This post is a bit off topic but not every trip report necessarily requires a boarding pass and a flight….
This weekend, with temperatures in the mid 50′s, my wife and I decided to take a day trip to our favorite destination in Michigan: Traverse City. Being only a 2 hour drive from our home, it’s an easy place to reach for a day-trip or weekend getaway. With fantastic golf, vineyards, scenery, shopping and dining it’s a favorite destination for many in Michigan and surrounding states.
Approximately 15 miles north of Traverse City is the Old Mission Point — at the northern tip of the Old Mission Peninsula. It’s is a protected State Park which is home to the Old Mission Lighthouse that for decades helped ships avoid grounding themselves near shore. It had been a few years since I had been up to Old Mission Point and what I found on this visit left me in complete surprise.
If you live in the upper mid-west you always hear commentary about the water levels of the “Great Lakes” —they’re always “up” or “down” and are always in the news because of it. In recent years, the upper midwest has had below average rainfall and snowfall which obviously has had a major impact on water levels. What I found on this visit was just how shockingly low the water levels are at this point.
For those of you not familiar with the Great Lakes, they are a complex of 5 fresh water lakes that border the United States and Canada. Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Minnesota and New York each borders one of the lakes. The lakes include Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Lake Superior and Lake Huron. These states along with the Canadian provinces that border the lakes are dependent on these lakes for the majority of water needed by residents. A statistic that I once heard suggests that if the Earth were flat and the lakes spilled out, they would cover the land masses in the western hemisphere of the earth with 2 feet of water.
Geography lesson aside, I was really surprised at just how low the water levels have reached in recent years. We spent nearly an hour walking the lake bed of Lake Michigan where once there was anywhere from 5-10 feet of water. The pictures do a great job of telling that story:
The Lighthouse dates back to 1870
Looking out towards Lake Michigan, the water level used to be where you seen the line of snow
Looking back at the Lighthouse (this photo should not be possible without a boat!)
Proof that the water levels used to be MUCH higher
More proof that there was water here recently........
There should be at least 5 to 10 feet of water covering this view.....
I should be underwater and not able to capture this image looking back at the Lighthouse.
Finally reaching the waters of Lake Michigan, after a 500 yard walk.
Desert or Lake?
Another view back towards the Peninsula that SHOULD NOT be possible without a boat!
we need to take better care of our planet
I used to live in Bay City, Michigan during the 70s. My family always went to Ludington/Manistee for 2 weeks of beach, hiking, and biking. We left the state when the economy was really dropping out around 1981. After recently starting my own family, in the last 4 years we’ve made Holland/Grand Haven our destination for a week or two, usually in July. The water is usually quite warm and weather is nice. I’ve always wanted to check out Traverse City, though, does the warm water make it that far north in summer? What months would you recommend visiting? Thanks!
Fascinating. Living in Colorado I’d not head anything about the lakes being low. I was on Lake Ontario this past summer and it was still normal. Now I’m tempted to search for info on the other lakes to see what’s going on. Thanks for the off-topic posting!
Here’s a great interactive chart of the great lakes water levels. If you adjust the slider to begin at 1918, it’s pretty clear that lake levels are pretty volatile. Especially before the 1960s, and now again after 2000. The sense one gets from the graphs is that Michigan is the most volatile. Curiously, it’s only 2 feet lower today than its highest level since 2000, which is also the average since levels began being recorded. The last time it was been above average was 1999.
Interestingly, if one believes the recorded data, your memories of the lake are pretty good, although the 5-10 feet observation is a touch exaggerated. The absolute highest lake level, in 1987, was 6 feet higher than the lowest level recorded in 2012. The averages for those years have 1987 4 feet higher.
None of which makes your photos any less impressive. The gradualness with which the land enters the water is impressive. And probably partly why they put a lighthouse there!
http://www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/now/wlevels/levels.html
Hello, thanks for all of the great information your blog provides to us as travelers.
Based on your pictures, it looks like if Lake Michigan was 5-10 feet higher, the Old Mission Peninsula Lighthouse would be under water. Based on current NOAA records (only available since 1918 so who really knows where the lake levels have been during the previous 5 BILLION years prior to our keeping records) the lake sits at a average 175.92 meters and long term average (if 95 years of records can be considered long term) is 176.42m, this is roughly 18 inches lower than the 100 year norm.
The vineyards you love so much (I love them too, my families livelihood depends on them) are located right on the edge of their ability to survive. There are no grapes grown further than 15 miles inland from the lake and the lakes warming effect on the micro-climates surrounding. Grapes require a certain number of “degree days” in order to ripen and the climate in Grand Traverse and Leelanau counties are extremely close to the low end of survivability.
A mere 15,000 years ago, during the Ice Age, most of northern America lay under the grip of colossal ice sheets. The effects of the advancing and retreating glaciers can be seen in the headlands of Cape Cod, the Finger Lakes of New York, and the hills of Michigan. The ice caps were believed to have extended to what is now Indianapolis, Indiana.
@Mike and Rob – 10 feet may be a bit much in hind sight, but certainly 5 feet is realistic. I remember wading out there and being up to my shoulders in water, and I’m 5″11. There’s a gentle slope upward that I don’t think I captured with the pictures. I assume there will also be a few inches lost to the fact that one’s feet would sink into the sand a bit while wading out there.
@Cincy – The water is enjoyable in the summer. Not cold at all. The issue with visiting Traverse city has to do with tourism. The city is absolutely packed on Memorial day, Cherry Festival and Labor Day weekend. But generally any weekend will be full of tourists. My favorite time to go is September. The weather is still nice but the crowds are much smaller. I’m not a “big crowd” person, so I usually try to go off peak. You can easily make a day trip or overnight trip to TC when you are visiting Grand Haven. Ludington is another popular spot and much closer to you if you are in Grand Haven.
@Mike: The water levels certainly put it in perspective, don’t they…..
@Mike – Thanks for the great info. I did not realize that Michigan grapes walk such a tightrope! Keep up the great work with Michigan’s great wine industry!
Look for some great 2012′s!
Lake Superior is holding the water back from the lower lakes. They are just a few inches below the historical average level.
I have vacationed at Old Mission nearly all my life and have been within 500 ft of where the shore used to (should) be by boat near the lighthouse many times, but obviously not recently.
Normally, this time of year you can’t even get in the parking lot at the there, let alone walk on the ‘beach’ due to snow and the lake should be frozen over.
Also, the 2012 Michigan cherry crop was a total loss because there was a warm spell in March and the trees blossomed weeks early and no fruit survived the frosts and freezes that followed.
The drive out M37 from Traverse City is one of the best in the state and is quite popular.
Also You can now go in the light house building during the summer and it’s well worth doing if your in the area.
Bob H
I’ve lived near Lake Erie for years. The Lake levels tend to cycle. In the early 70′s Lake Erie was constantly over its banks. I don’t remember the Lake being out of its banks in close to 20 years. Last summer in Port Clinton you would have to walk out about 500 yards to get to the start of the Lake from where it normally is.