Once at the top of Test Hill, many folks just kind of hang out. In the picture below you can see the long line of Jeeps behind Jim and Shannon. We're all just enjoying the view. Well, except for Shannon, she was making sure she knew where the roll bar was. To get an idea of the steepness, check out the truck coming up the hill in the background.

We got a pretty cool picture of us, as well. Shannon just happened to snap the picture as a dirt bike flew over the hill. He got a lot more air than we did on his way over the top!

Not all of our climbs were successful. Here's a picture of one of the more embarrassing tries. Jim, in his YJ with enormous tires, made the hill the first time. Me, in my TJ with medium tires, had to go at it 3 times. I still think I picked a steeper spot. Great face, I wasn't exactly thrilled. I wish I had a picture of Julia and the kids' faces after I spun the tires and blew sand all over them!

And, back down we go again. Big hint: if you have a standard transmission, drop it in reverse and allow the transmission to control your descent. Fortunately, I didn't have to learn this the hard way because you figure it out pretty quickly.

After you've climbed everything in sight you can take advantage of Lake Michigan. The picture below shows what the beach looks like with all the 4x4's lined up and everybody down at the beach. Since no cars can make it to the beach this is basically a 4x4 private beach. It was really great!

Here we're lined up on the beach path before it got crowded. Pretty amazing that the pictures are on the same stretch of beach.

Once you're done for the day, you'll need to fill up the tires with air. At the entrance to the park, there is a store that offers somewhat free air. Basically, they just ask that you buy something. For me, it was a tire pressure gauge of all things. I think a soda or something would be just as good. If you're really lucky, your wife will will do the tire filling. Look at that, a whole day on the dunes, with me driving, and she's still smiling.

So,

The next page is a collection of various pictures from the dunes.

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