Today we began with a visit to Whitefish Point, the northern-most stop on our trip and located on Lake Superior. Beyond this tip of land, the lake opens up significantly. Numerous shipwrecks have occurred over the years around this area.
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| Whitefish Point on Lake Superior |
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| Lighthouse at Whitefish Point |
The
Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is located here, as is a lighthouse, keeper's quarters, and a gift shop. Walking out on the boardwalk to view the lake here is a bit eerie; a marker memorialized the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald reminds you of the ominous nature of the lake. The winds were calm on our visit and the lake appeared inviting, but reading the panels in the museum lets me know that the waves can be terribly dangerous on the lake.
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| Edmund Fitzgerald memorial at Whitefish Point, MI |
The museum fee seemed a bit steep, but considering it's open less than half the year, I suppose we must pay for the other half of the year, too. Nevertheless, the exhibits were informative and several artifacts were fascinating. I especially like the Fresnel lens -- reminds me of Waterford crystal -- ha! But no pictures of it.
A guide offered lots of information about the U.S. Lifesaving Service; he knew his subject and was passionate about it. Wooden boats with paddles to the rescue!
Turning southwest, we visited
Tahquamenon Falls. Two of the Lower Falls were visible from the visitor center overlook; knowing our time schedule for the day, we skipped the mile long trail to view the others. Then we drove the four miles to the Upper Falls, where we hiked the half mile and 160+ stairs to view the falls. Despite being above the 45th parallel, it was quite warm here on this day and the exercise had our blood pumping. We left sweaty.
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| Lower Falls |
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| Lower Falls |
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| Upper Falls |
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| Upper Falls |
We continued our journey to, perhaps, my favorite of all the sites on this trip: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. At the dock, the town of
Munsining was having a Tuesday afternoon farmer's market complete with a local band. We bought a blueberry vanilla loaf with lemon glaze and some banana bread - breakfast for the next few days.
As we began our Painted Rocks National Lakeshore tour, we saw this lighthouse on the opposite shore.
Our six o'clock
boat tour of the rocky face cliffs was a perfect choice. The late afternoon sun illuminated the rocks in breathtaking fashion. A photographer's dream.
Our boat captain narrated the out-tour noting the many structures, teaching us about the seeping minerals giving color to the rocks.
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| Bridal Veil Falls |
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| Kayaks on Lake Superior along Pictured Rocks National Lakeshor |
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| Staining on the rocky face is caused by various minerals seeping out of the rocks. |
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| Indian Head |
The water was calm: great luck for us! So we got a special treat - the captain pulled the boat into a cave where we got up close with the rocky cliffs.
It was nearly nine o'clock when we departed the dock in search of dinner.
The Fish Basket, an outdoor eatery welcomed us; the cook insisted we Southerners try his whitefish, fresh from Lake Superior that day. Glad we did; it was good!
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| This photo was taken after 9:00 PM . . . notice how light it still is! |
We were far from camp . . . but the day had proven to be worth the trip. Jamie spotted "more than you want to know" deer on the way; fortunately, they stayed out of the road. A roadside rest area provided a moonlit view of Lake Michigan before we arrived back at camp.
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| Moonlight over Lake Michigan |
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