A Boat Tour of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore--Munising, Michigan.

We woke early for our 88 mile drive to Munising, Michigan. We wanted to take the Pictured Rocks Boat Tour using the gorgeous weather forecasted for the day.  The Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore runs along the shore east of Munising featuring dramatic multi-colored cliffs, beaches and waterfalls. Available RV Parking nearby the tour dock allowed us to buy our tickets for the noon cruise hours before we could check into our campground. Once the camper was parked safely, we walked a block to Muldoon's Pasty Shop to grab a chicken pasty to share for lunch while we waited for our cruise. It was ok but not nearly as good as the ones we had at St. Ignace. Lesson learned--always ask a local which shop is best.

Sasquatch is everywhere up here!

Beautiful flowers we've never seen before.

The 2.5 hour tour headed out of the Munising Harbor and ran east along the shoreline with narrations of the history and geology associated with what we were seeing. With a light north wind and calm seas, the catamaran provided a smooth ride on the lake.

Our ride for the tour.

Miner's Castle in the foreground.

The different colors are caused my different minerals leaching through the sandstone.

Hearty kayakers braving the chilly waters for close up views.

The narrator pointed out the perceptions found in the rocks. This one looks like a face.

Grand Portal Point. Large boats could sail through this arch until a vicious storm caused the rocks to break loose and fall in the 1920's.

Hikers waving from one of the points. We'll have to check that hike out.

Chapel Rock

A rock connecting Chapel Rock to land fell many years ago, but the tree root remains connected keeping the tree atop the rock alive. 

A low waterfall into the lake.

A later cruise would put sunshine on the rock instead of shade, but it was still incredibly beautiful.

A light north wind had us buttoned up as we, of course, sat outside.

Bridal Veil Falls weakened by a beaver dam, we were told.

We left the cruise and headed back to the camper so we could go check into our campsite. We booked a site at the Au Train National Forest Campground about 20 minutes outside Munising where we found a beautiful location with large wooded sites. This campground has no electric, water or sewer with two water faucets available at the campground entrance. We are set up for this kind of camping, but all the shade over the camper has us still being very conservative using our electric system as the solar doesn't get enough sunshine. No AC is needed, or even the fans as the temperatures are quite pleasant. We'll see how we do with this scenario, but for $13 a night with our Senior America the Beautiful Pass, we're happy to give it a go.