Last year when we were paddling in the Apostle Islands we learned about Pictured Rocks. This year, since we had a reason to once again explore Lake Superior, we headed to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We booked the Ultimate Kayak Tour with Pictured Rocks Kayaking out of Munising, MI. The tour starts with a 45 minute boat ride to a location that gives you easy access to the cliffs. These boats are especially equipped with kayak slips. To launch, the crew slide a kayak into the slips. You simply step into the kayak, grab a paddle and push off into the water. Quite a novel arrangement.
Many of the cliffs are streaked with color, the result of minerals leaching out of the rocks: yellow, brown, read, orange, ochre, and blue. There are also a few caves and arches to explore and the color of the water is astounding.
We were in a pod with several boats and our guide led us along the shore pointing out features and giving us some of the history of the area.
After exploring about five miles of the shore we returned to the mother boat for the ride back to Munising. I’ve included a map that shows the track of our trip, including the the portion we explored by kayak. More photos are available in an online gallery.
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