LAKE MICHIGAN, DOOR COUNTY WISCONSIN

   Heading to the Big Pond  -"Michi-gami" -the indian word for lake Michigan meaning Great Water. This is OUR big pond -Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake totally within the U.S. border. Wisconsin claims over 400 miles of its shoreline.

   SEEKING MY FIRST VISIT below the surface of Lake Michigan. Have heard so much about this Great Lakes' water clarity; spots so clear you can see 100ft down! -the clearest inland lakes in wis have only 20-30 ft of clarity.

   Found further motivation after reading the book The Living Great Lakes by Jerry Dennis. He wrote about his journey by ship to all the Great Lakes. Loved his story. He speaks of his growing passion for the Great Lakes & the limitations of staying on the surface.  -"I wanted to get my arms around it, get to know it, to dive into it." -words that play into my own underwater interests.
   Two Rivers  -Friday we arrived at the Lighthouse Inn in Two Rivers. (Cheryl gives the motel a 4 out of 5 star rating. For her full review go to https://www.google.com). Located on a peninsula tucked into the lake -catching an extra amount of lake effect climate,  Two Rivers is called "the coldest town in Wisconsin."                                               Was able to visit a nearby beach that evening. Standing in that shockingly -achingly cold water -endless horizon, waves crashing in like an ocean, a surreal glaze of numbness creeps over me -too much to take in! Besides an overwhelming sense that this supreme natural wonder had a divine overseer, I find that sorting through some basic info helps me get my mind slightly around it & appreciate what Im looking at:                   
   Rock & Ice  -In a nutshell these are the two biggest natural factors in the formation of Lake Michigan. Glaciers (ice) from Canada followed river routes that were already there; bulldozing & gouging depressions into rock (the right kind of rock -shale stone) that was soft enough to give way & leave behind tremendous excavated swimming pools waiting to be filled in by all that melting ice & river flow...The Great Lakes!

   The Search Is On  Explored north into Door county the next  day, looking for the perfect beach spot with clear water & some rocky structure for my underwater interests. The Green Bay -west side of Door county wasnt clear enough. Checked out suggested beach & diving spots all the way to Gills Rock.  Tired from driving, we cooled off at Newport State Park beach on the north east side of Door county. Great beach with beautifully clear water, but lacking bottom features that attracts fish & makes underwater exploring interesting.

    Finally Found It! With time running out we decided to skip Washington island & its famous School House -pebble stone beach & focus on the east side of Door county, which typically has better water clarity.  Headed to Cave Point County Park. This was where we spent the rest of the day.                     

     Cave Point County Park is right next to Whitefish Dunes State Park -home of the highest dunes on the west side of Lake Michigan.  Cave Point attracts alot of people  that want to jump from the bluffs into beautifully clear, freezing cold lake michigan water. Heres where I was able to head below the surface. I wasn't dissapointed!
    Below The Surface -Did the shock treatment intro to the lake by jumping off a bluff without my wetsuit.  Was like cannon balling into ice water without the ice cubes.
   Even after donning my wetsuit later, I didn't think I'd last 5 mins -exposed skin on my face ached. But after a few minutes, that ache went away & I was very comfortable for the next hr!
    Noisy above the surface, with the waves & the chatter of the many people gathered along the bluffs, the great silence below the surface is striking. Add the pristine clarity of the water & you feel like you've entered another dimension.
     Didnt spearfish because the water is to cold here for panfish. Saw alot of small fish called Gobies or Darters, many thousands of Zebra mussels carpeting the bottom & a couple small schools of Herring/Shad or Alewives -looked like Sardines to me.
     The water never got much deeper than 20ft within a hundred yds of shore. Some underwater small bluff like rock formations were great fun to glide through. Hated to leave this liquid garden of Eden.
 
     Five words capture most of our Lake Michigan experience above & below the surface: Clear, Cold, Vast, Sand & Seagulls.

• Clear -Why so clear? Zebra mussels have made Lake Michigan's water very clear in the last 20 yrs.  Also, water is more clear on the lake Michigan side of Door County vs GreenBay side, especially with a west wind.
• Cold -Why so cold? Water temp depends on lake currents, which depend on wind direction. The lake Michigan side of Door county water gets coldest when a west wind blows warm surface water away, causing the colder deep water to come to shore. Water temps can be 49-60° in august (Most people find 70° to cold for comfort). 
• Vast! -The 5th biggest freshwater lake in the world. At 307 miles long by 118 miles wide, this lake is over 4,000 times bigger than the largest Wis inland lake (Winnebago).
• Sand -So many beautiful beaches! Where'd
  
  all this sand come from? -Rivers sweep tiny quartz pcs from the land into the lake.  Tiny, dense pieces -small enough to be swept to the edge of the lake, but dense enough to resist being washed far into the lake & to the bottom. Continued pounding by waves causes the tiny pcs to constantly bang into each other rounding & smoothing each other even more, becoming...sand.
• Seagulls  -Properly just called Gulls- These super survivalists are so common that they often get a bum wrap on the appreciation scale. Yet nothing kicks up "Beach"  like crashing waves & the sound of seagulls! Seagulls are great parents & usually mate for life. They are one of the few birds that can drink salt water. They are the beach clean-up crew, doing their job so well they can be annoying. 
      Worth A Visit? Cave Point County Park made the trip especially worthwhile for us. Because of the rock formations, water clarity & big water wave action this would be a fun place to kayak. There is a kayak outfitter at Whitefish Dunes State Park.  Just going there to jump off the bluffs into the lake would be worth the trip. We'll be goin back for the amazing underwater experience! 

     50 miles NW of Green Bay, 150 miles north of milwaukeee. Get to this park by putting Cave Point County Park into your GPS. Find access to the lake to the left/north of the popular jump spot.