Sep 8 – Pictured Rocks Cruise

Another very long post.

After our jet boat ride we went back home for an early dinner before heading to town to lineup for our 6 pm sunset cruise to the Pictured Rocks.

Since I wanted to be sure to have a good seat we got there early and were about the 6th in line.

When we boarded we got to choose between these two boats.

For some reason most people went to the back one but I looked at them and thought that the bridge of the back one obstructs the view from the upper deck. We picked the front one and got a front seat behind that nice wind blocking metal shield.

I think our boat turned out to be the slowest. They also run a fast catamaran on a slightly longer cruise.  It left 1/2 after us and got back about 20 minutes before us. Even the other boat on our cruise seemed faster but I rationalized it by saying that we got longer views of everything.

The cruise starts at the harbour in Munising.

Ours went as far as Chapel Rock in the upper right corner. The catamaran goes on to Spray Falls.

Off they go with us not too far behind.

The captain said not to bother with the cliffs until we get to Miner’s Castle, which is the first point off in the distance below.

I thought there were a few things worth a picture.

Another tiny waterfall.

Arriving at Miner’s Castle.

It looks rather different from the water side. Much more castle like.

Onto Bridal Veil Falls.

Lots of dripping mineral stains here.

The captain said that this cliff collapsed last year. You can tell the recent ones because all the small rocks and sand haven’t been washed away.

He said the green was from copper but this looked too bright.

Lots of sea caves.

Shortly after I took this picture, these hiker mooned us.

This arch is called Lovers Leap. The water is only 2 feet deep underneath so a jump is sure to be fatal.

This Rainbow Cave.

This looks more like copper stains.

These trees were hanging on for dear life.

This point is called Indian Head.

The captain kept pointing out the features but I never did see the face.

Front view.

This is the Grand Portal. It had a major collapse not too long ago. They used to be able to drive the boat through it.

There were a series of very sharp points he called Battleship Row.

The Flower Vase.

With a ring of little columns around the top

We headed into Chapel Cave after the other boat left.

More copper stains.

Our turnaround point was Chapel Rock. It used to be an arch but that collapsed leaving a pillar.

The lone tree on top gets its moisture from its roots that used to lay across the arch. Now they are up in the air.

The catamaran, on its way to Spray Falls. It looked very crowded.

Back at the Grand Portal.

Towards Lover’s Leap.

And Bridal Veil Falls, again!

It was quite dark when we got back to the dock at around 8:30.

Perfect weather for some great scenery.