Tahquamenon Falls and Whitefish Point

We made our way toward the eastern end of the Upper Peninsula. Along the way, we stopped to see another view of Lake Superior. You can see the waves here are higher than what we saw the previous couple days at Sand Point Beach. This is more of what you'd expect from this great lake.

Our primary destination was Tahquamenon Falls State Park. The upper Tahquamenon Falls are the second largest in the U.S. east of the Mississippi River. It is nicknamed "The Root Beer Falls."

While it was impressive seeing the Upper Falls, we had more fun visiting the Lower Falls. The Lower Falls consists of a series of five smaller falls cascading around an island. We rented a boat to row to the island in order to get a closer look.

We walked around the entire island.

There are several spots where you can wade in the water and approach the cascades of the Lower Falls.

Kai and I walked close to one cascade. The closer you got, the harder it was to walk as the force of the water pushed against you.

Kai enjoyed the experience here.

Next we drove to Whitefish Point which juts out into Lake Superior near the eastern tip of the lake.

This area has had numerous shipwrecks over the years and so they built a shipwreck museum that tells the stories of many of the largest shipwrecks. The Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald in 1975 is probably the most famous due to the Gordon Lightfoot song, and the museum covered that wreck and even had the ship's bell which was recovered.

We then walked out to the point. It was very windy and surf was high. You could really see how the waters could get dangerous around here.

The town we're staying in has only a few restaurants so for dinner we stayed in as as our motel room has a kitchenette. We boiled water and we ate some instant Japanese noodles. Nothing to write home about, but it satisfied a hankering for Japanese food which you can't find in the U.P.

Tomorrow is our last day in the Upper Peninsula.

More of Pictured Rocks

After our fabulous boat tour of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore the evening before, the next day we went to a few more places by land.

Our first stop was Munising Falls where we took a short hike up a cool shaded canyon along Munising Creek to get to the falls.

Next we took a hike to see Miner's Castle.

The view from the boat last night was awesome, but this one from above was pretty special, too. I love the emerald color of the water surrounding the castle rock.

From there, we took a one-mile hike down to Miner's Beach. As it was either flat or down hill, it wasn't too difficult, but Kai grumbled along the way. He walked slowly and said it had to be way more than a mile. I don't think it was but it sure seemed that way when he was unhappy.

Toward the end of the hike, we came upon a creek that would lead to the beach. At that point we knew we were getting close and Kai's mood lightened.

He was happy when we first saw the beach.

And once in the water, he was at peace.

The walk back up was tougher, but after being refreshed by a swim in Lake Superior, Kai was much more energetic and we made it back faster than it took to climb down.

For lunch, we went back into the town of Munising. There aren't many choices there but we wanted to try pasties, a meat pie that seems to be very popular in the Upper Peninsula as we've seen signs for it in every town.

We had the Yooper pasty which was filled with ground beef, carrots, onions, and potatoes.

After lunch, we took a break at the motel and then went back out to Kai's "favorite beach I've ever been to", Sand Point Beach. The water was not too cold and my wife even went in a few times.

Kai loves this beach. It is a nice, sandy beach with no rocks, the water was calm and very swim-able, and it was not overly crowded.

For dinner, we went to one of the few restaurants in town that does't serve pasties and had Lake Superior Whitefish.

It was light and tasty, not overly heavy like some fried fish are.

Next we will travel to the eastern part of the U.P.

Sunset Cruise at Pictured Rocks

One of the things I most looked forward to on this trip was a boat tour of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Pictured Rocks is known for its dramatic multicolored rocks cliffs that are best seen from a boat. I had booked a sunset cruise as I read that the angle of the sun at that time would best illuminate the rocks.

We arrived at the dock about a half hour before departure. There was already a line of people waiting to board and I was fearing that we wouldn't be able to sit up on top outside. And so I was relieved that there were not only several seats left on top by the time we got on board, but there were choice seats on the right side near the front.

The first formation we came to was the iconic Miner's Castle.

But that was just the beginning. We quickly came to a series of colorful cliffs, many with very interesting formations.

The following is an arch known as Lover's Leap.

If you use your imagination, you can see a face in the next rock formation.

I believe the next one is known as Indian Head Rock.

I like the tree clinging for dear life in the next shot.

Our captain took the boat into the very narrow Chapel Cove. We went all the way in to the end. It was doable on this night because the water was calm.

On the return trip, the sun had come down further and the rocks were lit up even better. This next arch is called Grand Portal.

I love the red colors on the cliffs behind Kai and my wife.

I love how the color of the water matches that of the cliffs.

We got right next to this waterfall.

And here's Miner's Castle on the way back, now basking in orange.

On this night, we got a bonus of a nearly full moon.

And of course you can't have a sunset cruise without a sunset.

It was quite a trip, even better that I hoped for.

We don't think of the midwestern part of the US when it comes to spectacular sights. In that way Pictured Rocks is a mostly unknown gem.

This was definitely a highlight of our trip.

Marquette MI and on to Pictured Rocks

We had stayed the night in the UP's largest town, Marquette. We had some time before heading to our next destination so we explored some of the outdoor sights around the area.

We took a morning hike to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain. The hike up was wonderful through the serene forest. The temperature was pleasant so though there was a lot of climbing, we didn't get too hot.

From the top, we had great views of Lake Superior and the surrounding area.

After we came down, we drove to Presque Isle Park, a free park located on the waterfront. We started out by walking out toward the breakwater light.

It's always been refreshing to walk outdoors on this trip as the air is clean and the lake is not only beautiful but the water is clean as well.

From there, we drove to a different area of the park, a place called Black Rocks where people dive off the cliffs. No, we did not partake, but it was fun to see others.

We had lunch at Culver's. The inside of the restaurant was closed but we could phone in an order and they brought it out to a table just outside the restaurant.

And with that, it was time to leave Marquette.

Our next destination was Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

We started out our visit there by going to Sand Point Beach. This time Kai enjoyed the water. It was not super cold so my wife waded in for a bit. After taking this picture, I joined Kai and he and I stayed in the water for an hour.

Kai said that it was his favorite beach that he ever had been to. I think he may have forgotten some of the great beaches we went to in Hawaii, but the point remains that this was a really nice beach.

On this evening, we took a sunset cruise to see the most beautiful sights of the park from the water. But that will have to wait for another post.

Later.