The smoke from the Canadian fires was less today so it made a better day for outside hikes on a summer weekend. Miners Castle is a landmark along the Pictured Rocks shoreline but instead of two turrets that gave its castle name, only one remains as the northeast turret collapsed in 2006.
Miners Castle
Another summer weekend will have people visiting parks, including Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, which make the news last month when some boaters captured video of a 200 foot part of the cliff that broke off and fell into Lake Superior. The cliffs in the park range from 50 feet to 200 feet above the lake. In 2019, a group of kayakers narrowly escaped injury from another collapse of the cliffs.
Cliffs at Pictured Rocks
The weather for the last weekend of August was great for outdoor activities, like a boat ride on Lake Superior near the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.
Boating Near Pictured Rocks
Lake Superior has more than 200 rivers flowing into it and its watershed ranges from 160 miles inland near the Lake Nipigon area of Ontario to only 5 miles inland by the Pictured Rocks National Seashore in Michigan. And one river in that narrow watershed area is Spray Creek and it plunges over the cliffs at Pictured Rocks and lands directly into Lake Superior seventy feet below.
Spray Falls
With school starting soon for some students and the long holiday approaching, some people are trying to get the last vacation in before the unofficial end of summer. And some vacation activities may include water adventures on the lakes, like on Lake Superior near Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore to view different rock formations and waterfalls..
Colorful Cliffs
February may be the shortest month, but it was long on snow. A record setting snow amount of 53.7 inches fell in Eau Claire for the month. Many road banks are piled very high which makes it hard to see oncoming vehicles at corners. This cliff on the shore of Lake Superior is like the snow banks as it hides what is around its corner.
Tall Cliffs
The long Labor Day holiday weekend marks unofficial end of summer and many people this weekend are trying to get that last trip or adventure in before school starts and winter comes. And on this warm Sunday day, it would have been a good time to be on the lakes enjoying water activities, even if it was just a boat ride viewing rock formations like these sea caves, called Cave of All Colors in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Lake Superior.
Cave of All Colors
Although the temperature is supposed to get above freezing today, it won’t be warm enough to thaw all the snow and ice on the lakes, unless the lake hadn’t frozen over like parts of Lake Superior this year. This arch is called the Grand Portal located in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Lake Superior.
The Grand Portal
Winter wanted its presence known as there was a coating of snow overnight and the pond is ice covered again. It takes lots of cold nights before the ice starts forming on Lake Superior so one would see open water by Lovers Leap although a bit chilly for leaping and swimming. (And you wouldn’t want to leap there since the water is only a few feet deep even if the lore has lovers leaping together to profess their love.) In the background behind the arch of Lovers Leap is Rainbow Cave.
Lovers Leap
With the numerous muddy paw prints from the cats who want holding covering the front of my jacket and coated with sawdust all over it, my coat could use a washing. And if I threw it in one of the “Caves of All Colors”, it just swirl around like a big washing machine – at least on a calm day. There probably wouldn’t be anything left of my old jacket if it was in there on a stormy days as the waves pounded into the wall. Caves of All Colors are part of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, a U.S. National Lakeshore on the shore of Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, which extends for 42 miles along the shore.
Caves of All Colors
