Pictured Rocks July 27

 

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore was probably the part of the Upper Peninsula I was most excited about. The picture-perfect postcard views promised colorful cliffs, cascading waterfalls, mirrored surface paddling, emerald green waters, sun, and remarkable water clarity. What we got was a bit...moodier...than that. I was most excited to do a packraft+hiking loop, paddling north 7 miles from Miners Beach to Chapel Beach, then returning via a 8.8 mile inland past Chapel Falls and Mosquito Falls then along the cliff edge. Despite researching months in advance, we could not find a single campsite available for us to do this as a pleasant overnight trip so we were locked in to seeing as much as we could as a long day trip. 

The previous night (morning really) had us waking in the Tahquamenon Falls campground to a thoroughly loud, bright, and wet thunderstorm and then later to an unsettled forecast of borderline lake conditions, low visibility fog, and roving thunderstorms. Not only were we at the mercy of campground reservations but also the weather. Wanting to give ourselves the most options, we left the campground about 7am (nice how easily the campervan can convert to drive mode!) for the 2 hour drive to Miners Beach. We arrived at the empty parking lot at the east end of the beach under dark skies and rain. Between the weather and hoping it would improve, we decided to wait it out. So we had a lazy morning napping in the van until the rain finally stopped and a brief window of sun finally appeared. We suited up and readied our boats in the nice gravel lot as drizzle continued, then carried the 600 ft to the water edge. It was 12:45pm (!) when we finally pushed off from sandy beach near the quaint Elliot Falls and paddled through the minor shore break.

Elliot Falls at our Miners Beach put-in

Almost immediately the sun disappeared behind building clouds and we turned the first point to surprisingly sloshy waves. These were obnoxious short period chaotic waves that that rolled in every direction, further complicated by their reflection off the lakecliffs. I struggled and rarely succeeded to take photos with flat horizons, nearly working myself nauseous a couple times. The photos I took really can't do justice the rough conditions we had- not unsafe but also not comfortable. At least we had no wind fighting us. Enormous tour boats passed at intervals further offshore but generally things were quiet with only one group of a couple kayakers seen at the start of our paddle and another at the end. The second point we reached had the whispering stream of Bridal Veil Falls tumbling down. With the chaotic waves it felt like we were making very little progress so I was relieved and frankly surprised that it had only been a half hour and we had made a respectable 1.8 mph of progress..

Bridal Veil Falls in shadows at right

At the fourth point was the most picturesque cliff we had seen yet with fantastic multi-colored water streaks barcoding the bottom half of the cliffs. I was well accustomed to these mineral stainings from rain and seeping springs in the Southwest but never so colorful or intricate, including unique blues and greens from copper. I had Heather paddle into the sloshwater at the base of the cliff to model as I did my best to take photos.

We had gone nearly 1.5 miles along the coast without seeing any beaches or even shore-level rock ledges to beach our boats on so when I spotted a small pebble beach around the next point I suggested we get out for a brief break, unknowing how frequent they may be ahead. It was the smallest little beach but such a welcome break to stand and restore our equilibria. Above were overhanging cliffs and roosting seabirds, while below us was a perfect pebble beach of colorful quartz, jasper, agate, and granites. It was such a neat little cover I could not resist beaching again on the bedrock ledges at the far end for a further photo.

Refreshed from the break we continued on. Quite abruptly the weather turned cold and foggy on us with visibility often less than the height of the cliffs. We only went another half-mile further down the coast when I suggested one more brief break to look at more pebbles at a beach with interesting rockfall blocks leaning against the cliffs. Behind one of the was a neat drippy grotto of sorts. The sloshy swell was not getting any better but at least When I consulted my map I could see we would have a half-mile more of cliffs and then the long Mosquito Beach that we could pull into wherever if needed. The sloshy swell was not getting any better but at least we were getting the hang of it and finding it much less intimidating than when we first set out. 

Not exactly the postcard view of Pictured Rocks!

The visibility dropped to less than a hundred feet at one point, turning everything a colorless grey, which began to feel like a pointless exercise in further paddling the coast. We skimmed the shallows off of Mosquito Beach, gliding over the jointed shore platform of the Munising Formation sandstones, pulling ourselves ashore at Mosquito Creek around 2:45p. 

Trying to figure out what direction the weather was headed, we hiked up the terraced bedrock of Mosquito Creek, walked through the campground, then returned to the shore just to the north. Here there was a prominent ripple-marked layer in the Cambrian sandstone that we both enjoyed. As we returned along the coast I climbed to the back of a small alcove for a neat reflection view out at Lake Superior. 

A 500 million year old beach juxtaposed against a modern one

We snacked at the water's edge trying to decide our next move. The weather did not improve so paddling another 4 miles to Chapel Beach did not seem like the right thing to do for the day we were dealt. With little enthusiasm, we decided to paddle a further half-mile to the prominent headland of Lover's Leap and then return back to Mosquito for our hike out. I'm very grateful we did this as it added a lot more appeal to the trip. We paddled past some interesting alcoves and sea caves and then a quarter-mile away we spotted the dramatic arched headland of Lover's Leap (frontispiece). Somehow I had totally forgot about this arch, shameful since it towers over 200 ft and one year was featured on the federal lands park pass. I was in awe at this distance and with every paddle stroke towards it. This was more a feature for a rough exposed ocean and I had to keep reminding myself I was on a lake! We paddled through the arch and I took many a photo. Further we could see plenty more fog shrouded sea cliffs that looked fascinating but this was very obviously our turnaround point. On the way back we detoured to pull boats up onto the bedrock and walk the shore shelves around the corner to one of the neat sea cave alcoves. At 4:30p we pulled ashore for the final time at the ripple-marked bed, which as I suspected made a perfect clean surface for us to change and pack gear. 

The hike back took us 1hr 10min to go 3.3 miles. There were very few views for being a stone's throw away from the cliff for most of the hike, but the open forest was quite pleasant to walk through and the trail mostly flat. It began raining halfway through but between the humidity and the umbrella canopy of leaves overhead we continued on without rainjackets. 

We made it back to the parking lot around 5:45pm so we decided to make a brief detour to the Miners Castle viewpoint before our half-hour drive to our campground. As if to tease us it turned sunny with views up the coast we paddled! How changeable and teasing the weather was! 

With that we drove to Colwell Lake Campground. I spread some gear out to dry and almost immediately it turned foggy and moist again! Heather and I were thoroughly impressed with the tidy campground and our campsite. Sites were huge and nicely spread with forest between each, and ours even had a lakeview and its own little beach. 

So our Pictured Rocks experience was not exactly what we hoped but it was nevertheless still a special day out and made for a solid second day of our road trip. It really makes for a nice stretch of coastline. I would not be opposed to revisiting it in better conditions to see more coastline and snorkel when the visibility is high.