Michigan 2024 Trip Report (Day 10)

Written by ceddammit

As I pulled into the town of Munising last night, I noticed a Hardee’s. I can never say No to a Hardee’s, so that’s where I went for my evening food. I wonder now if that was the best choice. My gut woke me up early this morning (between 5 and 6 A.M.), and it didn’t have anything nice to say. After spending some time on the toilet, I went back to sleep and didn’t wake up again until a more reasonable hour. But it wasn’t long before my intestines were, forgive the expression, “talking shit” again. I had planned on tomorrow being a “day off” – a day of staying at the hotel and catching up on emails, writing this blog, etc. While sitting on the toilet this time around, I decided to make today the day off, and explore Pictured Rocks tomorrow. There was only one problem with this. I had already bought a ticket for a boat tour of Pictured Rocks, scheduled at 3:00 this afternoon. This is a trip I could not miss, as I keep reading and hearing that the only way you can actually see the Pictured Rocks themselves is from the waters of Lake Superior. So, I took a half day off (or maybe two thirds of a day), and fortunately my bowels didn’t bother me at all after lunch. Now…the boat ride…

Autumn colors juuuuuust beginning to show here in late August.
An old lighthouse stands on the shore of Grand Island (clearly NOT Grand Island, Nebraska).
Grand Island has some pretty nice bluffs of its own…
…but as scenic as this might be, we haven’t even seen the beginning of the Pictured Rocks yet.

Before they let us board the boat, they had told us that the Pictured Rocks would be on the right side of the boat on the voyage out, then on the left on the way back – and that we’d be going the same speed each way. So, I got myself a seat on the left, so I could hear about the various rock formations first, then photograph them on the way back. Besides that, I’d also heard that late afternoon is the best time to see/photograph the Pictured Rocks, due to the angle of the sun. Thus, I didn’t take an awful lot of pictures on the way out. Here are the ones I did:

One of the world’s very many waterfalls named Bridal Veil. Just a trickle right now; huge in Spring
I swear I wasn’t intentionally taking a picture for a tourist brochure.
The cliffs towered over us…
…as Captain Dan pulled our big ol’ tour boat into a tiny inlet…
…then reversed out.
Beautiful turquoise-colored layer in the cliff next to the tiny inlet

This was a pleasantly, surprisingly long trip, by the way. It lasted 2.5 hours, which was much longer than I had expected. The Pictured Rocks go on and on, with new and different formations continually coming into view. But we eventually reached the end and turned around. And that meant it was time for me to go nuts with the camera. Then use it to take pictures. Take a look at the latter:

This formation is called Chapel Rock. You can hike to it.
Arch
The Pictured Rocks are basically just cliffs sticking up out of Lake Superior.
With the waters splashing against these cliffs, and months of freezing and thawing, erosion is constantly tearing the formations down.
Skipper Dan said this mass fell from the rock into Lake Superior in April of last year.
Admiral Dan said that “ice stalactites” form in these caves during winter. Where I’m from, those are called icicles.
Massive landslide inside one of the arches.
Supreme Allied Commander Dan said this mass fell from the rock into Lake Superior about five years ago.
How many kayakers ya think are buried under that slide?
Notice how the water practically glows in some of these pictures. This is caused by sunlight hitting very shallow water with white sand underneath.
The larger hole to the left is the rock’s mouth. The smaller hole next to it is the rock’s 3.5-inch floppy diskette drive.
All right, who blew their nose on this rock?
Amazing yellows!
Rusty but shiny
This formation is called Miner’s Castle. You can easily walk from a parking lot to the overlooks.
The castle part of Miner’s Castle
That’s one seriously heroic tree!

Once the Pictured Rocks were fully behind us, Emperor Dan took the boat across the channel for a closer look at the old lighthouse we saw on the way out. It’s officially known as the Grand Island East Channel Light. It was completed in 1868 but was taken out of service by 1913. It was neglected for decades, and was in danger of being destroyed by erosion of the lakeshore. Funding and volunteers were procured, and by the beginning of the 21st century, the building had been stabilized and a seawall installed to prevent further erosion. Take a gander at the old place:

One last look back at the Pictured Rocks

So I sat around with my laptop most of the day, then sat in a boat for a while. I’ll have to try to get back on track exercise-wise tomorrow. Until then…toodle eww!

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