Our first wind day. Munising, MI

Ore docks make for noisy neighbors. Marquette, MI

June 26, 2010

Strong coffee was needed to drag our butts out in the cold damp morning. The heavy fog that rolled in last night settled and became a permanent resident. The weather forcasters predicted patchy fog to be gone by late morning. It was not until 9 pm today that the fog finally lifted. As we paddled north into Shelter Bay the fog closed in until there was less than 1/8 mile visibility. The sheer rock cliffs coupled with the 2-3 ft incoming waves made kepping within sight of the shore quite the task. As we rounded the last cliff on the tip of Laughing Whitefish Point we could see the long sandy beaches that followed. We took a well deserved lunch break before heading south along the leeward side of the point. We rounded Shot Point next and briefly celebrated the passing of our 200 mile mark for the trip. Now we are set up on the beach thinking that we just might get a sunset...if the fog does not roll back in.

June 25, 2010

Finally moving! We started out with light rain as we headed toward Christmas. Everything cleared as we rounded Au Train Point and into the bay. Rock cliffs subsided to long sandy beaches and we were more than thrilled. Put in a quick 12 miles before stopping for lunch and having a look at the face in the rock. No sooner had we put back in from lunch we started to hear thunder and feel more rain. We pulled out at Brownstone Boat Launch when we no longer felt safe on the water and after waiting for hours (under a bathroom overhand mind you) for the weather to calm...we decided to stay put for the night. Heavy fog rolled in between rains. It is definately going to be a cold damp night.

June 24, 2010

Mother nature must be telling us somthing... Just not sure what it is. We woke up to about a 15 mph wind coming directly from the way we intended to head. That plus a small craft advisory kept us in bed yet another day. I at least took advantage of a hit shower then mom and I headed into town. Carl came to our rescue again and gave us a ride into town. We dined at Subway for lunch, to the Hiawatha Visitors Center, and then off to the grocery store. Afterwards we treated ourselves to coffee and ice cream at the Falling Rock Cafe. It was absolutly wonderful. Lastly we had dinner at The Dogpatch and then back to the campground for some sleep. Our camper neighbors were super nice and very concerned that we did not have a vehicle. We were invited in for wine and great conversation. Hopefully we will be up and going early tomorrow.

June 23, 2010

As my avid SPOT watchers may notice...we failed to move today. We awoke to dark clouds which soon led to hours of rain, thunder and of course lightning. Taking this as a sure fire way to have a day off, mom and I rolled over in our sleeping bags and hunkered down. After a few naps we made ourselves get busy doing nothing. Ok ok, so we did shower, do laundry and ate wonderful pasties from Muldoons. Carl was so kind to bring them as we made dinner conversation looking over maps for the next few days. All in all it was a super lazy day. Our first zero mile day of the trip. After 9 days straight paddling, we deserved and welcomed the break.

June 22, 2010

After our late evening, we took our time this morning drinking coffee and drying out from the overnight downpours. With Chapel Rock as our backdrop, we headed out a little after noon to see the most spectacular portions of Pictured Rocks. Before doing so we backtracked 1.5 miles to revisit Spray Falls. She was flowing mightily and made for quite a sight. From there we poked our beast of a kayak in and out of the many sea caves and bays carved out if the sometimes 300 ft rock cliffs. Every color of the rainbow appeared along our journey. Mom was particularly fond of the greens while I stuck to the oranges. We lunched on Miner's beach and then headed on into Munising. Hoping to get a shower but failing to find a hotel with a room we had no choice but to paddle another 4 miles to a campground instead. To our suprise the campground had full service showers and bathrooms. Unfortunately after our 24 mile paddle all we wanted to do was sleep. Carl, the local outfitter in town and friend of ours was so kind as to bring us some ice cream to send us off to bed with.