Thursday, July 9, 2015

Kayaking The Pictured Rocks, Part 1

During my week-long stay at the cabin at the end of June, I had the opportunity to kayak along a portion of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  I have backpacked along the top of the cliffs and have taken the boat tour a number of times, but never had the chance to kayak here.  Valerie got me a larger kayak for Christmas that can better handle the big lakes, but I still wanted to go on a day when the wind and waves were quiet for my first trip out on Lake Superior.

The Pictured Rocks are imposing and beautiful when viewed from a tour boat or hiking along the top.  However, from the vantage point of a kayak up close to them, they are humblingly awe-inspiring.  I never appreciated the sheer size of everything along the cliffs from the height of the cliffs themselves to the depth of the water below them to vastness of the boulders that litter those waters until I plied the waters up close.

The photos shown in this post are all of the formation called "Lovers' Leap".  Kayaking under the arch has long been a dream of mine and I finally got the chance to do it.  It was about 5 miles from my starting point at Miners Beach.  I went only this far, as the sky had begun to cloud over and I knew that later a storm system was forecast to arrive.   I took over 1,000 photographs while I was kayaking that day, so I have decided to post them incrementally.

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