Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

TOUR North Manitou Island Cemetery

By Stacie / October 11, 2022 / Comments Off on TOUR North Manitou Island Cemetery

Join me for this quick walk through tour of the beautiful historic cemetery on the North Manitou Island in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Located in federally protected wilderness, this cemetery is only visited by backcountry campers. Once part of a thriving island community of farmers, loggers, surfmen, and summer residents, it is now…

TOUR Historic Trude Cottage

By Stacie / September 24, 2022 / Comments Off on TOUR Historic Trude Cottage

TRUDE COTTAGE Take a rare look inside the historic Trude Cottage on North Manitou Island, in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. As island volunteers, we are able to get inside structures that are being preserved. Come join us for a tour and learn a little about the history of this cottage. It was built…

North Manitou Island: History of Cottage Row

By Stacie / September 23, 2022 / Comments Off on North Manitou Island: History of Cottage Row

COTTAGE ROW HISTORY What a night! Stacie presented on the history of Cottage Row on North Manitou Island recently at the Benzie Area Historical Society’s lecture series. There was a live audience of more than 50, and it was also broadcast on Zoom to around a dozen more. We met a lot of great people,…

Volunteering in our National Park

By Stacie / July 13, 2022 / Comments Off on Volunteering in our National Park

Volunteering in our National Park We love volunteering, especially for our local National Park, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore! Fun news: Inkus our dog is also now a volunteer. He is officially a BARK Ranger, helping bring awareness to proper dog behavior in the Park. This helps to protect the local piping plovers, an endangered…

North Manitou Island Story Published

By Stacie / November 10, 2021 / Comments Off on North Manitou Island Story Published

New Article Published Want to know more about what is happening on North Manitou Island? Stacie has an article in the current issue of Michigan History Magazine, telling the story of the restoration of the Katie Shepard Hotel Project on North Manitou Island. We met on the project back in 2014, and have enjoyed volunteering…

Product Review and Demo: Jetboil Flash Stove with Java Edition Kit

By Stacie / August 13, 2021 / Comments Off on Product Review and Demo: Jetboil Flash Stove with Java Edition Kit

Camping is a game of continuous improvement for us – we are always learning and adjusting! We love finding new ways to be comfortable, happy, and enjoy things that we love.Every camper has some luxury item they take on the trail. For us it is coffee! We make fresh ground French press coffee every morning…

Tending a Comfortable Wilderness

By Stacie / April 16, 2021 / Comments Off on Tending a Comfortable Wilderness

Eric MacDonald with Arnold R. Alanen A History of Agricultural Landscapes on North Manitou Island, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, MI 429 pages, 2000     Purchase     PDF

North Manitou Island: Between Sunrise and Sunset

By Stacie / April 15, 2021 / Comments Off on North Manitou Island: Between Sunrise and Sunset

Rita Hadra Rusco Part memoir, part island history, the must-read account of life on the island. 170 pages, 1991 From the Leelanau Historical Society Purchase From Amazon  Purchase

Exploring North Manitou, South Manitou, High and Garden Islands of the Lake Michigan Archipelago

By Stacie / April 15, 2021 / Comments Off on Exploring North Manitou, South Manitou, High and Garden Islands of the Lake Michigan Archipelago

Robert H. Ruchhoft Histories and trailguides for the hiker and backpacker for these eastern Lake Michigan Islands which are part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and the Beaver Island Group 357 pages, 1991     Purchase

Views from the Sleeping Bear

By Stacie / April 15, 2021 / Comments Off on Views from the Sleeping Bear

Thomas Kachadurian Photographs of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. 144 pages, 1998     Purchase