Ramblings of a Nature Lover: First Tour, Part 2

As planned, Whitney, Rudy and I met at Headquarters and drove out to meet Marc at his cabin in the northern end of the park. We walked down to the beach just across from his cabin – like so many beaches around here, it’s a combination of fine sand and smooth, polished pebbles that are dull when dry but vividly colored when wet.

We drove north first, stopping in at the Grand Sable Visitor Center and then up to the town of Grand Marais. We got to see the ranger station there, and walked out to see the breakwall – just as it started to rain! We had to stop for gas while we were in town, and then we were planning to have a picnic – but it was chilly, and pouring rain, so we parked at a spot overlooking the lake and had our picnic in the car. Naturally it was sunny again a few minutes after we left.

We went on a short hike to Sable Falls. It’s a short walk, then you go down a bunch of stairs to view the falls.

Then there’s an easy hike to the beach where the stream flows into the lake. It’s only beach on one side though – on the other side of the stream is an amazing view of the Au Sable Dunes. They are absolutely huge, and the stream just slices across them at the end, so you can see all the layers in there. It was still cold and wet, and kind of foggy, so the scene was even more startling.

I took the lead on the way back, because I wanted to gain a little extra time to go up the stairs. I mentioned there were stairs. There were about ninety stairs, and unfortunately I couldn’t just skip up them without stopping! I did manage to do it with only a couple of stops, though, and then it wasn’t far to the car where I could collapse.

Our other big stop was at the Log Slide, up on top of the dunes. Back in the days when they were logging this area, loggers used to bring boats up to the shore below the dunes and just slide the logs down to them – a dangerous drop, but effective! It is possible to go down it, but you have to allow several hours to get back up, and keep in mind that emergency services are going to take a while to get there… I didn’t even walk down to the ledge where the others were, because I could tell it would take me forever to get back up. I already had enough sand in my shoes from the beach earlier!

After the Log Slide we drove around to some of the state forest campgrounds outside the park. Some of the roads were a little rough, but the sun was finally out to stay, and the scenery was lovely! That area has an amazing number of little lakes in the area – many of them are kettle lakes, where chunks of glacial ice got buried under sediment, so left a hollow when they melted. So each campground has its own lake, and they are absolutely beautiful! We didn’t even mind being on the verge of lost – we had to backtrack a couple of times, including once when the mudhole in the road was too deep to risk… It was a fun drive, and now we can recommend those areas to visitors when the campgrounds at Pictured Rocks are full.

We finally got back out onto the main road, and drove back to Marc’s place. Rudy had driven that morning and all day before, and Marc had driven after lunch, so I drove the rest of the way back to Munising. It stayed sunny.

I didn’t feel like eating supper right away, so I walked out to Sand Point, just a few minutes from my house. There was a stiff, cold wind, and the lake was choppy, but it was still clear and sunny.

That point off in the distance is Miner's Castle! It's only a few miles along the coast - longer to drive!

I walked along the beach a little way, looking at all the different tracks. There were a lot of bird tracks, and something that I think was a mouse or other small rodent dragging a tail through its tracks behind it. It is a lovely view out over the lake. I will definitely be out there again!