Looking West over Lake Michigan

It was a novelty for me to watch the sunset over Lake Michigan. Growing up as a child in the Chicago area, Lake Michigan was my internal compass for all points East. When I moved to the Seattle area it took me years to get used to Puget Sound being West. All my life the big body of water was East.

My home for 4 days on the east side of Lake Michigan was Muskegon, the largest populated city on that shore. The name “Muskegon” is derived from the Ottawa tribe term “Masquigon,” meaning “marshy river or swamp”. My campsite was just steps to the stairway over the dunes to the lake.

The state of Michigan is home to the largest dune system in the world, associated with a freshwater lake. The impressive sand dunes along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan were created by the prevailing westerly winds blowing the sand deposited along the beaches into the dune formations.