Day #22
Last night was a difficult night for sleeping, not because
we were too tired; we were not too hot; we were not too cold; we were not sick
– it was the anticipation of not hearing the alarm! Have you ever worried about
not hearing the alarm to get up for an important appointment!
Our important appointment this morning was breakfast at
Sherri’s restaurant in Ishpeming, then on to the Lake Superior docks in Munising
for a Picture Rock boat tours.
A couple of days ago, we reserved tickets for the 11:00 a.m.
2.5-hour boat. I’m glad we did, it was full.
The breeze was sporadic, the sun blazing, the water teal
blue and we were lucky enough to snag a couple of seats on the top deck. The
first 20 minutes were taken up with just getting to the pictured rocks. The captain
narrated the tour, all the crew were very nice. We sat next to a couple up for
the week from Kalamazoo, MI.
The impressive cliffs of pictured rocks were sheer drops of 50 to 200
feet into Lake Superior. The pictured part of the rocks are from the different types
of minerals that seep out of the sandstone. We saw various colors from the
different minerals: Iron (red/orange); copper (blue/green); manganese
(brown/black) and limonite (white)
The oozing of the minerals from the rock cliff, along with our imagination created the various pictures on the rocks – faces, bears, sail ships, etc. The rocks themselves created pictorial representations of ships, miner’s cabin, etc.
Toward the halfway point of the ride, the captain began discussing the concave of the cliff in front of us. It was called Chapel Cove. He talked about how he always wanted to pull his boat into the "chapel" to see if it would fit. Of course people started chanting for him to try. The crew on our deck told us not to encourage him, because he was off his medication! The Captain pulled the boat into Chapel Cove. We were cocooned in the cliffs. The captain told the story of pulling in a few weeks ago and three young men were on the cliffs above and mooned the boat. The direction of the sun made it difficult to get good pictures.
The rock arches and caves were dotted along the shoreline as
were the beaches, all popular places for the kayakers. Several companies made a
living from transporting kayakers and their passengers out to the pictured
rocks area on Lake Superior for a half day or full day of kayaking. Doug wanted to rent kayaks for the day to see the cliffs up close. Not sure he would fit in a kayak.
Or you could hike the 43-mile trail from Lakeshore Trail to
access the beaches for overnight camping and the lookouts on top of the Picture
Rock cliffs along the way.
The Grand Island was on the left of the dock as we left o
the tour. The captain said that Grand Island was four times the size of
Mackinac Island and privately owned before being sold to National Park Service.
After the boat tour, taking a different way back to the
campground we drove through the K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base that has been
closed down and K.I. Sawyer township. The base was a sad looking place,
buildings with windows broken out, grass grown up and buildings in disrepair.
Lunch was road riding PB & J. We didn’t stop, so after
we arrived back at the campground, we took a swim in Lake Michigamme, riding on
the see-saw and I watched Doug enjoy the slide. This was a fun campground.
Saturday was a beach concert by a local band sings oldies from the 70s, 80s by
Waylon, Cash and even the Doobie Brothers.
The lake beach was clean, the water clear brown like weak
tea from the iron, we were thinking and we could walk 100+ yards into the lake
without getting waist deep in the water. Great depth for the blow-ups and kids!
Supper was a quiet affair of steaks, wild rice and green
peas, then an evening of writing and reading.
Enjoy the pictures of our day!
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| One of several Arch Rocks |
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| Battleship Row |
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| Miner's Castle |
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| Inside Chapel Rock |
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| Back of boat inside Chapel Rock |
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| I guess he forgot his hat! |
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| Original lighthouse on Grand Island. |
This light house is from the 1800s. The landowners on Grand Island are responsible for the upkeep of the lighthouse. I think that would be a big question mark!
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