Tuesday, May 14 Pictured Rocks and Waterfalls Michigan

 Tuesday, May 14

A brisk 42 degrees this morning at 7:00.  We have a leisurely breakfast, clean up, dump tanks, and then head north towards Munising and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  Route 94 takes us through Hiawatha National Forest, with only a few dwellings. We see a few deer and wild turkeys along the way. Happy to see blue skies!

Our boat tour doesn't board till 1:30, so we check out a few area sites.  First is Wagner Falls, a short hike to a very nice waterfalls.

Next we decide to stop at Pictured Rocks Visitor's Center, where helpful folks give us maps and a few suggestions of things to do.  From the center, there is a short hike up a canyon to 50' Munising Falls.

Then back to the Trek for a drive to Miner's Castle Overlook. First we stop to hike to Miner's Falls at just over a mile.  

The trail is studded with wildflowers, including these delicate lily-ish flowers just beginning to open...

...and these tiny blue flowers that blanket some areas. 

Here is a view of Miner's Castle.  We will see it again later, from the water.  It was named by the crew of an Englishman exploring the area for minerals in 1771.  It lost one significant spire in a rockfall in 2006 and erosion continues its slow sculpting.

From here it is about 12 miles back to town where we make a quick stop at a grocery store, gas up and then enjoy tasty Reubens at the Dog Patch restaurant before heading to the dock.

It is a bit windy and still cold, so we bundle up for our time on the boat. Beth, with 2 pairs of pants, sweater and two jackets, stocking cap and gloves (dramamine too!) feels a bit like the Pillsbury Doughboy, but will be warm!  Not surprised to see others in line similarly decked out.  Our captain, Dave Slider, announces that it could be a little rough out in the lake if anyone is sensitive to motion sickness and a handful of people disembark.  Despite the winds, it really isn't bad. Air and water temperatures are around 45 degrees.

We do a 32 mile round trip cruise. The boat will hold 300 but this early in the season there are only about 100 of us.  Someone shares that this cruise is often sold out in the Summer.  There is an open upper deck and we see a few brave souls head that way and promptly come back down.  We sit outside, but in a covered area sheltered a bit behind the enclosed cabin.

The sandstone cliffs along the shore are as high as 200'.  Many areas are stained green, orange, red, brown by various minerals.  The winds and waves have created caves, arches and other shapes which human imagination has given names such as rainbow cave, the pirate, battleship row, indian head rock, etc.

Grand Portal

Lighthouse from 1867

This is the miner's castle, seen earlier from above.

Miner's Castle

Rainbow cave

The flower vase, below,  is shaped like a vase with a white pine tree on top.  Interestingly, the tree's roots drape over to an area 6' or more away.  There used to be an arch that connected the vase to the mainland.  The arch fell away, but the roots remained like an umbilical cord.

Spray falls

There are a few small waterfalls, some of which will dry up in the Summer. 

Bridal Veil Falls

 This area gets between 200 and 250 feet of snow and the bay at Munising will freeze over at 2'-3' thick!

We leave Lake Superior behind and head back into the bay at Munising.

After the boat, we head back into Hiawatha National Forest to a campsite run by the State Forest Service at Colwell Lake.  Again,  it has just opened, In fact, the camp host informs us that we are their first campers of the season.  Reservations begin on the 17th, so we can choose wherever we like, as many of the sites show reserved beginning the 17th!  We get a nice spot on the water and gather some wood for a campfire.

 The camp host and his wife are from central Florida and we have a long chat about Florida, grandkids (the only reason they are still living in Florida), Michigan and a variety of subjects.  The campfire feels great.   

Pretty sunset over the pier by our site.