7-16-18 Pictured Rocks and The Disappearing Tour Boat

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7-16-18 Pictured Rocks and The Disappearing Tour Boat

Today was a day we were looking forward to….  Taking our own boat by Pictured Rocks National Park.  One of the Geological wonders of the world.  There are 43 miles of the coast considered Pictured Rocks National Park. 15 miles are the sandstone cliff that make this area a true wonder.  We were so fortunate to take our own boat along the entire 43 miles.  We took our time along the 15 miles. I might have take a few too many pictures.  We left earlier in the day than we wanted to due to anticipated winds kicking up later in the day.  It is best to see the cliffs in the afternoon when the sun is hitting them directly. We got to see plenty, but the photos are not as spectacular as they could have been later in the day.

One of the first sites we came upon was Spray Falls.

We started to see a few boats in the area, then we saw the kayaks near the arch areas which is very popular.

Kayakers at Lover’s leap. One of the most popular places.

We saw our first tour boat. These are pretty good size boats.  Two decks high and certain much bigger than us. We watched the first one come around the point and shortly after that it was gone.  We were watching our charts and were quite sure where it went.  A few minutes later we saw it backing out from behind a rock.

When we got closer we saw realize there was a rather large cut in the rocks. Love my Captain.  He’s always very cautious, but also adventurous.  He knew if that big boat could go in there, so could we.  It was amazing!  Sheer cliff strait up on 3 sides of us.  Beautifully colored and shaped rock.  Very cool moment!

This is the rock the tour boat disappeared behind.
Last Call heading into into Chapel Cove ( we’ve also seen it called Chapel Cave)
Straight ahead were small caves.
This gives you a idea of how small the space was. There was no wind or waves so we were comfortable.
Looking up as we entered.

Wish I had studied more about the named formations, so I could label then all for you.  In my defense I didn’t realize they had named so many points.

This is photo depicts why they are called Painted rocks. Our God is an amazing artist. Here is where the different colors come from:
Red/Orange–Iron
Blue/Green–Copper
Brown/Black–Manganese
White–Limonite
Neat white streaks
Huge slabs of sand stone have fallen from erosion in the summer and freezing thawing in the winter.
Indian Drum
Miner’s Castle. Amazing how much it looks like it has doors and windows.
Lower Level of Miner’s Castle
Stalactites and Stalagmites
Lovers leap is an arch that goes all the way through. Not a great photo of it.
Battle Ship Rock. Bow view.
Chapel Rock. Seems like a wilderness sculpture.

Our plans were to anchor in Murray Bay off Grand Island about 3 miles north of Munising.  Because of that we didn’t cut in toward the town and headed right for the island.  Once again, we saw a tour boat duck into a cave on the Island.  So, when in Rome…… We slowly pulled our boat into this much smaller cave.  It was like a half circle inside.

Here is the cave we are heading into. Check out the color of the water. It’s like the Bahamas.
Inside the Cave , Water was dripping from the ceiling.
Roof of the cave. So many stripes of colors.

Pretty stripes in the rock and water was dripping from the ceiling. This was one of those things that was never on either of our bucket list and we got to do it twice in a short amount of time.  What a great way to end the most spectacular view of all our boating.

IMG_4655

Click the link above to see a video of us inside the cave.

Here are a few fun facts:

Lake Superior:

  • Has the largest surface of any fresh water on earth
  • 3rd largest in volume
  • 3 Quadrillion gallons of fresh water 15,000,000,000,000,000,
  • Amazing clarity due to low organic material
  • Most people don’t swim except on a few shallow beach areas because it is too cold.

We would have loved to take our paddle board and explore the many caves, but the water was just too cold.

If you ever get a chance to visit this wonder of the world, don’t hesitate.  Go Now!  It will only get busier.

Thanks for reading.

Drop us a line.  We love to hear from people.

Karen and Scott

m/v Last Call

Random Unique Photo of The Day:

 

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