Nurnberg Trailhead, Nordhouse Dunes

Woodland Adventures are pretty goofy, one moment you are tired and deprived,

and the next, marching back to the camp with an ice cream sandwich in hand.

I am ashamed to admit that I am the only person that has ever gotten lost at Nordhouse,

It was my first time at the Nurnberg Trailhead so I was double excited.

I marveled at the sophistication of the site,

including the shoe scrapers that remove seeds and mud, as not to cross-contaminate sites.

There is a 90 degree turn early on, and I tend to walk forward,

that's where I got lost the trail the first time.

I found my self facing a large grassy field and murmured cheerfully,

there are *bleep* snakes in these *bleep* plains.

A little further on, there was so much greenery and life,

and out in the distance I spotted what seemed like a dune.

So I got off the trail and headed right for it,

it is a very short trail, and the dunes are very big.

In no more than three minutes, I discovered that the dune I saw...

was just a well lit tree, and that there were trees everywhere, and no trail in sight.

There was no point in turning around, because I was already turned around,

so I did what every adventurer always does, I started walking in circles.

To my horror I discovered that enormous spiderwebs would often block my roundabout way,

and I'd have to make circles around those too.

I remember becoming transfixed by a particularly large and seemingly thick Arachnid Installation,

and then my heart sinking as I felt an evil presence behind me.

I jumped around, to discover another confused man,

only to realize that I was back on the trail and his expression of confusion was just how his face normally looked.

I immediately admitted that I got lost - peeling back some of the spider webs that ended up walking into,

his expression of confusion turned to a smile...

Earlier he was probably wondering what the hell I was doing bushwhacking in complex circles,

whilst collecting all the spiderwebs in quiet panic, 20 feet from the trail.

Well, now he had his answer - I was an adventurer, in training,

I was still learning the ropes, because it is not easy being green, in the green.

The hell with him,

and all his stupid spiders.

Just the moment I promised myself to stay on the trail until I got to the beach,

there was a fork in the road, I wisely chose the path pointing towards lake Michigan.

I was basically lost again, crossing through terrain that was clearly barely walked,

I made it back to the main trail, the one pointing away from the lake.

Covered in a toxic cloud of insect repellent,

and some seriously pissed off mosquitoes.

I itched my way to the edge of the tree line,

and took a leap of faith into the bright sun and sandy dunes.

It was like discovering an Ocean,

everything seemed so huge, the dunes were enormous.

It was a beautiful adventure, on a sunny and beautiful day,

I swam in the lake, watched the sunset, and I had sausages for dinner.

I probably stayed out there a whole month, collecting fossils, making walking sticks, eating ice cream,

and then I went back few months later, in early Fall for even more silly adventures.

I remember advising a group a hikers to take the right the more traveled path at the fork,

many new comers take the one on the left towards the lake, but that one is more difficult.

...and whatever you do,

stay on the trail, and don't take any shortcuts.