RV Adventures: A trip to the Upper Peninsula, Michigan Day 7

Thursday, October 8th, 2020

Today was another very busy day for Matilda! She was a real trooper with all of the walking and stairs we did! As we drove toward Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore we pulled off the highway to view Alger Falls. It is fed by the Alger Creek and the water flows down the rocky cliffs. It isn’t a big falls but it was worth the stop.

Our first stop in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore was to hike down to Miners Falls. It was a beautiful walk along the trail.

It was a little over a half of a mile hike to get to the falls. Miners Falls drops about 40 feet and we could feel a light spray from the falls.

Our next stop was to go to the Miners Castle Scenic Overlook. The Pictured Rocks are about 50 to 200 feet above Lake Superior and are made of sandstone and follow the shoreline for about 15 miles. They are called Pictured Rocks because of the mineral stain and the various colors occur when the groundwater comes out of the cracks and runs down the sandstone. The minerals that produce the various colors are: iron- red and orange, copper- blue and green, manganese- brown and black, and limonite- white. The best view of the Pictured Rocks is from the water. We tried for several days to reserve a spot but two of the days we were there the water was too rough due to the wind and because of the rescheduling of those we couldn’t get a spot until after we were on to our next location. We’ll just need to come back so we can see the view from the water! I will say it was spectacular from where we hiked along the trail.

We walked down to the Miners Beach along Lake Superior. The beach is a mile long.

Sable Falls also is located in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and it falls 75 feet. It is down 168 steps.

Love the sign because it reminds people you have to climb back up!

We continued our adventures in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and hiked to the Au Sable Point Lighthouse on the south shore of Lake Superior. It is a mile and a half walk to the lighthouse. Matilda got her workout today! Au Sable Point Lighthouse was built in 1873-1874. There also is a brick oil building, a fog signal building, and the tower and the keepers quarters. It became fully automated in 1958 and still operates.

The weather was gorgeous and our 1 1/2 mile walk back was beautiful! We then visited Munising Falls which was a much shorter walk, only 5-10 minutes. I’m sure Matilda was so happy with a short walk. I have to say she was a real trooper and did very well. We made sure we only took her on the trails that were dog friendly.

Munising Falls drops 50 feet over a sandstone cliff.

Our day was packed full of exploring Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. My watch recorded over 9 miles and 25 flights of stairs. It’s no wonder Matilda was ready to relax at our campsite!

RV Adventures: A trip to the Upper Peninsula, Michigan Day 6

Wednesday, October 7th, 2020

This morning was a travel day from our campground in Cedarville to the Picture Rocks KOA RV Campground in Wetmore, Michigan. The drive was about 2 1/2 hours. We didn’t want to give Matilda her sedation drugs again so she had a calming chew and I held her.

The drive was beautiful!

Our campsite was surrounded by beautiful fall colors!

After we set up our camp, gave Matilda a nice walk around the campgrounds, and ate some lunch, we hopped in the car to explore the area! Our first stop was Palms Book State Park.

Kitch-iti-kipi (or it is also called “Big Spring”) is a short walk in the park and is a popular attraction. It is Michigan’s largest freshwater spring. The temperature of the water is always 45 degrees and it never freezes during the winter because of the constant temperature of the water flowing from the fissures in the underlying limestone. Every minute more than 10,000 gallons of water flows out of the fissures. It is about 40 feet deep and the water is very clear. You can see the trout swimming around and the fallen trees down below!

Kitch-iti-kipi means “Mirror of Heaven” by the early Indians

At Palms Book State Park was this “Prayer of the Woods”. The author is unknown but I really loved what it says! It’s a reminder of how we need to take care of our environment and not destroy it!

When we finished exploring the park, we drove around the town of Manistique. In town was the former Manistique Water Tower. It stands 137 feet high and is a Romanesque brick tower in an octagon shape . It was finished in 1922 and held 200,000 gallons of water. It was used until 1966 and is now on the National Register of Historic Places.

We found the Manistique East Breakwater Lighthouse which was first lit in 1916 and still used today. It is square shaped and red in color! It is located on the east side of the harbor where the Manistique River flows into Lake Michigan.

After exploring the area, we needed to stop at the store to get a few groceries. The view from the store was dazzling!

We also spent some time driving around Munising which was located just down from our campground.

RV Adventures: A trip to the Upper Peninsula, Michigan Day 4

Monday, October 5th, 2020

Today was a travel day from Grayling to our next campsite in Cedarville. This was a two hour drive. We didn’t want to drug Matilda so we gave her a calming chew and I snuggled her in her blanket until we arrived at our campsite; the Loons Point RV Park and Campground. The drive was filled with the beautiful fall colors!

We also went over the Mackinac Bridge which is across the Straits of Mackinac. It was a windy day and there was construction on the bridge.

It was a great site being along the water of Lake Huron!

Once we set up camp and unhooked the car we were a little concerned about the car because all of the warning lights came on and were blinking at us. Dave got online and looked for the closest Toyota service center. It felt like doom and gloom for being able to take off and go sightseeing in the car. Dave talked to the Toyota service center and got an appointment for Wednesday. In the meantime, I was reading online about towing a Prius and having all of the lights coming on and what that meant. One of the suggestions said to drive the car around accelerating and stopping quickly. Well, Dave tried it and the lights all disappeared! Whew! We canceled the service appointment and got in the car and headed to De Tour Village. It is located on the western shore of St. Mary’s River which connects Lake Huron to Lake Superior.

We also walked as far as the Nature Preserve would let us hoping to see the DeTour Reef Lighthouse. We were almost to the point where we would have visual of the lighthouse when the Preserve ended and it was private property. We turned around and walked back. At least it was a lovely walk!

As we were driving back through the village Dave spotted the DeTour Reef Lighthouse that we were hoping to see on our walk in the Preserve. It was built in 1931 and is located a mile offshore.