Pictured Rocks Cruise

 

Here we are on our cruise. The beauty of the pictured rocks is breathtaking. Our campsite was 30 miles east of Munising so we didn't cruise as far as where we stayed. We cruised from Munising east. When we got the the beginning of 12 mile beach we turned around and cruised back again.

The cliffs are made of sandstone. Some of the sandstone is softer which is how the caves and arches are formed at the water line from the action of the waves. The wind was fairly calm on our cruise. We had two foot waves. The next day the wind was blowing all the way across the lake from the Duluth area toward us and the waves were 20 feet high! I was glad we went cruising on this day instead of the next.

The sandstone is beige in color. Mineral deposits add the color. Iron deposits made yellow, orange, red and purple splotches. Copper deposits make blue and green splotches. Manganese makes black splotches. Limonite makes white splotches. Gulls also make white splotches.

Look at the cool arch. A boat ride is essential to appreciating the beauty of this place.

I could not stop taking pictures.

Michigan is beautiful as long as you are not driving on gravel roads. The gravel roads were the worst I have ever driven on. Even driving at 12 mph the road was so bumpy my teeth felt loose. I couldn't even talk without the bumpy ride affecting my voice is a funny way.

I really enjoyed our cruise. The $40 cost was well worth it. See this pine set on a rock? It is a great example of resilience. The land on both sides of it fell away. The only way the pine gets sustenance is through it's roots which have formed a bridge to the left of the rock and burrows into the land. Nutrients carry across the root bridge and feed the tree.

At one point toward the middle of our trip our captain took the boat into a narrow cove. I kept thinking he's going to put the engine in reverse now but he didn't. He got so deep into the cove one of the assistants, standing on the prow of the boat, lifted his muscular (he was wearing shorts) right leg and pushed his foot off the rock face. Wow. We just idled there for a few minutes soaking in the experience. The water was only six feet deep and was a tropical blue green color like you see is Hawaii or the Bahamas. What a moment!

This is a picture inside the narrow cove. Everybody on the boat was impressed.

We were so close to the walls.

You can see some copper deposits here about half way down the cliff.

The water looks tropical.

Gorgeous natural beauty!