When I mentioned to someone at church that Russ and I were planning on camping at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan, the fellow said he thought the place was overrated.

Shocked by his unusual opinion, Russ and I talked about other things with him for a bit until I had to ask why he thought it was overrated. “It’s just a bunch of rocks,” he said.

We managed to keep straight faces for the rest of the conversation, but during our Scamping trip a couple of weeks ago, it was our favorite thing to say whenever Russ and I saw one of the spectacular Jacobsville Sandstone formations in this park along Lake Superior.

We camped for three nights at the Hurricane River Campground (Lower Loop). We chose that from several other options because of its close proximity to Lake Superior plus a trail that leads to a lighthouse I’ve wanted to see ever since I learned that it’s the twin of the lighthouse in the Apostle Islands where I want to set a novel.

After a 6-hour drive from Duluth, we set up camp just in time to catch the sunset over Lake Superior. We were driving around the campground, looking for drinking water, when we caught a glorious orange glow coming through the trees. I made Russ stop the car and let me out. I ran with my camera to the rocky beach. By that time, the orange had muted to a purple-blue-orange, but I still managed to get one worthy shot.

The next morning, we headed out early on our bicycles. We pedaled 5 miles on the scenic, twisty-turny highway and a gravel road into Twelvemile Beach Campground. (Warning: if you do this, be prepared for hills!) Although we were perfectly happy with our campground, this one had gorgeous sites strung out along a sandy lakeshore with huge pines. If we end up returning, we’ll try this one next.

Once we biked back to our campground, we spent some time wading in Lake Superior to quiet our strained calf muscles. After lunch, we drove 12 miles to Grand Marais to resupply our ice and firewood. This quaint town reminded me of Grand Marais, Minnesota, on the lake’s North Shore in many ways, except that the beach is sandy instead of rocky.

Russ was eating cherries and spitting out the pits as we drove along. I hereby apologize to the citizens of Grand Marais for his littering. If cherry trees someday spring up in town, you’ll know who to blame. 😊

On our way back, we stopped at Sable Falls, which requires 168 steps down a stairway and another 168 on the return trip. The sight was worth it – the falls are beautiful! They come from the outflow of Grand Sable Lake. (Sable is the French word for sand.) A short way down the road from the falls there’s an overlook for the lake. We stopped and were impressed by the lake’s size and by a heavily laden apple tree rustling in the breeze.

Our next stop was the Log Slide Scenic Overlook. Back in the 1880s, lumbermen built a wooden chute that plunged down the steep sand dunes. Logs were sent down the chute to waiting ships for transport. The wooden chute is no longer there but the impressive dunes are. It’s said that sometimes the logs would catch fire on the chute due to the friction from the sand and wood, as well as the heat of the sun.

Although it’s possible to walk down the path of the chute, it’s a LONG way back up, and we decided our legs had had enough exercise between biking and stair climbing. Besides, the view from the top was impressive enough.

We continued our sightseeing, driving toward Munising. We stopped at Miners Castle Scenic Overlook, which features viewing platforms for an eroded rock that looks like a castle turret. The shallows of Lake Superior around the formation were a breathtaking turquoise green, making us feel like we were in the Caribbean instead of the Upper Peninsula.

Despite this, Russ and I turned to each other and said, “Eh, it’s just a bunch of rocks.” 😊

Our final stop on this busy day was a sunset cruise out of Munising, where we saw yet more rocks. More on that in my next post.