Day 17: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (no kayaking...)

Last night we crossed the Eastern/Central time zone and realized it was much later expected, so we pulled over and camped in the Squirrel Rapids Picnic Area, halfway between the Apostle Islands (WI) and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore (MI). We were up early to the sound of lawn mowing all around us. After a quick stop at a farmstand for veggies and breakfast, we drove across much of Michigan's Upper Peninsula (the UP) on Route 28. 

At Pictured Rocks we attempted to find a campsite at the Twelvemile Beach Campground (I'm pretty sure this is where Marika and I stayed 3 years ago), but all the sites were full (on a Monday!). Instead, we headed a bit further east to the Upper Hurricane River campground and snagged a big site where we cooked up an extravagant veggie-full burrito lunch. 

Our site at Upper Hurricane River campground

Food coma overtook us and I sprawled out on the beach for an hour while Jeff went exploring (food comas affect us all in different ways). One lesson I've learned on this trip is that I am no longer capable of reading a novel. Goal #10 for my year of sabbatical: manage to finish reading a novel without falling asleep.

 

Excited about clean hair

We decided to stop being beach-bums and drive to Grand Marais, passing Grand Sable Lake on the way. West Side Diner had immediate ice cream potential. Immediate sensory overload overcame us upon entering the diner. Shelves of steaming baked goods were interspersed with quality touristy trinkets. The diner was busy, so we sat at the counter in the diner car before eventually ordering (1) apple crumble with vanilla ice cream, (2) cinnamon roll with cream cheese frosting, (3) chocolate ice cream. Yes, we were craving sugar. Day 16 was clearly lacking in calories, because sugary things were on our minds all day. 

Sucker River Lagoon outlet

Feeling slightly sick, we decided to get some exercise. First, we drove to Sucker River Lagoon, at the end of a long residential road, and went for a brief beach walk. We had to hop over a few Private Property signs to reach the beach. Next, we hiked to Sable Falls and the adjacent beach (very easy hike down massive new staircase) before walking the Grand Sable Dunes trail and taking silly shadow photos from the top of the massive dunes. The dunes here are made of incredibly fine orange-reddish sand.

Grand Sable Falls

Dune slide at the end of the Grand Sable Falls trail

We then made another U-turn to Grand Marais to have a beer and people-watch at the Lake Superior Brewing Company. We impulsively decided to visit the Log Slide – the essence of which eluded us. A brief walk through the woods brought us to a massive steep sandy cliff where logs used to be slid down a wooden chute to the lake. Rumor has it that the chute was so long that extensive friction caused it to catch fire. To the east were massive untouched sand dunes basking in the warm evening sun. Signs everywhere warned of dune collapse that buried and suffocated previous visitors. It said “it takes 5 minutes to get down and over an hour to get back up.” Needless to say, we did not go down.

View of massive dunes from the Log Slide Outlook

Now we’re back at camp – I chopped veggies for a breakfast stir-fry and Jeff made a campfire that we are now enjoying. We are a little sad that we did not sea kayak here, but the rental shops were expensive and far away. Kayaking on Lake Michigan tomorrow!