Saturday, June 23, 2018, Au Sable and Grand Marais

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore stretched about 45 miles from Munising, to the west, to Grand Marais, to the east. We set out to tour as much of that stretch as we could today. One famous lighthouse, Au Sable, was only accessible by hiking, but again, Sam was not welcome so we passed. As it turned out we could see it about two miles away from the "log slide" where we did stop.  

The log slide was a bit scary. It was desolate, we saw only a couple of other people during our visit, but mostly it was disconcerting just how easy it would have been to get into some serious trouble. The slide dropped 300 feet to the water and was only 500 feet in length. That was steep! I'm not sure how you can climb up loose sand that steep. Signs warned there were even steeper drop-offs that you couldn't see from above. Finally, we were warned that we would be responsible for the cost of any rescue operation to get us back up the slide. So, it was creepy, but pretty as long as you paid attention to where you walked. 

Near the northern edge of the park, we saw what I think was the prettiest falls - Sable Falls. A short hike with a lot of stairs took us to the bottom of the falls. I had my tripod and with some adjustments, I was able to capture the water's flow with a long exposure. A couple of my favorites are below.

Sable Falls (pronounced - saw bull falls)

The beach in Grand Marais is sometimes referred to as "Agate Beach." Sam and I spent an hour relaxing on the shore as the gentle waves lapped the rocks at our feet while Joani hunted for that one special rock that would forever remind her of this spot.

In Grand Marais, we had to stop at the Gitchi Gumee Museum. There was shade for Sam across the street with a nice breeze, so he didn't miss us too much as we checked it out.

Gitchi Gumee: Agate and History Museum in Grand Marais, MI

The "Agate Lady" kindly pulled out of hiding her most prized specimens and told the background of their acquisition. She said this stone was found in the river as seen, highly polished from the diamond dust that flows naturally in the Jequitinhonha River in Brazil.

(The Agate Lady gave me permission to include her photo.)

This explains how diamond dust found its way into the Jequintinhonha River when diamonds were only created in Africa.

This baby is about 10" x 6" x 8" tall.  (perspective is skewed in the photo with the Agate Lady.)

I appreciate seeing the "before" agate and also what you find when you cut it open.

Thursday, June 21, 2018 Pictured Rocks Sunset Cruise

We met a nice couple, Darlene and Bill, through RVillage who were also staying in Bay Furnace.  They were from Florida and new to full-timing, on the road just one month. Still, a bit overwhelmed, hopefully, we didn't steer them wrong with any of our answers or advice.

No trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula would be complete without exploring the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The colorful sandstone cliffs are best seen from the water, so it was either a cruise or we could rent kayaks and paddle the 25+ miles ourselves. I had serious doubts about surviving a kayak trip, so we chose the sunset cruise. When I told our new friends about our cruise plans they decided to join us.

I took 790 pictures on the trip while Joani took nearly 500 pictures of her own. It was difficult narrowing down the pictures to a reasonable number for today's post. 

7:48:  We sat on the upper deck to get the best view of the shoreline.

 8:29:  "Miner's Castle" was the first named feature we cruised by, but it was somewhat underwhelming.  We had seen it yesterday from a different perspective and it was resplendent!


This was taken at noon yesterday from the "Miner's Castle" observation deck on shore at high noon.

8:31:  Can you tell David and Bill are freezing!

The name "Pictured Rocks" is due to streaks of mineral stains that adorn the face of the sandstone. Colors occur when groundwater oozes out of cracks and trickles down the rock face. Iron (red and orange), copper (blue and green), manganese (brown and black), and limonite (white) are among the most common color-producing minerals.

8:33:  "Painted Coves" is on the left and "Bridal Veil Falls" is on the far right.

*9:31:  The colors of "Painted Coves" (on the return trip) were much richer just one hour later and the reflections in the water looked like Lake Superior was turning to wine.

8:34

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8:39

8:40:  "Lover's Leap"

8:41:  "Coves of all Colors"

8:44:  Part of "Rainbow Cave"

8:47

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8:56:  The opening of Grand Portal" is 100 feet high by 160 feet broad at the water level.  Before the ceiling of "Grand Portal" collapsed in 2000, you could travel through it in a kayak.

8:59

9:00:  "Chapel Rock" has a large tree perched on top, but there is not enough dirt on the rock to feed the tree...

...so the roots traveled into the forest on top of the rock arch that supported the lone tree.

(Picture of a photo in the rangers station that shows what it looked like before the arch fell.)

9:00:  The arch collapsed in the 1940s, but the thick roots have managed to keep the tree alive.

(Another picture of a photo in the rangers station.  It's a perspective from the shore looking out toward Lake Superior of the roots draping from rock to shore after the arch fell.)

9:03

Spray Falls was the finale of our tour. At this point, we circled back to experience the cliffs again in the changing light. It was strange having the sunset at such a late hour!

9:06:  Spray Creek shoots roughly 70 feet over the Pictured Rock cliffs directly into Lake Superior creating "Spray Falls"

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9:16:  Back to "Rainbow Cave"

9:16

9:17:  "Indian Head" (Do you see it?)

9:20:  (Note the gull in mid flight.)

9:21

9:25:  The sun was so low at this point, our boat's shadow followed us back to port.

9:31

9:41:  The tour is winding down and high-tailing it back to Munising at about 30-35 mph.  I'm shivering drastically, but having a ball!!!

9:42:  The sun is finally setting behind Grand Island, which is less than a mile from Munising Bay.

9:43:  "East Channel Lighthouse," constructed in 1868, sits on Grand Island facing Munising Bay.

9:45

We are already planning to return to Michigan's Upper Peninsula in a couple years. Next time we will visit in the fall to experience the changing leaves.