Lake Michigan Water Trail Dedication 2011

Lake Michigan is unquestionably one of the top wonders of the Chicago wilderness.  On Saturday June 4, I had the privilege to participate in the dedication of the first 75 miles of the Lake Michigan Water Trail stretching from Leone Beach in Chicago, IL, to New Buffalo, MI. 

A gift of the Ice Age, humans have been paddling this part of the Great Lakes basin for over 8,000 years from prehistoric dugouts to the canoes of the Voyageurs to the modern sea kayaks of today.  Now part of the National Recreation Trail system, the LMWT will feature increased public access and safety for sea kayaking, eventually covering the entire 4-state shoreline of Lake Michigan -- over 1,200 miles.  The LMWT will be the longest, continuous loop, freshwater sea kayaking trail in the world.  So far I've logged about 25 miles of Lake Michigan shore, which leaves a lot more shore to cover!

I was among a band of sea kayakers who left Marquette Park Beach and headed 4 miles east along the sunny shores of the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore for the dedication ceremony at the Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk Pavilion.  It was my first paddling experience with a large group.  We got off to a slow start due to stragglers, but there was no stopping us once we launched. 

With all the paddles flying, it seemed like we were part of an invasion.  Even the Park Superintendent of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Costa Dillon was among the paddlers, and he remarked how the colorful diversity of the kayaks resembles the healthy biodiversity in the dunes.  I have always wanted to see the Indiana Dunes from the water in a kayak, and it proved to be an awesome view!

In celebration of the water trail, a new South Shore Line poster was unveiled by local Hammond artist Barbara Spies Labus.  As a sailor-artist, she understands the pull of intimacy with the water.  She placed two colorful kayaks against the rolling dunes topped with marram grass under a billowy blue sky reflected in the deep blue waters of Lake Michigan.  It's a lovely scene worthy of the experience of being there for the whole event.  Each participant received a copy of the poster.  I will cherish this poster for a long time, because it had to be carefully transported back to the car in the kayak along the very same water trail it commemorates.