Touring Michigan - Munising

Water - it's the centerpiece of the landscape in Northern Michigan and was the focus of our recent visit to Munising, located on the southern shore of Lake Superior and a gateway to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

There are seventeen waterfalls in the Munising area, one of our favorites is Laughing Whitefish Falls. The falls drop a hundred feet down a limestone slide; in the spring, the flow is much stronger than now, but it's still beautiful. It's a tough place to photograph well, the ravine is so deep that only at midday does sunlight reach the bottom.
 

There's beauty in the little details too - the color of the rock, the play or light and water.

 With a forty foot drop, Miner's Falls is the reward for a twenty minute walk through the woods.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is a place unlike any other, towering above Lake Superior are the most prominent of the park's  features, the multicolored sandstone cliffs for which the lakeshore is named. These cliffs reach to a height of 200 feet above the lake; the name "Pictured Rocks" comes from the streaks of minerals that stain and decorate the face of the wind and water sculpted cliffs. Sandstone cliffs of ochre, tan, and brown - sandwiched with layers of white, green, orange, and black - glisten against the cloud-streaked sky and clear waters of Lake Superior.

There are a few ways to see the Pictured Rocks, we choose a boat cruise this time. About 12 years ago, we hiked the length of the park - from Grand Marais to Munising, a total of 42 miles. Maybe we'll do it again some day!

The cliffs start out small:

But big on color! The colors and patterns are caused by water carrying minerals such as copper, iron and manganese through the soft sandstone.

If you're comfortable in a kayak on Lake Superior, you can get truly up close and personal!

 Arches and caves are formed by the forces of wind and water:

Many of the formations have been named, this is Indian Head:

This is Chapel Rock, topped with a magnificent pine - even more amazing when you notice the root system bridging the gap to the cliff!

Spray Falls marks the turn around point, the falls also marks the the resting place of an 1856 shipwreck;  "Superior" lies at the base of the falls in 20 feet of water.

As is common on Superior, a quick moving storm moved in on our return trip:

But it stopped just before we passed the East Chanel Light on Grand Island - we had spent the previous day on Grand Island, biking nearly 20 miles.

The Munising area is beautiful all year, but the best time to visit is quickly approaching: FALL! The colors are already starting to show just a bit - plan your visit soon.

Touring Michigan - Whitefish Point

Whitefish Point is located at the extreme southeastern end of Lake Superior. The Whitefish Point Light Station was established by Congress in 1849; today, the Whitefish Point Light is the oldest operating lighthouse on Lake Superior. The present light tower was constructed in 1861 during the Civil War.

Whitefish Point marks the eastern end of a notorious 80-mile stretch of shoreline from here west to Munising, Michigan, known ominously as Lake Superior’s Shipwreck Coast. Of the 550 known major shipwrecks lying on the bottom of the lake, at least 200 of them are in the vicinity of Whitefish Point. The primary causes of shipwreck here are stress of weather and collision; the 1975 loss of the steamer Edmund Fitzgerald with her entire crew of 29 has become a world-wide legend. The wreck of the Fitzgerald lies just 15 miles northwest of Whitefish Point.

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is well worth a visit, but today, we just wanted to walk the beach.

We could feel the temperature dropping as we made the drive from Paradise out to the Point and found ourselves enveloped in fog when we arrived.

We love walking this particular beach, with it's mix of soft sand and rocks and the water and waves as far as you can see.

At least a few "interesting" rocks always seem to find their way home with us.

Whitefish Point provides a phenomenal concentration spot for migrant birds with land and water features creating a natural migration corridor. Tens of thousands of birds are funneled to the Point every Spring and Fall while migrating through the Great Lakes region. For over 30 years, Whitefish Point Bird Observatory has been monitoring and documenting these annual migrations.

I'm not sure what this little shorebird is, but there were a number of them monitoring us as we walked.

The tracks left by the gulls have a wonderful graphic design to them, a mixture of random and directed.

This winged creature was willing to pose for me too - isn't he gorgeous?

By the time we turned to return to the parking lot, the fog was clearing and we had a clear few of the lighthouse.

Fog and sunshine, wind and waves - there's not much better than a walk on the beach in northern Michigan!

Touring Michigan (And Making Art) - Brimley State Park

Even when you live in a great place, sometimes you just need to get away and do some things you can't do at home. In our case, that means a campfire in the evening followed by sleeping in a tent near the water. Brimley State Park is a great fit for us: not to far away, quiet and beautiful.

The park is on the shore of Lake Superior and has a great sandy beach - a beach that is a great place to collect drift wood.

I love to use driftwood in my art, it's so light weight and has such interesting markings and patina after it's time in the lake.

It's been so cold that I suspect there haven't been many visitors and there's a lot of reeds, driftwood and other objects on the shore.

This piece really caught my eye:

And I was inspired to create an ephemeral "environmental sculpture" ala Andy Goldsworthy:

The Viking marauders landed at sunset and alas, were never seen again, their ship destroyed by the waves of Lake Superior in the night.

When the creative muse speaks, the wise artist listens - my sculpture may have only survived a few hours, but the memories will last much longer!