It's almost spring - and it certainly felt like it at the lakefront. Weather forecasts were calling for high temperatures in the low 40s, but even early in the day, the warmth from the sun drove temps into the 50s. Couple that with a rather strenuous hike up the sandy dunes, and jackets are optional.
The bright sunlight illuminated the dunes, and made the short layer of fog in the distance blend in with the horizon.
Looking at the horizon, a superior mirage was evident in a few spots over Lake Michigan. This type of mirage stretches the objects on the horizon vertically, and sometimes turns them upside down! Objects normally not seen because of the curvature of the earth can be seen hovering above the water upside down. On this day, we didn't see anything so dramatic, but some areas of sand in the distance were stretched into what appeared to be buildings on the horizon.
It's interesting to see just how fast the sand dunes warm up in March. The sand is very warm to the touch just two weeks after being frozen solid. We looked around and found a few small footprints in the sand, most likely from some type of insect. We also encountered a snake warming itself in the sun. Life is once again beginning to return to the dunes - and that includes people, we ran into quite a few along the beach.
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