Join the Brighton District Libray from 7-8:15 p.m. June 29 to hear the inspiring and amazing journey of Loreen Niewenhuis, who walked around Lake Michigan in 2009.
The Michigander and author will discuss her book, A 1,000-Mile Walk On the Beach.
When Loreen Niewenhuis turned 45 years old, she felt compelled to break out of the day-to-day routine and to seek out a big challenge. She decided to walk all the way around her favorite place: Lake Michigan. “Instead of having a mid-life crisis,” Niewenhuis said, “I had a mid-life adventure!”
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Niewenhuis tackled her 1000-mile hike around Lake Michigan where it took 64 days of determined walking, averaging 16 miles a day. Niewenhuis said, “I encircled the lake with my footsteps, recorded it in my muscles and bones.”
She walked the lakeshore in rain and snow, in gale-force winds and calm sunny days. She had to navigate obstacles ranging from limestone cliffs to deep rivers to steel refineries, to nuclear and coal-fired power plants. The journey was filled with many challenges that she had to overcome.
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She has been constantly drawn to the shores of Lake Michigan, the fifth largest lake in the world. In her book, she offers witness to both the natural beauty of much of Lake Michigan's lakeshore and a concern for the lake’s health as she explored the long and troubling pattern of ecological abuses and environmental challenges.
Niewenhuis discovered that Lake Michigan, like all great places, is not a uniform experience, but is different each day, every step to round the next bend, each beach or bluff. The hike was a discovery of this incredible variety. She takes us along on the hike from the urban blight of South Chicago, to the popular state parks with grand dunes and sweeping vistas, to small towns and lakefront cottages, to the isolated wild stretches where few people go.
Niewenhuis explores how vital the Great Lakes water system is to the entire country as these five lakes contain 90% of the fresh surface water in the nation. She conveys a sense of the magnitude and diversity of the lake she loves, a place elemental to the four Midwestern states that form its shores.
From a ground-level perspective, the book explores the natural and human history of Lake Michigan and raises important questions about preserving our wild places and protecting fragile ecosystems.
A 1,000-Mile Walk On the Beach will offer inspiration to anyone interested in Great Lakes environmental issues (from invasive species to water quality to tourism) and to anyone interested in what it means to take a really long walk and look closely at oneself and one’s place.
Niewenhuis' complete book tour schedule and a link to her blog can be found on her website http://LakeTrek.com.