“This was the hardest year yet,” Jeff Smoke declared as he crossed the finish line to win the 2016 M22 Challenge, which was held on Saturday, June 11 — his fifth time earning that title. “The competition keeps getting harder.” Smoke, 38, of Niles, Mich., kayaked on the 2004 U.S. Olympic team. Smoke won this year’s race with an overall time of 1:11:29, and most impressive was his paddle time — just 14 minutes and 44 seconds.
Check out this video of last year’s M-22 Challenge. This unique triathlon features a run up the Sleeping Bear Dune Climb, a bike race around the Glen Lakes and a paddle on Little Glen Lake.
Nationally recognized architectural photographer Dietrich Floeter and Leelanau Press publisher Barbara Siepker capture the beauty and essence of 60 summer cottages and the nostalgia enveloping them in Historic Cottages of Glen Lake.
The Leelanau Conservancy announced today that it has officially acquired the Palmer Woods Forest Reserve — 707 acres of contiguous hardwood forest that stretches over 2 miles north to south. Palmer Woods is located just over a mile from Big Glen Lake and just beyond the bluff that marks the western edge of Miller Hill.
2015 was the year of the storm. The “wind shear” on Sunday, August 2, packed 100-mile-per-hour gusts, toppled thousands of trees in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and around the Glen Lakes, rendered Glen Arbor impassible for days, caused millions of dollars in damages and cast a national spotlight on our rural town.
For the second year in a row, Frank Siepker, Jr., launched a Christmas Tree Boat approximately 550 feet from the family property on the south shore of Big Glen Lake, near the Narrows. The Douglas Fir tree sits on a raft which is held in place by an anchor. Siepker uses a solar battery and timer to light the tree every evening between 5:30 and 10:30 p.m.
Thanksgiving Weekend in the Glen Lake area provides holiday community events full of fun, shopping and recreation for the whole family. Make the trip and visit the naturally beautiful Glen Arbor. Tree Lighting and Christmas caroling will get you in the spirit and give you something wintry to do the last weekend of November. A great opportunity to buy from your local artisans, shop for yourself and shop for the holidays.
Have you had the Glen Lake Fire Department come to your home for your free safety inspection? The program is new. Its purpose is to advise residents and point out potential fire and safety hazards. Plus, the department will not cite you for infractions.
Although my friend, Bonnie Gonzales, didn’t quite make it up Alligator Hill when she tried the first time, she felt it was doable. She wanted to try it one last time before she left for the winter. The trick would be to take the fairways rather than the impassable trail. I was game, so we met at the trailhead entrance by the charcoal ovens one sunny Sunday in mid-October.
While the English often name their houses, here in the United States we typically do so only for our seasonal cottages. And the roads of northern Michigan are dotted with endearing cottage names painted and carved into roadside signs. Some signs seem homemade, others look professionally produced. Some are simple; others have elaborate scenic images and distinct fonts. They may refer to family name, the setting, the structure itself, values or preferences. A few declare that this is paradise.