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.
I really liked the photos here. Beautiful scenery. I can see how the water was warmer in the shallows. That pasty looked delicious. I've never eaten one...but all the British shows talk about them.
ReplyDeleteThis beach is tucked in a bay and also protected by a large island which helps to keep the waves down and the temps warmer.
DeleteI was curious about why there were so many place selling pasties up here and did some research... there was a big influx of Cornish miners who came to work in the copper mines here in the 1800s. It took off from there.