Location: Van Riper State Park, MI
We attempted to visit the Pictured Rocks on Lake Superior via boat. We made it half way, as far as Castle Rock. Once out of the harbor, the waves were 6 ft. It was quite a ride. The captain said to us, "We are turning back for your safety and comfort...and ours too. We don't want to clean up the aftermath.". Ha well put.
It was a gorgeous sunny day, but the winds were 25 to 30 knots.
Here are some of the Pictured Rocks within the harbor. Beautiful, but not as stunning as the ones on Lake Superior.
I was lucky to have caught a pic of the waves crashing on the base of the rock. The boat was bobbing around so much it was hard to steady the camera.
I was able to capture, with my long lens, a quick picture of the colored cliffs on Lake Superior. Would loved to have been upclose...oh well, next time. Good excuse to come back.
The water in Lake Superior really is this color and crystal clear. According to the captain, Lake Superior is the clearest of all the Great Lakes. The water starts from here and pours into the other 4 lakes.
So...I guess don't drink from Lake Ontario?
Ned heading out to open waters, before the bumpy ride really began.
This lighthouse was built in 1867. The style then was to build them like schoolhouses. It was last used in 1907.
We got to see the maiden voyage of this cruise line's newest boat. It's a catamaran, for much greater stability, and was certified this morning by the Coast Guard. The crew couldn't wait to take it out into the 6 ft waves to see how it performed. Yeah, boys will be boys.
Some kayakers in the safety of the harbor.
Before the cruise we had spent the morning exploring the land side of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We took a short hike to Sable Falls.
The Log Slides were interesting. We visited two different sites. This one was up a steep sand dune. In the 1890's this area produced millions of board feed of lumber annually. It was harvested in the winter, brought over with sleds on ice roads to these log slides and then dropped into the lake. By the early 1900's most of the forests were gone and the lumber barons moved on. Don't know if you can see the perspective, but this cliff drops straight down.
Here's a picture of the ice sled that was used in the winter (on the left).
Those are some mighty big wheels on the right!
Here's looking at the sand dunes from another view point. Imagine seeing these massive logs sliding down and into the lake.
Tonight is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. It's also our last night on the Eastern Time Zone. I think it'll be light until 10:30 tonight. Here's a picture from our campsite at 8:30 pm.
Yes, the lake we are camping on is still pretty windy.
We went for a bike ride around 8:30. Here's my arty bike shot of the day...humor me.
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