It was beginning to become dark in the small beachside town of Pentwater, Michigan. It was a sunny day but the sun was beginning to turn into a grapefruit once again and set into the great Lake Michigan. I was just getting ready to start a campfire when one of my friends said,

“Hey do you wanna go up old baldy right now”?
“Right now, it’s getting dark”.
“That's the point he said”. With a smirk on his face. We walked thru the campground towards the giant sand hill we also picked up some more of my friends to come with us. We got to the sand my dad told everyone in a hushed voice,
“We all have to be quiet now and NO flashlights or we will get caught and that would not be a good thing ”. 

We all trudged up the hundreds of wooden steps, which we could barely see slowly but surely and very quietly. You could barley hear a thump, thump, thump, thump,... as we slowly climbed the steps. We could hear the waves crashing to the sand and smell hundreds of campfires off in the campground.  When we got the top of the lookout deck we could see almost everything. We could see: the light house lighting up the lake for boats to see, the pier and if you looked very close at the horizon you could kind of see the lights if Wisconsin. After we finished sight seeing, we stalked thru the rest of the trail. There were no steps this time so it was harder to see where we were walking.

I hope there isn’t any roots to trip on. The moon was like a flashlight in the sky that guided us along the trails. We could barely see one another's shadow but we had to follow them because it was so dark. My dad was leading throughout the trails when all of sudden we heard him whisper stop. I was about to ask why when all of a sudden I heard music and heard laughter from up on the hill. When we got up to the top- we were astounded to see that other people were already up there. They had tents, fire food, and even a radio. There would have been an astounding view of the lake and the pier; but the only thing we could really see was the lighthouse and the lights of the campfires that looked like a cloud of fireflies. We asked the people what they were doing and they said they were staying the night up there. It was getting a little chilly up on the dune and I think my friends started to notice that too. So we all started to make the steep descent down the dune. At first we were all going to scream and shout down the hill but then my dad reminded us that it was against the campground rules to be up after dark. We ran down the hill quietly but fast. It was fun running down the hill, the cool air was rushing past my face and then heard somebody coming up behind me,THUMP; me and my friend had fell to the cold sandy ground. It didn’t hurt but I much rather not have sand in my hair and clothes.  The sand was cool but it felt kind of nice.

“OW” I said in a loud whisper.

“I'm fine though” my friend said also

I had to get back up though so I ran to the bottom of the hill but very quietly. I saw it. The guard was out on patrol at the bottom of the hill. I had to sneak past him, I got on my hands and knees and crawled to the back wall of the square DNR station. I felt like a mouse trying to escape a cat. I heard my friends all coming up behind me. We were hiding behind the back wall of the DNR station. We didn't make a sound. All of a sudden we hear footsteps, then a door closes, at that moment we knew we were homefree. The DNR had gone back into his office to check on something. We got out from the wall and slinked away back to the campground. 

Climbing up  Old Baldy at night is a memory I will never forget. I will always remember the view I saw from the lookout deck.  I will also try and be more careful next time that we go up so we don’t almost get caught. But nonetheless this was one of the most fun adventures I have ever had. And I will forever cherish going to Charles Mears Park and remembering all the fun times I had.