MLive says: “Another park with campsites on the Big Lake, J.W. Wells State Park has 20 sites right on Lake Michigan's Green Bay. If you aren't quick enough to snag one of those spots, there are 150 other campsites in the park. No matter what spot you get or if you are just passing through, check out the sandy beach and take a dip, if weather permits. The park is open year round and is a perfect place to take part in winter sports like snowshoeing, ice fishing and cross-country skiing.”
July 2-3, 2019
J.W. Wells State Park has tons of lakefront campsites and lovely staff. When I arrived at the park, I learned that it was an original Civilian Conservation Corps camp for workers during The New Deal. Some of the original structures from the worker’s camp are still there being used for the State Park.
By the time I arrived at J.W. Wells it was sunny and warm, a nice change up from my rainy day prior. Despite the uptick in the weather, I was feeling rundown and sad by the time I got to the park. I was going on my fourth day of my trip, and after an assessment, I chalked my mood up to the following:
Haven’t eaten a warm meal since leaving Grand Rapids
Missing the rabbits
Lonely
Annoyed by 4th of July campers
Dwelling on the carbon footprint of traveling
Campers using so many single-use products and creating tons of garbage
I tried going to the beach to cheer up, but there were mosquitoes everywhere and the beach wasn’t very nice. I read for a little while but wasn’t really feeling the beach life. I walked back to the campground and found a nice tree to sit under. I was dwelling on all of the things on the list above, and decided to break my own rules and go on social media. I got sucked into that for an hour while listening to little waves lick the shore.
Because the weather was so nice, I decided that instead of pitching my tent, I was going to spend my evening in my hammock. I have a bug net and rain fly for my hammock, making it much safer than just sleeping in an open hammock when camping, especially alone.
I spent the rest of my evening journaling and reading in my hammock, making s’mores over a campfire, and talking a cold shower before getting curled up in my hammock to sleep.
I woke up in the morning to my neighbor campers yelling, “MISS WOULD YOU LIKE SOME COFFEE? YOUNG MA’AM DO YOU WANT COFFEE?” I poked my head out of my hammock and politely declined, and fell back asleep. When I did wake up, I got dressed and had breakfast. Turns out, my neighbor campers were from Grand Rapids as well, and left me with a list of random restaurants to try when I made it back home.
I stopped by the camp host site and grabbed a hot cocoa, and told the camp host and DNR staff all about my counties trip. They loved the idea, and were so impressed that I was taking this on alone. I’ve gotten that reaction a lot: people think that I’m brave and are impressed by me traveling around the state alone. I find this strange, but I just roll with the opinions.
After I finished my hot cocoa, I embarked on a mini-hike, despite the morning being extremely foggy. The fog made for some very fun photos though…
The foggy hike brought some light back to me, getting to see creative landscapes and moody nature. I loved it.
Overall, the park wasn’t super impressive. The lakefront campsites were great, but I didn’t love the hiking trails very much; they were short and seemed overgrown (and were partially flooded from the rain the day before). I spent a lot of time at this location thinking about waste, as many of the campsites had large families staying on them with kids, and they were using tons and tons of single-use materials and packaged foods. I feel like not at least attempting to be conscious of your waste defeats the purpose of visiting nature on a vacation, and I wish people were more intentional about their actions. If you leave a campsite after a 4 day weekend with a full bag of garbage, you’re doing it wrong - no room for arguing there.
By the time I departed J.W. Wells on July 3, the sun was back out, I was calmed down by the fog, and I was feeling optimistic about my next few destinations. I was off and away in the great north.