Good Night, Moon

Last night was the full moon, so I rallied a group of friends and neighbors for a hike to Pyramid Point in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We do this a few times throughout the year, but last night was especially good. The sky was clear, and the night air was comfortably cool.

I was surprised to find a half dozen other cars in the parking lot when we arrived. Then I was even more surprised to find that all those other hikers were heading home as we made our way up the trail. They were leaving too soon, before the moon had risen. So we had the bluff to ourselves. The wind off Lake Michigan was refreshingly cool. It felt so good we didn't mind the occasional gust of sand in our eyes and teeth.

We wished on a shooting star, kept watch for the northern lights (no luck there), pondered our place in the universe and learned about the bunny on the moon. My Korean and Japanese guests told us about the Chinese legend about the bunny on the moon who makes rice cakes. Sure enough, if you lean far to the right and squint your eyes you can see his two long ears.

We passed a magical hour up there and were reluctant to leave, but the girls were getting awfully tired (OK, we adults were, too). And we knew there'd be another full moon in a month.

There's plenty of moonlight left this weekend even with the moon on the wane. But if you want to hike under moonbeams be patient and give the moon time to rise high enough in the night sky to cast shadows. We started out from the trailhead at 10 p.m. last night, and the moon was finally above the trees as we were ready to leave at about 11:15.

Happy Trails!