The U.S. Congress made Pictured
Rocks the first officially designated National Lakeshore in the United
States in 1966. It is governed by the National Park Service (NPS), and
had 22 year-round NPS employees as of May 2006, and received 476,888
visitors in 2005.
The two RV Gypsies booked a cruise to see Pictured Rocks, but the
cruise was canceled due to rain and rough waters, so they were very
disappointed, but they managed to do a bit of exploring by land instead. |
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Mineral-stained sandstone
cliffs rise dramatically from Lake Superior at the Pictured Rocks National
Lakeshore. The 70,000-acre park follows the south shore of Lake Superior
for 42 miles. The awe-inspiring cliffs were shaped by wind, ice and
pounding waves. The cliffs are colored in shades of brown, tan, and
green by the iron, manganese, limonite and copper in the water. As the
water trickles down the rocks or mountainous waves slam into the cliffs
with a vicious suddenness, the sandstone Pictured Rocks are formed and
changed. The sculptured rocks create images in your mind of fortresses
and castles. Miners Castle, Battleship Row, Indian Head, Lover's Leap,
the Color Caves, Rainbow Cave, and Chapel Rock are only a few of the
breathtaking sights which can be seen. There are scenic overlooks, hiking
trails, beaches, waterfalls, and campgrounds, but the Pictured Rocks
are best seen by boat. |
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Below: Some of the stairs
and scenery on the steep trail to Miners Castle Overlook |
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Below: Karen Duquette at
the Miners Castle Overlook |
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Pictured Rocks derives its
name from the 15 miles of colorful sandstone cliffs northeast of Munising.
The cliffs are up to 200 feet above lake level. They have been naturally
sculptured into shallow caves, arches, formations that resemble castle
turrets, and human profiles, among others. Miners Castle, shown below,
is 75 feet above Lake Superior. Miners Castle used to have another tower
to the right of the tower shown below, but it broke off on April 13,
2006 and fell into Lake Superior. |
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Miners Castle is said to
be the most famous formation of the Pictured Rocks. |
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Below: The Two
RV Gypsies enjoyed the view of Lake Superior and part of the Pictured
Rocks as seen from Miners Castle Overlook. |
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Below: Photos are of the same
area as above, but photographed from the shoreline of Lake Superior.
The below photos give a better perspective on the size of the waves,
and the reason the boat trip was canceled. These beautiful waves were
much bigger than they look in the photographs. |
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Below: Karen Duquette checked
out the big waves on Lake Superior. |
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Below: Since
Karen Duquette loves "still life photography" she enjoyed
photographing the below site from several angles. |
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Below; Lake
Superior as seen from an upper staircase. |
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