August 2006 Vol. 23, No. 8 – R/C - RCSoaring.com

Have Sailplane - Will Travel
SOARING IN SAUGATUCK
by Tom Nagel (tomnagel@iwaynet.net)
T
his summer my extended family made
its second trip to Saugatuck,
Michigan, an artsy little resort town in
the southwestern part of the state, at the
mouth of the Kalamazoo River. Actually
there are two towns there: Saugatuck and
Douglas, lying on opposite banks of the
Kalamazoo, sort of like Minneapolis and
St. Paul, but without Garrison Keillor.
The route from my home in Ohio to
Saugatuck takes you along a magical
section of the interstate highway system
where for fifty miles or so I-69 runs
concurrently with I-96. In this mythical
stretch of the interstate, the highway signs
disappear almost daily, transported to
college dorm rooms at Michigan State and
the University of Michigan. This makes
navigation a little spotty, but by day you
can tell that you are on the right route from
the fleets of Michigan Department of
Transportation trucks with workers
putting up signs. At night, just look for
kids in black T-shirts with flashlights and
vise-grips.
The route also includes frequent road signs
indicating Gd Rapids and Gd River and Gd
Haven. I believe these indicate either Good
Rapids or possibly Goddam River, but I
am not sure. Nobody up there seemed to
want to talk about it.
FLYING SITES IN SAUGATUCK
As per usual, I had map scouted the place
using Topozone.com. I saw likely slope
sites at Mount Bald Top and at Saugatuck
Dunes State Park.
Saugatuck Dunes State Park
Saugatuck Dunes State Park is north of
town a mile or so. A state park vehicle
permit is available for a few dollars.
Wooded dunes; a nice half mile stroll
through a thousand acres of rolling,
forested dunes takes you out to a pristine
lake front beach.
The park has lots of small lake front dunes
which look flyable by HLG or other light
slopers. The small dunes are spotted with
small cottonwood trees, which are actually
just one tree that throws out multiple
trunks and a network of roots as the dune
moves.
The yellow flowers are Hairy Puccoon
(lithospermum canescens) which bloom
in early summer --not to be confused with
the Hoary Puccoon (lithospermum
54 R/C Soaring Digest