Pictured Rocks Lake Shore Trail/NCT

October 2-6, 2014

This is Part 6 of 6 of my NCT/Lake Superior Adventure

After finishing my hike in the Porcupine Mountains, I drove over to Munising.  My dad was meeting me on Wednesday night so I had some time to relax.  I thought about going over to Grand Island for the night, but I stayed in a National Forest Campground near Munising. On Wednesday I went to the ranger station in town to get my permit.  I didn't have any trouble as every campground was available except for one.

Grand Sable Visitor Center to Munising Falls Visitor Center (11.2+10.5+2+8.7+12=44.4 miles)
Cumulative NCT/Lake Superior Adventure Distance: 660.3 miles

Campsites:
Benchmark
Coves
Coves
Mosquito River

Day 1 Grand Sable Visitor Center to Benchmark (11.2 miles)

We started from the Grand Sable Visitor Center from the backpacker's parking lot.  There were no other vehicles in the parking lot.

There were informative North Country Trail Signs at the trailhead.

 Grand Sable Visitor Center

The initial stretch of trail was pleasant walking through a field.

We entered the woods and came to an impressive beaver dam.

The trail shares the road for a short distance as it passes Grand Sable Lake.

Grand Sable Lake

The signage was great!

After rejoining the trail we continued near the lake.

We eventually entered dense forest.

We came to the Log Slide but did not descend to Lake Superior.  We headed over to the overlook and took a break.  A few others came by during this time.

We could see the Grand Sable Lighthouse to the west.

Back on the trail, we continued to have great views from the top of the dunes.

Soon we were at the lighthouse and took another break. There were some volunteers and a ranger here offering a tour of the lighthouse.  We paid a small fee and went to the top.

View of Grand Sable Dunes from Grand Sable Lighthouse

We heard from the volunteer that there were shipwrecks nearby so we hiked the beach for a little.

Shipwreck

After passing through the Hurricane River Campground, we returned inland  and hiked through the woods.  We then crossed the road and hiked to our campsite at Benchmark. The campsite is up on some dunes and was shielded from the wind.

 My dad cooked up a great meal.  He wasn't that hungry so I ate a lot of his food as well.  It began raining throughout the night but we stayed dry in our tent.

Day 2: Benchmark to Coves (10.5 miles)

We had a late start to the day as we relaxed in the tent waiting for the rain to stop.  It slowed a little and we packed up camp.

We hiked with 12 Mile Beach nearby for most of the day.  The trail was off the beach on ridges, providing great views and easy hiking.

The rain let up and we enjoyed the cool temperature.

We went away from the lake on old red beds.

We passed a classic car and stopped for a break.

The Pictured Rocks became visible in the distance.

We hiked across a scenic bridge over Beaver Creek.

We arrived at Coves Campground and set up camp.  There was a group of guys setting up camp right by the campfire ring.  We headed down to the lake just as the sun came out for a few brief moments.

The western end of 12 mile beach

 Back at camp, the other guys had disappeared and their tents were no longer near the fire.  We discovered that they had moved at the request of their leader after he discovered that that weren't camped close to a numbered post.  After another hearty meal, it was a long cozy rain-filled night.

Day 3: Day-hike to Beaver Lake (~2 miles)

Today was a zero day as far as backpacking miles.  We awoke late in the morning and enjoyed some hot chocolate.  We decided to hike over to Little Beaver and Beaver Lakes.

Coves Campsite

Little Beaver Lake

Beaver Lake

Beaver Lake

We continued back to the Lakeshore Trail, but this time we stuck to the beach on our way back to the campsite.

It was chilly, but we stayed warm.

Back at Coves we relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and then ate a bunch of food.

Day 4: Coves to Mosquito River (8.7 miles)

This day had the best scenery on the trail.  We started hiking past inland cliffs.

Then the beautiful coastal hiking began.

With all the rain, there was lots of water flowing.

We came to our first view looking down on the cliffs.

The trail sticks close to the edge providing view after view.

It was interesting to see the trees down below. Grand Portal Point was visible in the distance.

We came to the Spray Falls Overlook, one of the best views on the trail!

Spray Falls

Next we came to a beach-like section high up on the cliffs.

We saw Spray Falls from up close.

Spray Falls

The trail had no way to drain all the rain water so we did our best to stay dry.

There was another waterfall pouring off the cliff edge.

Some cliffs had fallen off.

Next was the famous Chapel Rock with its unique tree and roots.

Chapel Rock

We left the trail and headed down to Chapel Beach.

Chapel Beach

Chapel Rock

There was a waterfall as the chapel river flowed into Lake Superior.

 Back on the trail, the power of Lake Superior was quite evident.

Looking back we could still see Spray Falls and 12 Mile Beach.

We hiked beside the cliff edge with trees just barely holding on out over the edge.

 We next approached the high cliffs of the Pictured Rocks at Grand Portal Point.

 Grand Portal Point

Looking East from Grand Portal Point

There is a huge beach at Grand Portal Point.  It is 200 feet above the water.

Looking back to Spray Falls

My dad stood on Grand Portal Point to give a perspective of just how tall it is! He is 6 foot 8.

We continued on spectacular trail.

We had a view back to "Indian Head"

There was even a person sitting on the top.

Next we had a view of "Lover's Leap".

We reached the Mosquito River, a spectacular place to camp.  After setting up camp, we headed out to the beach and could see that the sun was going to set below the clouds!

My dad stayed on the beach and I headed over to the rocky outcroppings on the other side of the river.  The sunset was spectacular.  I find it hard to imagine a better view for the last evening of my NCT/Lake Superior Adventure!

To my right the sun lit up the rocky shoreline.

The Pictured Rocks were colored with the evening light.

The Mosquito River enters Lake Superior

Day 5: Mosquito River to Munising Falls Visitor Center (12 miles)

In the morning I found a half eaten Larabar in my food bag.  Something must have found its way into the bear box during the night.

Looking back to Lover's Leap

On the way to Miner's Beach, we passed more cliffs.

After passing Potato Patch Campground, we descended past inland cliffs to Miner's Beach.

There was a nice small waterfall on the eastern end of Miner's Beach.

Miner's Beah

After a steep climb, we came to Miner's Castle.

After leaving Miner's Castle, we had views over to Grand Island.

After walking on some cross country ski trails and passing the Sand Point Junction, we came to the Munising Falls Visitor Center and continued to Munising Falls.

The hike on the Pictured Rocks Lakeshore Trail was complete, as was my NCT/Lake Superior Adventure.   The Lakeshore Trail offered some of the finest scenery in the midwest and was a great place to finish the adventure.

Later in the evening we revisited the Pictured Rocks on a boat tour.

Grand Portal Point

 The next day we returned home, passing by Tahquamenon Falls State Park on the way.

Upper Tahquamenon Fall