Hiking up for a better view of the ice on the lake, and all of the surroundings, it's always wise to look around to see what's often hidden from view. A good portion of the dune is hidden from the beach, and it's always worth exploring.
The path up is steep but not dangerous, a bit slippery with compacted sand, fallen leaves, and a bit of ice and snow leftover from the last storm. Up isn't too bad, but down can be a bit of a challenge - super fast if you just let gravity take over, but if you like your limbs intact, then the loose footing on the steep grade be cause for concern. It's always worth the effort.
Sometimes there are formations on the front of the dune, the windward side. This face of the dune can take a beating from the winds off of Lake Michigan, and erosion can begin. When erosion takes place in the middle of the dune, it's called a blowout. A blowout is a bald area of a dune that has trouble growing any vegetation - the dune is basically blown out like a crater. These are pretty common, especially on the foredunes, and seem to attract people.
Footprints are always seen in blowouts, but I never walk through them, I try to give them a chance to rebound as best they can. But dunes are the most unstable landforms, so they're going to do whatever the wind and rain dictate, there's really not that much I can do to make things better, or for that matter, to make them worse. My feet aren't going to destroy the dune directly, but walking on marram grasses or other plants can harm or kill the plants, which in turn, can accelerate the demise of the dune.
No comments:
Post a Comment