PICTURED ROCKS NATIONAL LAKESHORE LOOP TRIP & SHIPWRECKS
July 16, 2011
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| Lovers Leap Sea Arch |
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| Bridalveil Falls Pictured Rock National Lakeshore |
i could see the tourist boats below and thinking to myself how much better it is up at the top here than crammed on a boat with a bunch of people right now.
The 252 foot wooden steamer was caught in a Lake Superior storm in October 1903, but the next day when she departed the next day her steering failed causing her to strike a reef and a fire broke out where she burned to the waterline. What remains today lies in 20 to 40 feet of water. This turned out to be a nice dive because the debris field still had a lot of artifacts from the boat in shallow water. People have also been returning items back to the boat for other divers to enjoy
I TOOK A HALF DAY TO MOUNTAIN BIKE 26 MILES AROUND GRAND ISLAND WHICH IS THE LARGE ISLAND NEXT TO MUNISING. I TOOK A FERRY BOAT RIDE WITH MY BIKE AND ONCE I GOT OFF THE DOCK I TOOK OFF ONTO THE MUDDY INCLINES AND ROCKY DECLINES OF THE 26 MILE LOOP AROUND THE ISLAND. i STOPPED AT NORTH POINT, SAND POINT, AND MAY OTHER SIDE TRACKS TO CHECK OUT THE AMAZING SANDSTONE VIEWS WHICH DATE BACK 300 MILLION YEARS AS WELL AS TO CHECK OUT THE INTERESTING MUSHROOMS THEY HAD ON THE ISLAND.
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| Painted Rock Pictured Rock National Lakeshore |
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| Canyon Falls Michigan |
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| Canyon Falls Michigan |
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| Black Rocks Marquette Michigan |
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| Au Train Falls Spring Michigan |
These rock formations are awesome!! It was just like being at the ocean with the clear water
and the large rocky shorelines to scramble around on. Locals come here to go cliff jumping into lake superior. The rock itself is ancient dating back a few hundred million years from what I understand. the waters were cool but if you bring a mask and snorkel you can venture off out and around the shoreline into remote bays and have the place to yourself.
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Laughing Whitefish Falls Michigan
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Shipwreck of the Smith Moore
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The Three masted 230 ft steamer loaded with low grade iron ore got into a collision with the james McCam and the MM drake was able to tow the smith moore to munising harbor until the smith moore sank. She sank in a 120 ft of water and her masts were still standing 15 feet above water so a tug boat came by and tore down her masts. They were going to salavge the ship but made the determination that the ships cargo of low grade iron ore was not worth the time and effort so they left her where she rests today. She is intact but the shifting sands have covered most of the boat making penetration very limited. What is interesting about this shipwreck is her large 30 ft engine which sits in the center stern section of the boat. The engine is HUGE and her railings around the stern are large as well. The water is a bit murky and it is dark down there so the puctures didnt come out the way I wanted them to but she was a very interesting boat to check out.
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| Shipwreck of the Manhatten |
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| Chapel Loop Trail Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore |
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| Chapel Loop trail Apostle Islands National Lakeshore |
the day started sunny on this 12 mile hike but towards the early afternoon the clouds rolled in which made pictures not as impressive as I remember seeing. I hiked through the woods to mosquitto beach and the river flows right into lake superior which was beautiful in itself. I started hiking down the beach and the sand disappeared into stratified slab rock as I got closer and closer to cave of many colors. Looking out the shore line the water staysshallow until about 25 ft out there is a shear drop down to 25 or 30 ft. AWESOME place to snorkel and swim around!!
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| Painted Cave Pictured Rock National Lakeshore |
Cave of many colors was a beautiful place to stop and look around but I quickly got back on the trail and made my way past lovers leap and had lunch on the top of indian point.
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| Chapel Loop trail Pictured Rock National Lakeshore |
i could see the tourist boats below and thinking to myself how much better it is up at the top here than crammed on a boat with a bunch of people right now.
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| Chapel Loop Hike Pictured rock National Lakeshore |
I hiked around battleship cove and made it to chapel beach where I rested for a bit and collected myself thinking about all the wonderful things I have seen so far. I decided to get bakc into the water to swim aroudn the first cove which was a beautiful cavern.
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| Chapel Loop Hike Pictured Rock National Lakeshore |
There wasnt many places to stand in but I loved how you can get a close up to all the minerals and swim through a secluded section of cove. I got back on the trail and made it back to my car think that was a world class hike I was just on.
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| Shipwreck of the Steven Selvik |
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Shipwreck of the Bermudathis 130 ft 2 masted schooner was specifically made for the transport of iron ore in the great lakes back in the 1800's. She got caught in a gale and took water on her way to munising bay september 21 1870. The captian was said to have gone to shore to attempt to patch up the bermuda but unfortunatly his attempts failed and she sand in 25 ft of water in murray bay grand island off of munising. Shs is a beautiful intact boat in shallow water, viz wasnt the greatest but it is just impressive to see a 130+yr boat in tact in shallow waters protected from the elements of waves and condition. A must DIVE!!
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| Chapel Loop Trail Pictured Rock National Lakeshore |
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| Dead River Falls |
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| Sand Island Pictured Rock National Lakeshore |
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| Miners Castle Sea Caves Pictured Rock National Lakeshore |
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