Wednesday, June 20, 2018, Munising Falls, Miner's Castle

It was time to start sightseeing along Lake Superior's south shore. We stopped in the Munising Chamber of Commerce for some area info. Armed with maps and excellent advice we went to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Visitors Center first. A short, 800-foot hike behind the building took us to the Munising Falls lower observation platform. Sadly, with the sun overhead, the lighting gave us some very contrasty pictures that did little to record the beauty of the falls. We checked another viewing platform, but the lighting was just not cooperating.

Our next stop was about 10 miles away at the overlook for Miner's Castle. There the high overhead sunlight only enhanced the blue hues in the waters.

A close up of the sandstone below gave us a preview of what was so unique about the shoreline that the National Park Service made this the first National Lakeshore. 

We would have hiked to Miner's Falls, but Sam was not allowed on the trail and we were not going to leave him in the car even though the temperature was very pleasant. We opted to head home for some lunch and maybe a nap instead.

Around 6 PM we were restless and headed back out again. It was too late in the day to go far and I wanted to see if the lighting was any better on Munising Falls. This time I had my camera and tripod thinking I might do better than our earlier handheld shots. The angle of the sun was nearly perfect, illuminating the falling waters from behind our vantage point. I set up my tripod, but had to wait for the only other two people in the area who felt the need to jump the fence into the "off limits" area to capture selfies of themselves behind the falls - some people!

I was amazed at the difference the lighting made and think the return trip was worth the effort.

Given that the lighting enhanced the falls we wondered if we would see a similar change at Miner's Castle. We did see a change, but not an improvement - it seemed the lower angle of the sun gave us less dramatic coloring in the waters and left the castle face in the shadows. Still beautiful but earlier was definitely better.