There is something magical about Lake Michigan - it looks like the ocean, without the salt. I've swim in Lake Michigan my whole life - and it can be cold, and sometimes (though rarely) warm. You get used to it, and relish the hot sunny summer days, the sand burning your feet as you run into the water, and then plunge headfirst into the cold, clear water (for plunging straight in is the only way to make yourself do it). Soon, you get used to the cold water, and swim out to the sandbars, do handstands, play frisbee, or feel around on the bottom for huge rocks.  It is just glorious, and something to cherish during the cold winter.

Winter, though, at Lake Michigan is special, too. Some cold winters, the ice will form on the sandbars, and create small icy/sandy mountains along the shore. My favorite Lake Michigan beach, Oval Beach in Saugatuck, has three sandbars, and thus three icy sand mountains, interspersed with patches of frozen sandy water.  It is dangerous to head out there - it seems like every year, someone dies from falling in.

But if you stay on the shore, you can just see how nature flows from one season to the next. The sand is frozen, and strong winds create jagged edges. Shells hide out underneath sand overhangs.  A few stalwart seagulls scavenge for food. And when it is windy out, huge waves crash against the farthest ice hill, creating plumes of up to thirty feet, falling back again on the ice hills and creating rivulets which will then refreeze.

It is magic, at Lake Michigan, year-round. Sure, we have to bundle up more, and shelter in the dunes from the biting wind. But the rewards are great.

Want more Michigan winter goodness? Read on: 

7 Fun Things to Do during the Harsh Michigan Winters

Visiting Lake Michigan lighthouses in the winter

How to Survive a Winter Beach
 

Photos copyright Dr. Jessica Voigts