Pictured Rocks National Seashore Area

Pictured Rocks National Seashore and Upper Peninsula was our original destination but it took us a little over 2,000 miles to get here with all the other places we visited first!  It was definitely worth waiting for!  The weather didn't cooperate too well for pictures but it didn't rain and it wasn't too hot so we can't complain.  When we arrived in Munising (about in the middle of the U.P. on the north side) we decided to get on the first tour boat for Pictured Rocks since it was to rain the next day.  Pictured Rocks are sandstone cliffs - ochre, tan, brown, sandwiched with layers of white and green - and tower 50 to 200 feet above the water.  Their name comes from the streaks of mineral stain that decorate the face of the sculpted cliffs.  The streaks on the cliffs occur when groundwater oozes out of cracks.  The dripping water contains iron, manganese, limonite, copper and other minerals that leave behind a colorful stain as the water trickles down the cliff face.  We had third row seats on the top on the boat.  I was disappointed we didn't get on the right side and would be closer to the rocks.  But, we turned around  and followed the same path, so we were closer to the rock AND the sun peeked out, just a little!  These pictures are from our "3 hour cruise" through Pictured Rocks.

 This formation is called Miners Castle.  Notice the

platform at the top on the left.  We were up there

the next day!

 Notice the streaks

 Lovers Leap

 Closer view of Lovers Leap

This is Grand Portal - the rocks have collapsed.

 The rocks are so big compared to this pontoon boat!

 Double Drum

 So many round holes in the formations

 We drove in to Chapel Cove and the water was so clear.

The water is about 25 feet deep here!

 Chapel Rock - Look at the tree growing on top and the

root goes over to rocks on the other side!

 More holes in the rocks

 Lovers Leap from the other side

 Chapel Cove - if you look closely, you can see a guy

in a kayak heading in.

Grand Island is a small island off shore from Munising 

and this is Grand Island East Channel Lighthouse.  

A bit of trivia from the boat ride - There are only summer houses on Grand Island.  Only a few have electricity and even fewer have indoor plumbing.  There is only one land line there. We crossed Munising Bay into Lake Superior.  Munising Bay is 219 feet deep at one point. The average depth is 100 feet.  Lake Superior water temperature at the surface is 63 degrees.  The deepest part of Lake Superior is 1,330 feet deep and the water temperature only changes 4 degrees from summer to winter.  Munising receives about 200 to 250 inches of snow each year.  The ice on Munising Bay gets to be about 3 to 4 feet thick.  I think I like Arkansas winters better!

We also visited a few lighthouses in the area.  There are so many of them around here because of the rough waters of Lake Superior.  

 This is the Grand Island Harbor Rear Range Light

Munising Front Range Light

There are also several waterfalls within easy hiking distance in the area.  Again, not a good day for pictures but we got some anyway!

Alger Falls - 20' waterfall 

 Wagner Falls - 20' waterfall

 MNA Memorial Falls - couldn't get in a position to

get them both in the picture

 Scott Falls 

Miners Falls - 40' waterfall

Munising Falls - 50' waterfall

The following day, we headed east towards Grand Marais.  It was a very foggy day so we were glad we had done the boat ride and several lighthouses and waterfalls the day before. We stopped at one of the ranger stations and found a sign for the trail to Sable Falls.  Conrad wanted to walk there so off we went.  Well, I think it was about a mile and a half walk but we walked through some quiet, beautiful woods.  We finally got to a point where we could hear the falls so I knew we were about there.  

 The woods

I just kept on trudging...

As we were headed to the steps to go down to the falls we saw a parking lot just through the woods.  When we got closer, we saw this sign!  We could have driven a couple miles to a different parking lot!  Oh well...

There were 176 stairs to get down to the falls.  It was really worth the trip though!

Sable Falls

Conrad hiked back through the woods to get the car and came to get me at the other parking lot!  Sweet guy!!

Next stop was 12 Mile Beach.  It was so foggy but still nice.  We walked on the beach for awhile. The sand was fairly white and there were lots of small, smooth pebbles here too.

 There were a bunch of steps to the beach 

(and then back up to the parking area)! 

This picture just doesn't do it justice but it really

was beautiful.  

We ate lunch in Grand Marais at The Dunes Saloon since it was only one of two places open. The food was good though and then we walked through town - all 2 blocks of it!  Before leaving town, we checked out the Pickle Barrel House Museum.  It is 16 feet tall and has 2 stories.  The bottom level was the living area and upstairs was a bedroom.  There was a smaller barrel behind this one that was the kitchen.  A pantry connected the two.  It was built in 1926 as a summer home for William Donahey, a cartoonist and creator of the Chicago Tribune's popular "Teeny Weeny" cartoon strip.  

 The Pickle Barrel House Museum

Notice the pole on the fire hydrant.  That's so the

snow plow won't knock it down!

We made a quick stop at the Grand Sable Dunes.  Five square miles of Grand Sable Dunes are perched atop the 300-foot high Grand Sable Banks that were left by enormous glaciers.

Grand Sable Dunes

A woodpecker really liked this tree!!

We had two more stops for the day.  The first was at Miners Castle.  If you go back and look at the first picture above, you can see Miners Castle at Pictured Rocks.  This is the view from above.  Then we took the trail to the rock.

Miners Castle from above

Then we walked over to that platform where we could see the people standing on the observation deck from the boat.  It was very impressive!

Miners Castle

The last stop was Miners Falls.  This was a 1.2 mile trail to the falls.  There were only 77 steps down to these falls!  

Miners Falls - 40' falls

Time to head further east.  Next up, Whitefish Point and Sault Ste Marie.