Nordic Walking With The Piping Plovers In the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

One of the best ways to tour the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore is with hiking poles. The 4-wheel drive action works great in the sand. The poles eliminate back-pain that many encounter when walking on the sand dunes or along the beach.

This summer we Ski Walked past several marked nesting areas of the Piping Plover - an endangered shorebird slightly smaller and shorter legged then the killdeer.

The greatest concentration of Piping Plovers in the Great Lakes occurs at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. More info about the Piping Plover can be found here: http://www.nps.gov/slbe/naturescience/pipingplover.htm

My favorite Ski Walk this summer has been up at Glen Haven - the views are spectacular. The route passes through a ghost tree forest.

My favorite wooded trail in the Sleeping Bear Dunes Area is up on Alligator Hill with a trailhead located behind Glen Arbor.

I do all of my hiking with durable and user friendly one-piece Nordic Walking Poles from SWIX or EXEL. SWIX out of Norway and EXEL out of Finland. Quality one-piece walking poles with real Nordic Walking Straps (comfortable patented straps - patented by the Salomon Ski Company). One-piece walking poles that are sized correctly prove to be safer, lighter and much more durable than cheap/flimsy 2-piece and 3-piece collapsible poles that tend to rattle, vibrate, collapse gradually or  fail unexpectedly.

Real Nordic Walking Poles and helpful instruction can be found at SKIWALKING.COM and the American Nordic Walking System.

For more information about the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore check out:
http://www.nps.gov/slbe

Free Nordic Walking Clinics Are Returning to the Chautauqua Lake Area on Friday, August 29th – NO Snow and NO Skis Required!

The Heritage Village Retirement Campus in Gerry, New York will host the Nordic Walking Clinics. Nordic walking poles are no longer just for expert skiers deprived of snow during the summer months. Nordic Ski Walking (walking with special Nordic Walking poles) burns up to 40% more calories than regular walking. Nordic walking poles not only improve balance and stability, these special poles help to radically reduce the shins to the shins, knees, hips and back.

The public is invited to attend a free Nordic Walking Clinic hosted by the Heritage Group. On Friday, August 29th the free clinics will be offered from 2 p.m. – 3 p.m. on the Heritage Village Retirement Campus at the outdoor gazebo. Edwards will also host a private clinic for the Heritage Village Staff on Friday from Noon – 1 p.m. in the Physical Therapy/Out Patient Therapy Gym at the Heritage Village Rehab & Skilled Nursing Facility.

Participants will be introduced to the many benefits of walking with poles. Participants will also be able to demo and test-drive user friendly one-piece Nordic Walking Poles custom fit to their individual heights and equipped with real Nordic Walking Straps . The Nordic Ski Walking Poles will be provided by WWW.SKIWALKING.COM and The American Nordic Walking System. One-piece poles are safer, lighter and much more durable than twist-locking adjustable/telescoping/collapsible poles.

There is no charge to attend this event. Reservations are not required.