Lake Trips 2019: Upper Peninsula (Tahquamenon Falls and Pictured Rocks)

We got an earlier, but still sort of late start after the Dark Sky Preserve and headed out towards the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (Mackinaw is right at the tip of the mitten that is lower Michigan). First stop was Caste Rock, which is essentially just a tall rock with a great view (and some cheesy tourist stuff, but we eat that up):

It was lots of stairs, but we made it

View from the top

Tip of the rock that you can see from the top

We headed next towards Tahquamenon Falls, making a brief stop at a roadside park touching Lake Superior so that the kids could make a first toe-dipping (we'd be on the Lake again, but this was a convenient break):

Lower Falls

Upper Falls

The bugs were pretty, so I took a picture

In the early afternoon, we headed towards Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, arriving in plenty of time for our sunset cruise (the recommended way to see the lakeshore) but not quite in time to get our passport stamped at the visitor's center:

It was hazy, so the sunset was not brilliant, but it still looked pretty on the water

For the first 30 minutes, the shore looked mostly like this -- wooded, pretty red rocks, occasional waterfall

Our guide told us he feels like the tour really starts here, at Chimney Rock

The colors started changing on the rocks as we got further in

These all represent different kinds of deposits

 

Indian head rock -- supposed to look like a Native American in profile

Battleship row

Looking backwards, we could see the sun (behind the clouds)

The Stanley Cup

This tree is growing on a rock -- it's roots trail behind it to a different rock to find enough soil

A closer look at the roots

 

Headed back

Better view of the arch from the other side

Battleship row from the other side

The sun was almost completely set as we pulled into harbor

Once we were loaded back in the van (freezing cold, so we stopped for cocoa and tea), we headed two more hours to Sault Ste. Marie (the Soo). We were staying on the Canadian side, so we crossed the border at 1am, which made it a very quick crossing, and we were on our way to the Canadian portion of our vacation.