Munising MI, Pictured Rock Boat Trip

A trip through Michigan's Upper Peninsula just has to include a boat trip to see the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore sandstone cliffs.

We took the sunset cruise, but the sky was overcast and we had a bit of rain, so there really wasn't much of a sunset. 

Our boat trip started by passing the Grand Island East Channel Light in Munising Bay. It was in service from 1868 to 1913 when it was replaced. 

We went over 30 miles along the cliffs and back in about two hours. It was very hard to choose which images to include. These are just a few of our favorites.

The sandstone cliffs are colored by mineral loaded water seeping through them. The boat narrator told us what each color was from, but I don't remember it all. I do know the reddish browns are from iron, and the white is from calcium.

Blue is quite rare.

The cliffs are constantly being eroded by the water and wind.

Large chunks and small crumbles can be seen.

The strong waves carve away at the lower part of the cliffs creating deep caves of many sizes.

This large formation looked like a big ship turning to go out into Lake Superior.

But as we passed by we could see that it was still attached to the main cliff by a stone bridge. 

Speaking of stone bridges, at one time there was a bridge between the formation with the single large tree on it and the main cliff. The tree roots grew across it to the soil there. Eventually the stone bridge either collapsed or was eroded away, and the roots still cross the gap. The tree stands tall and healthy.

The 70 foot Spray Falls was as far as we went on our cruise. As I have opined before, a waterfall is often a destination, or in this case the turning point.

I'm glad this is all a protected area. I like to think we are seeing the same untouched bluffs the Indians saw from their fishing canoes before the white man came.

As the daylight faded we motored back to the dock in a light rain. We could have had better conditions, but are OK with knowing that such things are sometimes out of our control. We feel very lucky to have been able to see so many of the wonderful places in this big country of ours, and this is surely one of them. 

I hope our adventure will continue for a long time and we will find more wonders to discover.

RV life includes many colors.