Platt River Campground | Change Is Hard

July 3, 2025
by dawnkinster 24 Comments

Searching for the stars. Again.

This time last week I was in northern Michigan at one of my favorite places (You may have noticed I have quite a few favorite places in northern Michigan) intent, once again, on getting the perfect Milky Way image.

I had a walk-in site at Platt River Campground, reserved weeks ago, and high hopes that at least one of the three nights would be clear.

The site was beautiful. I knew it would be because I’d camped there once before a few years ago. It’s at the end of a trail, about 1/4 mile into the woods. Along the way are three other campsites, but mine was the last one.

*This was my first camping trip of the season. It took me forever to get this tent up.*

The good thing about a walk-in site is that there are no RVs near you running their air conditioning all night. (Though I wouldn’t have minded having air, it was 98 F inside my tent most of the first night.) The bad thing about a walk-in site is that you have to carry everything in. So I stayed pretty minimal.

Anyway. I had high hopes for Monday night, thinking it should be clear. And it was hot and sunny when I first arrived.

Before I even went to the campsite to set up the tent I drove the Pierce Stocking drive that provides a number of opportunities to stop and explore.

*It’s almost mandatory that you take this image while you’re there.*

But gradually, by late afternoon, clouds had moved in and that evening there were no stars to be seen. It even rained late Monday night, which brought the temperatures down. I was conflicted, grateful for the temperature relief but disappointed that I wasn’t out under the stars with my camera.

*Looking toward Sleeping Bear dunes from Empire Beach on Tuesday.*

Tuesday I explored a few beaches looking for possible places to shoot the Milky Way, if the sky ever cleared. But it didn’t clear that day.

*Not very promising for star photography.*

So I did the next best thing. I hiked a loop through the woods where there was the possibility of lots of birds. You know how I love taking photographs of birds. I had high hopes again of capturing something special.

Because I was covered in bug spray this was a fun hike.

About 2.5 miles, the trail was supposed to be filled with song birds, particularly warblers.

*I took a close up picture of the map with my phone, and I’m glad I did. The trail wasn’t always obvious.*

I heard lots of birds, none of them identified by my Merlin app as warblers, but I only saw one bird for a slight second, hidden in the trees, and I have no idea what it was.

*I don’t suppose any of you know what this brownish bird is, hiding behind leaves and out of focus.*

Tuesday night it rained again. I don’t mind a little rain on the tent, but it meant there was no star shooting that night either.

Wednesday was predicted to be overcast as well, so I made plans to drive about an hour north and meet a couple friends in Northport, another of my happy places. It was time to spend a little bit of time in civilization.

*Scenic route through Pierce Stocking park.*

That was definitely fun and had a lower mosquito to human ratio, but it deserves it’s own post, so stay tuned.

*Taken Monday night, while standing in the rain.*

May 30, 2023
by dawnkinster 21 Comments

Something beyond stars

Well not really beyond.

*On the drive up I stopped for this patch of trillium.*

A friend and I were camping in the Sleeping Bear National Park earlier this month specifically to spend as many nights as possible shooting the stars in that big beautiful dark sky country.

*Arriving at site 312. It had electricity!*

But let’s be honest, I took a lot of other pictures too. After all, what does a photographer do all day while waiting for it to get true dark?

Well, we sat in camp a bit. And cooked lovely meals.

*Yum. She brought the fish, I brought the chicken salad and bread.*

We enjoyed the campfire in the cool evenings.

And we got a little shuteye as we waited for the Milky Way to rise.

Of course we also went on a hike or two through the countryside, enjoying the newly greening forest…

*This hike it was all about the late afternoon light.*

…and the wildflowers pushing up from a long winter nap.

*I can’t remember what this is, but it sure was pretty!*

There’s plenty to do while you’re waiting for the stars to come out.

*Hiking past a lake made during the times of glaciers. We were cold just thinking about that.*

I haven’t even begun to process the images of the old barns and the orchards in bloom that we saw. And I still have seven stacks of star images to process.

So there’s going to be plenty to share once I get all the work done.

*While you’re waiting you might want to go on a walk somewhere pretty too.*

But it’s going to take awhile.

May 30, 2022
by dawnkinster 22 Comments

Besides the night sky

Sometimes when I go north to camp it’s with the sole purpose of getting night sky images. Those trips I don’t care much about the campground, it’s just a place to nap during the day. Mostly I care if there’s a dark sky park nearby, or at least some open sky with something interesting in the foreground.

*Our campsite, tucked up on a knoll, deep in the woods.*

Those trips I usually spend the days sitting around at the campground reading and nibbling on snacks that aren’t good for me. When I begin to fall asleep over my book I tuck myself into my sleeping bag and take a nap.

*It was spring in the woods, with the pine trees in ‘bloom.’*

Sometimes that’s the best part about camping…eating, reading, napping. Repeat. I’m usually impatient for the sun to set, eager to try again for the shot I can see in my head but rarely get captured on my camera.

This trip, planned months ago, just happened to coincide with clear dark skies and no moon. So I got lucky.

*I had my stove and my friend brought most of the food.*

During last week’s camping adventure I had company, and a more varied agenda. We were camped in a walk-in site, we were the only people camping on our loop which was wonderful and so quiet we could hear owls at night as we sat around the campfire.

*Thank goodness we were able to buy dry firewood!*

OK, full disclosure. Mostly we sat around the campfire to get warm because it was stinking cold out there! Last year, on our camping trip the exact same week, we were wearing shorts. This year we were wearing long underwear, layers of sweatshirts, jackets and winter coats. I slept, the first night, wearing gloves and a hat, as well as my winter coat while in a sleeping bag and under multiple layers of blankets.

But the next day, after a night of shivering and then squealing over the Milky Way, the sun came out and we paddled down the Platt River, almost all the way out to Lake Michigan. We got out of the river at the exact location I shot the Milky Way the night before.

*Grateful for the sun while we were on the river.*

That made me smile.

*Lake Michigan is right on the other side of those dunes.*

We had the site reserved for three nights, Monday through Wednesday, but though the second night wasn’t quite as cold as the first, I still slept in all my clothes and piled towels on top of the blankets on top of the sleeping bag.

Being cold all the time can wear a camper out.

Plus the weather people said it would get warmer but we were going to get rain Wednesday afternoon, and that it would rain all day Thursday, the day we were scheduled to leave.

We decided to pack up on Wednesday morning and hightail it out of there. There’s nothing worse than packing up camp after a night of rain. Wait. In truth it’s worse to pack up camp after a full night of rain, while it continues to rain. Trust me on this.

*The sun just tipping the trees above us made me want to stay….for a moment.*

So we abandoned ship a day early. I think I did that almost every camping trip I took last summer, and always because of rain. Rain while camping in a small tent is not that fun after the first few hours of listening to it drum on the rainfly. Rain accompanied by wind and thunder can be pretty terrifying.

*This could be another good spot to shoot the Milky Way, don’t you think?*

Anyway, we chose to bail, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to go back. Camping in the woods without big RVs next to you is a delight.

*I stopped at Pt. Betsie on my way home, but the lilacs weren’t open yet. And the storm was coming in.*

I just hope next time it’s warm enough that I can sleep without wearing my hat and parka.

Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: Platt River Campground

Searching for the stars. Again.

Something beyond stars

Besides the night sky