Homeward Bound, Thursday June 27 2024

June 13, 2024

Homeward Bound, Thursday June 27 2024

Thursday June 27

As we were staying in Indian Lake for two nights, we had the full day to explore the area. There were a couple of options, golf at the Indian Lake Golf Club – 18 hole very well kept tract, and reasonably priced, or head 45 miles north to Lake Superior and the Painted Rocks Lakeshore area. We opted for Lake Superior and headed out after breakfast. Before heading up to Superior, we stopped by a local state park called Palms Book (named after the company that used to own the land). This small park is across Indian Lake from the campground and is a day use area only. It’s claim-to-fame is it’s amazing spring which is the largest freshwater spring in the state. It gushes 10,000 gallons per minute and stays at 45 degrees F year-round. The spring feeds a small pond that is 200 feet in diameter, 45 feet deep, crystal clear and stocked with trout. The park has an observation raft that visitors can ride for free that is propelled with a large hand powered wheel mounted on the raft and connected to a cable that spans the pond. Lots of big fish which are visible from the raft and the shore. No swimming, fishing or scuba diving allowed.

After checking out the spring we hit the road and headed north to Lake Superior. We traversed the upper peninsula which is mostly bush, and ended up on some gravel roads that Google Maps indicated led to a trailhead to the Pictured Rocks…the road narrowed to a bit more than a goat path, so we decided to try a different entrance – the main entrance for Pictured Rocks Lakeshore. The weather was perfect, not too hot and we arrived at the visitor center for the park.

The area is called Pictured Rocks due to the colorful cliffs of sandstone that line the shore of Lake Superior near the town of Munising. This national park runs for approximately 50 km northeast along the shores of Lake Superior. We went to a couple of lookouts atop the cliffs then descended on a lovely forest path to an amazing sandy beach. We enjoyed walking the beach and watched a bunch of kayakers launch from the beach for a tour of the Painted Rocks. Note to self: come back here with our kayaks! On a calm day it would be a fun place to explore…and the water wasn’t as cold as I thought it would be.

After a relaxing afternoon at Painted Rocks, we headed back to camp for our last evening in the US…had to cross the border by June 28^th to make sure our health insurance didn’t lapse.