3 August 2017, Thursday

After breakfast we pack up Wglwof and head for Pictured Rock Cruises in Munising. The 11 am tour will go out as scheduled, but the captain announces that we may not get the complete tour due to continued high waves of 5-7 feet. He also warns those with a susceptibility to sea sickness that they may not enjoy a three hour roller coaster ride. Several people disembark at the warning. O and I slip into some prime vacated seats, although I am a bit concerned myself about sea sickness.

Superior is certainly rough, but I am so distracted trying to get photos from the pitching boat that I have no time for motion sickness. The shoreline is striking, even though it is partially backlit by the morning sun. We can see ancient layers of sandstone decorated with colorful vertical streaks produced by minerals that are dissolved in water that seeps from the sandstone layers. There is red from iron, white from calcium or limonite, green and blue from copper, and black from manganese oxide. We make it out to Indian Head, a rock formation that looks like the profile of a Native American. Here we turn back for port as the waves become even more rough beyond this point.

Back at Munising O and I climb into Vincent and drive to the Chapel Rock Trailhead. This requires a 20-30 mile drive to a sandy turn-off which then leads us another 5 miles down a rough unpaved road. Our hike in to Chapel Rock and Chapel Beach is three miles each way. The rock formation, carved from 500 million year old sandstone, is beautiful. Rain arrives as I am taking photos. We enjoy a mid-afternoon snack and then find the return trail back through the maple forest to Vincent.

After a stop in Munising to call Dad, we drive to Foggy’s Steakhouse for a dinner of fresh Superior lake trout and white fish with local beer from the Keewenaw Peninsula. Now back to camp to try to dry out and organize for sleep tonight and travel tomorrow.