Sleeping Bear Dunes - Michigan

Massive wind-shaped sand cliffs tower dramatically over the deep blue waters of Lake Michigan. From the top, it is 600 feet to the shore below. The dunes shift and ripple with time. To the west are the vast waters of the lake, the rolling hills of Leelanau County to the east, and the sound of waves crashing faintly below.

Native legends offer various stories as to how the dunes became known as the Sleeping Bear. One account tells the story of a mother bear and her two cubs who were forced into the waters of Lake Michigan in a desperate attempt to escape a raging forest fire in modern-day Wisconsin. The mother and her two cubs swam very far toward the other side, but eventually the cubs grew weak. She encouraged them, saying, “Try hard, the land is not far!” The mother reached the opposite shore first and climbed to the top of a high bluff to watch and wait for her cubs. However, the two cubs never appeared, having drowned within sight of land. The Great Spirit then created two small islands in remembrance of the cubs, which are North Manitou Island and South Manitou Island. And so, the mother still rests atop the dunes to this day, longing for her lost children.

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14×22 Image Size - 14×22 Overall Size

18×28 Image Size - 20×30 Overall Size

Giclée Printed on Moab Natural Rag Archival Paper

$100-$200