Pictured Rocks

Around the middle of our trip, we were transitioning from western to eastern upper peninsula of Michigan and I saw on many maps and websites about boat tours offered to see the famed "Pictured Rocks" which were a protected area along the coast of Lake Superior. Not wanting to taint myself ahead of time, I avoided googling any pictures and just jotted down the location of the boat terminal in case we decided to purchase tickets. As it turned out, we did decide to do so and I am enthralled at what we were able to witness as a result. Above is another old lighthouse spotted along the shore line of an island as we made our way out to the Pictured Rocks area.

As we approached the shoreline rose from the water in an impressive band of cliffs and started showing signs of water staining which is the process that created the Pictured Rocks. The water in the high water tables leech minerals out of the rocks and deposits them on the cliff faces as it runs down to Lake Superior.

The colors just seemed to get progressively bolder as the 2-1/2 hour boat tour progressed.

A closeup view of one of the walls.

We saw a number of kayaks along the way which baffled me for awhile since protected bays were few (3 in 15 miles) and Lake Superior is notorious for rough water. In fact, the tours of the day before had been cancelled for that very reason according to some of the other passengers who had been rebooked for our day. But I soon saw there were tender boats that hauled the kayaks and paddlers out to scenic areas and launched and picked them up using a ramp off the back of the tender boat without the paddler ever having to get their feet wet. If I ever am back in the area, I will try kayaking for sure.

Above were some sea caves about at the peak of the coloring. It was truly stunning.

Also along the way we saw some land arches that had been eroded out of the bluffs.

This one caught my eye.

This uniquely colored sea cave was called Rainbow Cave.

Although I'm sure no longer politically correct anymore, the outcropping on the left was called Indian Head point.

Another land arch that had partially collapsed relatively recently in history. If I recall, it happened about 50 years ago.

 I think this feature was called the broken flower vase.

Finally, this one probably has a name but I've forgotten it. It has a large white pine growing on top of it and used to be connected to the mainland by a natural bridge which the pine's roots grew across to access the necessary moisture and nutrients. The natural bridge has since collapsed but the roots are still suspended across the gap and keeping that solitary white pine alive. 

It was truly a beautiful place and I was sorry when the trip ended 2-1/2 hours later and we had to drive on to Sault Ste. Marie on the eastern reaches of the peninsula.