes in southern Colorado. I encountered a healthy windstorm on my last night there. I remember lying in my sleeping bag with this very fine dust drifting inside my tent. The dust penetrated the tent, would not vacuum out or wash out. I ended up throwing it away. Well done, my friend. Again, very educational, informing my sheltered life of things I did not know.
Glad you enjoyed the visit Monte. It’s the best I can hope for. I think we all live sheltered lives in a way because the world of experiences is just too vast and time too little for us to take in any significant portion of it. Like I know absolutely ZERO about the Great Sand Dunes in CO, other than recalling hearing the name. I doubt I would have remembered it was in Colorado because, you know – you are supposed to be mountains and stuff. LOL. But I can relate to that sand getting everywhere. Even though I had closed up my gear bags I had with me, I still found sand in the bottom of them. Just goes to show how the constant blowing of all those little specs finds a way.
Sometimes, it’s hard to remember that something as monumental as these dunes is constantly changing, much like a living organism. I think getting a drone’s distant overview perspective makes this more apparent. Excellent work, and thanks for sharing the lovely results, Mark.
I take it you still have all ten functional fingers after your venture of snatching a drone from mid-air. 🙂
LOL! The finger aspect was a first thought and the lack of any med kit should it go sideways. I enjoy different perspectives and contemplating scale. And if you look at this spot on a state map, it is just this little “bump” on Lake Michigan. But then you could go into how much a local town has essentially been built around this unique feature. Cottages, ORV/dune ride businesses, tourism, even excavation businesses because the entire coastal area is sand, produced by the lake.
Some very interesting and colorful compositions.
Thanks for sharing your work.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!
It must be a truly wonderful place to photograph, discomforts of getting there aside , and particularly unique for Michigan. I totally love your drone shots. Waiting with anticipation to see what you captured in terms of the eclipse!
Thanks! It’s unique for sure. I haven’t seen many aerials of it either, so that made it particularly exciting.
Very nice!
Appreciated Tracy!