When I went back to Michigan for Christmas, I was stuck in the airport with a family from Maine. We talked for a while, discussing our favorite places on the island. The mother told me about a favorite beach in the park called Hunters Beach. She said it was covered in perfectly smooth stones, and was almost never crowded with tourists. About a week or two ago, Joe and I decided to try to find it.
The stretch of the park loop road we were heading for was of course, closed for the winter. Thankfully, the park road crosses under the main road. So we parked near a bridge and climbed down onto the snow covered park road. It was a bit of a hike to the beach, but it was a surprisingly warm and sunny day, so it wasn't all that unpleasant. We even came across these bikers. I can't say they had a good idea, biking down the snow covered road, but judging by the looks on their faces, I can't imagine they knew what they were getting themselves into either!
When we got closer to the beach, we were surprised to see snow start falling. The sun was shining, it was actually warm, and snow was still falling! If you look hard, you can see it against the backdrop of the dark trees.
The beach itself was beautiful. It was exactly as the woman had described it. The entire shore was layers and layers of perfectly smooth stones. Walking across the beach, you can hear the echo of the stones extending a number of feet below you. It's a bit unnerving thinking that you're standing precariously on layers and layers of stones. When you walk closer to the water, you can hear the stones shuffling and scraping towards the shore and back out to the ocean as the waves roll in and out. I could have sat there all day if the sun hadn't started to trade places with some dark looking clouds.
