Sunburn at Esch Road Beach

Esch Road beach, in Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore, is always a delight. I've made the short trip from Traverse (about 30 miles) in all seasons. Summer is obviously my favorite. Sunday, I made the short trek.

Because of the wind Saturday afternoon and night, Lake Michigan was alive with wave action Sunday. It was terrific! The body surfing was excellent and refreshing, the water clean and cool. The continuing wind made it just a tad cool on the sand, but the water was perfect!

The sky was mostly cloudy, with only an occasional moment of sun during the afternoon. The heavy cloud cover caused us to make the stupid oversight of not applying sunscreen. We know better. We know that the UV rays that cause sunburn cruise right through clouds as if they aren't there. But we're human. It had been several years since I'd had a sunburn. But wow, did I get one Sunday.

About the time we arrived back in Traverse City for an early supper, we realized we were burnt like a piece of human toast. Later in the evening, we all started feeling hot, and not in a pleasant way.

Monday was not comfortable for any of us. Now it's Wednesday, three full days after the burn, and the worst is over. But we've learned the lesson again. USE SUNSCREEN.

The beach was awesome. We all had a great time in the surf. Waves ran about four or five feet, measured from the bottom of the trough to the crest. Standing on the sandbar in waist deep water, the biggest waves were over our heads.

I was surprised to see that the Lake Michigan beach was much narrower than last year, only about 40 feet from dunegrass to water. The last decade, it has averaged closer to 60 or 80 feet of sand. I don't think water levels are up much, so it must be the effect of erosion, perhaps only along that particular 5-mile stretch of sand.

Summer tourists arrive

A walk down Front Street every day this week showed that tourist traffic has arrived in Traverse City for the summer.

Each day, the town's main downtown street is getting busier. The sun shines, school is out, and people are traveling. The beaches are very inviting on the hot days we've been having. Most of them have been sunny, but even partly cloudy days are still great for the beach as long as the air is warm. True, the waters of Lake Michigan are still a bit chilly for most, so you don't see many people actually swimming. But that will change in the next couple of weeks. By next weekend, the water near shore will reach temperatures fine for getting wet.

Next weekend also brings the Fourth of July holiday, followed soon after by the National Cherry Festival, Traverse City's biggest and most well known annual event. When that's in progress, downtown becomes clogged with a feast of visitors who come for the music, the food, the crafts, the special events, and maybe even the cherries.

It's been a long, cold winter, but this morning the sun is shining, the air offers a hint of warmth, and all is right with the world.

Traverse City is lovely in the spring. The beaches are emerging from their blanket of snow and ice. The promise of a new summer sparkles on the water of Grand Traverse Bay. We can't wait to pull on our swimsuits and dive into the blue world of Lake Michigan.

Actually, swimming is still a couple of months away, since the temperature of that beautiful water still hovers somewhere this side of freezing but a long way the other side of comfortable. But the promise is palable. And swimming is what Lake Michigan in Traverse City is all about. The water surrounds you here, and it is grand.

The glint of sunshine off the metal roof outside my office window has me thinking of my favorite beaches, and others I would like to explore.

My family's favorite beach is a few miles south of Empire, at the end of Esch Road. It's in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. When we started going there 15 years ago, we normally saw only a handful of other folks. These days, on summer weekends, the end of the road turns into a linear parking lot. When you walk down to the beach, the people are everywhere. But even on the busiest days, it's still far less crowded than any popular beach in Chicago or New York or Los Angeles. Esch Road is still an awesome place. If you don't enjoy a busy beach, you can walk a couple hundred yards either south or north and find yourself alone on the sand. As is true in most of the world, most people aren't interested in walking very far. If you value privacy or just the feeling of freedom that comes from a bit of space between you and strangers, Esch Road beach is great. But so are many other beaches near Traverse City.

Another beach I love is up near the tip of the Leelanau Peninsula at Peterson Park. The parking area and picnic grounds are perched on a steep bluff maybe a hundred feet (I'm just guessing) above the lake. The views are spectacular across the water to North Manitou Island. A long run of rustic steps take you through thickets down to the beach. Now, most beaches around Traverse City are wall to wall sand. Deep, warm, golden, beautiful sand. But not at Peterson Park. For whatever geologic reason, the beach here is composed almost entirely of stones. They range in size from breakfast cereal bites through fist sized to some larger than a Jetski. Scattered among the variety of stones are a smattering of Petoskey stones, the fossilized remnants of an ancient coral reef. Walking south along the beach one day last summer, my family and I came upon a piece of wreckage in waist deep water, maybe 50 feet from shore. I waded out and upon closer inspection decided it had to be the boiler from an old ship. It hadn't been there the previous year. The icepack must have drawn it up toward the beach the previous winter.

The beach adjacent to downtown Traverse City, Clinch Park beach and West End beach, are a fine place to soak up the sun and swim in Grand Traverse Bay. And they're literally steps from downtown. You can have lunch and buy some trinkets on Front Street, then stroll a block and a half and jump in the water. They're a terrific social beach, and are typically quite busy on sunny days. There are volleyball courts, and usually plenty of boats moored just off the sand. Early in the morning or in the evening, they clear out and become an serene escape from the bustle of downtown.

The village of Elk Rapids, about 20 miles north of Traverse City on the mainland, has a wonderful beach for kids at the end of its main street. A stream just the perfect size for children empties into a part of the bay that is shallow for many yards out.

There are plenty of other beaches surrounding town. They all sound great this fine spring day.