North Gemini Lake State Forest Campground, Michigan, United Statesaugust 18 2021 North Gemini Campground - State of Michigan Upper Peninsula
So
let's see if I can reconstruct this days events.
We had spent our
second and last night at the campsite had we?? Somewhere I thought I
wrote down how Kara had chatted with the host person and found out that
we had heard loons and that last week there were wolves baying all
night. So which day did I miss. I thought it was this one - our only
full day at Pictured Rock National Seashore. Well, here goes.
We
had breakfast and got ourselves ready, left the tent up with the mats
& Kara's sleeping bag inside. I took out my bag because it is more
epensive 3 season and I didn't want it stolen. Everything else went
back into the car. Our food supplies were a bit juicy at this point so
we needed ice - where did we get ice?? Maybe we didn't.
I think we
went to the Musining Visitor Center to get a recommendation for the best
way to go about seeing as much as we could in our limited time. We
also booked a cruise and I picked 5 pm because we couldn't get the
sunset cruise and I thought we wouldn't be so rushed if we put it last.
I made an error in judgment. After the visitor center snf yhr Musinig
water falls, we went to Sand Point and got to walk in the fine sand. It
was harder walking than I thought it would be. The water was pleasant -
cold but not horribly cold. Both of these little walks required step
climbing. The ranger at the vistor center said that hwy 58 was very
scenic and the spots at the north end were good ones to visit - close
together and all special. So I though we could do those and come back
and fill in before we went on the cruise. It turned out that even
though the mileage wasn't that great, it took us quite awhile. We
visited the end of 12 mile beach I think and , the lake superior
overlook and the log jam site (but we gave up and din't go all the way
down - we had had enough of down and up, up, up....or at least I had.
We went on to the Grand Sable visitor center and Sable Falls which was
nice before turning back to Musining.
We got back a little ear0000,
we thought - 4:30 pm for a 5:00, but no, a line of people snaked in
front of the gangplank. We got in line...distancing with our masks -
not that many people wore them. Before we got on the boat, we decided
to head downstairs as all the outside seats were already taken on the
upper deck. This was a good strategy because we got a window seat and
the rows behind us were empty for awhiile too. The captain - Jayden
seemed to be very young but it turned out he had started when he was 16
and had about 20 years of experience.
They were two young women - one
for each deck - they demonstrated life jacket safety - I am not sure wht
else - exceppt unmooring and mooring the boat. I forgot the history of
the boat but Jayden mentioned it. He was quite good as the guide -
with some sappy jokes as well. It is a good thing that Kara had pushed
for this cruise because otherwise we would not have seen many, if any,
of the rock formations that make Pictured Rock - pictured rock. The
coast line with the multip-colored and striated cliffs - vertical
designs as well were very scenic as well as some of the the formations
and caverns made in the soft rock. We went quite a ways - covering the
area between Musining and 12 mile beach so now we felt as if we had done
well by the park. The water was a lovely color and there were
boatloads of kayakers out on the water exploring the formations as
well. The colorful kayaks added to the picturesqueness. We sat behind a
group of three blonde ladies who seemed to be having a great time. We
did as well. It was a fun cruise. When it ended, Kara adked Jayden for
a seafood patio restaurant recommendation. He mentioned one 4 miles
farth4r along the coast, but when we got there there was a 45 minute
wait. Since we wanted to be back at the campsite before dark, we
couldn't wait. We went back into town and on the way Kara spotted a
fish food truck. We shared a 3 piece (really 6 good sized pieces ) of
batter-fried lake trout with french fries.
It was extremely good. I
still want to try the smoked fish - I am not exactly sure what it is
like.
By the time we got back to the campsite, it was almost dark.
We have gotten lost several times going back and forth but I am not sure
- I think we got lost a little this time which delayed our arrival. We
got lost in the morning, when we went in the wrong direction toward
some other campground and had to backtract at least a couple of miles.
We seem to be doing a lot of this on this time. the GPS does not work
here and we usually don't have cell service but one of John's calls did
get through to Kara but she couldn't get back to him until we got back
on the road the next day.
We quickly got ready for the night - I
brought back y sleeping bag and Kara was glad to see her stuff still
there. She decided to move her head to the tent door so we would be
head to toe. It did seem to work out a little better since we were not
so concerned about bopping one another on the head in the night.
for nights of aug 18 & aug 19 we booked National Park campsites but couldn't use them.
Boat In
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Backcountry Camping Permit
NPS
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Backcountry Camping Permit
NPS
Masse Homestead 2
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Backcountry Camping Permit
NPS
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Backcountry Camping Permit
NPS
2025-05-22