Visiting Michigan's Upper Peninsula (UP) - Part II

We continued our touring of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore by driving along H-58 and several offshoot roads to visit Miner's Falls, Hurricane River, Sable Falls, Sable Lake, Grand Sable Dunes, and Grand Marais.

Miner's Falls

Hurricane River

Sable Falls

Various Views of...

...Sable Lake.

Grand Sable Dunes in distance...

...and up close.

Scenes from Grand Marais.

This was actually a vacation cottage built in 1926...

...that was moved to Grand Marais in 1937.

As we went from point to point, I saw signs along the shoreline warning about rip currents.  I didn’t know that a lake could create rip currents.  Then again, this is no ordinary lake.  Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake in the entire world by surface area, third largest by volume.   And 10% of the world’s population rely on it as a source of drinking water.

We did some more hiking along a different portion of the North Country National Scenic Trail, too.

Little Chip was very accommodating for my photo shoot of him.

On another day we took a side trip to Palms Book State Park.  We traveled along some remote and desolate roads, rarely seeing another vehicle.  Many of the roads indicated they were closed off in winter—better own a snowmobile in this neck of the woods.   The wildflowers here in the UP are so pretty!  8 Mile Road was bordered by rows of yellow wildflowers.

We purchased an $11/vehicle all-day recreation passport, and we enjoyed a picnic lunch at the Park.  Then we strolled over to see Kitch-iti-kipi, which means Big Spring in the Ojibwa language.  We took a flat bottom raft ride across the Spring (no fee for this, presumably part of the $11/vehicle all-day recreation passport).  At 45 feet, Kitch-iti-kipi is as deep as the surrounding trees are high, and it earns the title of Michigan’s largest natural spring.  Lots of cool water (45F degrees year-round) flows through/into the spring—at a rate of 10,000 gallons/minute!  The boat has a glass bottom, so I could see the water bubbling in, along with lots of fishies who call this spring home.

"Prayer of the Woods"

Lots of fishies enjoying the cool waters of Kitch-iti-kipi.

The water bubbling into the Spring

Since we purchased an all-day recreation passport, we put it to use by hiking at Indian Lake Pathway.  We clocked 3 miles before we called it quits.  The trail was very boggy, not heavily traversed so not well maintained, and, ironically, it never leads you to Indian Lake! But it did provide us some nature viewings.

We are so happy and thankful to have the Rambling RV Rat Pack Rubicon.  It would have been a nightmare to find adequate parking for Big Boomer, our medium duty truck, at many scenic lookouts.  Furthermore, he would have been prohibited on many seasonal roads for being overweight.  Even if Big Boomer was more lightweight, it would be a rough ride on all the primitive roads on which we have traveled.

We absolutely loved touring the lakeshore area of the UP!  We were fortunate to have arrived before the crowds and to have long summer days to explore (it didn’t get dark until nearly 10 p.m.)  We were graced with good weather and cooler temps.  We are blessed to be healthy and mobile to do all the hiking and stair climbing required to see all the wonderful natural treasures of these lands.  And we were relieved that the mosquitos weren’t as bad as we anticipated.

Of course, no visit to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore would be complete without a sunset cruise (we took the one that specifically includes Spray Falls).  They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so I’ll let my photos do the rest of my blog.

Talk to you again soon!

A view of Grand Island.

Castle Rock.

Viewing Spray Falls is only included on specific cruises.

Amazing how this tree clings to life.

The gorgeous stages of sunset.