Ottawa Sightseeing: Day Two

Our shuttle driver was kind enough to drop us directly at the Museum of Civilization, so we got an early start, and a good thing too, since there’s so much to see. The museum is located across the Ottawa River in Gatineau, the Quebec city that used to be named Hull. The architecture is impressive

We started on the first level with Aboriginal life and First Nations. The first hall we entered was dominated by large totem poles. As we started to look through the displays, we began to realize that they were all inside of culturally appropriate houses. Most of them were constructed by or under the direction of people local to the area they represented and using the original techniques of construction—no nails involved.

Architectural tour de force

Aboriginal houses

After an hour and a half, we were just finishing the Aboriginal displays and realized that we needed to move a bit more quickly if we hoped to see the rest of the museum. The displays were quite engaging, giving a real sense of cultural immersion rather than just a collection of objects.

Next we went to the third level, the Canada Hall, which starts with Norse visits in 1000 A.D. and tours Canada's past chronologically. The website says, "Reconstructed buildings and other historical settings are among the exhibits evoking a sense of different periods and different regions of the country." We found ourselves wandering through history and visiting the fur traders, the loggers, and even the Chinese laundries.

Gray Line Double Decker

Our bus wasn't as multi-talented as this Amphibus

By the time we finished Level 3, we had run out of time, so we missed the other levels. We had to hurry out to catch our bus back across the Ottawa River. We jumped off and walked to the ByWard Market, where we collected some great local produce before walking to the locks on the Rideau Canal to watch a pleasure craft being locked through. This is a labor intensive process: four men turn the cranks to open and close the gates at each level.

Yacht leaving the Ottawa River and going through the locks to the Rideau Canal

All the work is done by hand, in the traditional way

We decided that there's just too much to see here, so we'll extend another night. Tomorrow will be our third day of Gray Line shuttle service, and then on Wednesday we'll get out on our bikes and explore.
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Gray Line Tour of Ottawa

When we went to the parking lot by the office where we were supposed to meet the Gray Line shuttle, another couple was already there, and we struck up a conversation. They had gone into Ottawa yesterday, so they knew the ropes and gave us some good advice. Our driver, Ron, delivered us to the city center in less than half an hour, and we purchased a three-day pass for the hop-on, hop-off tour for $27 (the senior rate)—a real bargain since it includes the daily shuttle which leaves the campground at 9 a.m. and arrives back before 5:30 p.m.

We decided to take the 10:00 tour and sit on the open upper deck. The first time around, we stayed with the tour, which ran for an hour and forty-five minutes. Rudy, our tour guide, pointed out all the major landmarks and provided some interesting background information. For example, the American Embassy is the largest and most expensive. Its roof is hardened against attack and the four stories aboveground are matched by four underground. It houses not only the embassy but also Homeland Security, FBI, and the CIA. Unfortunately it was cold and rained a bit on and off, so we got pretty cold, but decided to stay outside rather than sit in the enclosed section below, where it was difficult to hear and impossible to see much.

When we returned to the Gray Line kiosk just before noon, we decided to visit the ByWard Market, which is open seven days a week and features locally grown produce, flowers, and some crafts. We stopped for a sandwich at Tim Horton’s before walking to the Parliament Hill to sign up for a tour of the Center Block, the central building which houses the Senate and the House of Commons.

Parliament--Center Block

Queen Victoria

While we waited for the tour to begin, we did a self-guided walking tour of the many statues and memorials on the grounds. A large statue of Queen Victoria was the first stop. This was only the first of several statues and paintings of Queen Victoria we saw today. The monarchy was also represented by a statue of Queen Elizabeth II mounted on her horse.

Canada loves her monarchs

Library outside

A very interesting group of five women is entitled “Women Are Persons,” and they are all looking at a newspaper with that headline. It represents a triumph won by them and others fighting for women to be considered “persons” and therefore eligible to serve as senators in Canada.

We walked to the street in front of Parliament to watch the end the Ottawa Gay Pride parade passing by. A large double decker bus provided music—a very catchy tune. As we walked back up towards the building we noticed a group of visitors which included two men who looked like Buddhist monks.

Before our group could enter the Parliament building, we all had to go through security similar to airport security, except that confiscated items were returned at the end of the tour (Ken got a green ticket in exchange for his little Swiss Army knife. Most of the people on the tour were Canadians, mainly from the nearby provinces. Our tour guide, Steph, was personable and did a good job.

One of the most impressive sights was the Library of Parliament, an extraordinary Victorian Revival building which survived the fire of 1916 mainly because the librarian had the presence of mind to order the heavy metal doors closed between the library and the rest of the Center Block. Steph informed us that we were lucky to see the library, since it is only open to tourists on the weekend. Ordinarily only the Parliamentarians have access to the collection and the services of the library staff and analysts.

Stunning library

Victoria reigns!

Each of the twelve sides of the building boasts a flying buttress outside and holds an alcove filled with three stories of books. The visual impression is of a temple with richly carved woodwork and wrought iron railings. The central area of the room, where the librarians operate, is dominated by a large statue of (who else?) Queen Victoria. Most of the library’s million documents are housed in other locations.

We were impressed by the spirit of peace that seems to characterize Canada’s history. We learned in our earlier travels that Canadians never had “Indian wars” but instead negotiated with the “First Nations” peoples (although all was not entirely congenial in the relationship between immigrants and first peoples). Now we learned that Canada gained its independence from the British through negotiation too (no revolutionary was).

After the tour we climbed the Peace Tower for a birdseye view of the city and surroundings. Then we visited the Memorial Chapel which honors Canadians who have died in armed conflicts.
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Another Day of Driving

Today we drove from Sturgeon Falls to Ottawa, where we are staying at the Ottawa Municipal Park Campground. After we set up, we went to the laundry to get our clothes clean and use the free wi-fi. It worked well for a while, and then quit. Someone said it was the weather.

When we went to bed, I checked and discovered to our great disappointment that our leak wasn’t fixed after all. Evidently the rain last night got in some way. We decided to keep the bed slide in whenever it rains and to try to get an appointment in the Newport area for another attempt at finding and sealing the leak.

We will take the shuttle into Ottawa tomorrow and see the city.
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Travel and Rain

We left Iron Bridge this morning and drove through rain on and off to Sturgeon Falls, where we spent the night comfortably in the parking lot of Paul and Nancy’s No Frills store. It rained all night.

We've had some anxiety about finding diesel. We finally decided to trust that Canadian diesel is all ULSD, even if there's no sign on the pump.
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The Soo Locks

We drove to the Soo Locks this morning, hoping to see the famous locks in operation. After spending a few minutes in the Visitor Center (run by the Corps of Engineers), we heard the announcement that the tug Undaunted was entering the locks with the barge Pere Marquette, so we went out and climbed the viewing platform to watch.

The massive ship, heading downstream, moved with deliberation into the nearest lock and was secured by heavy ropes against the side nearest us. Then the water level was dropped 21 feet, and the doors opened for it to exit into the North Channel of Lake Huron. As the barge passed us, we were surprised to see that it had a special notch in the back which surrounded its tug on three sides.

Little tug, big barge

Tourists going through the locks

After lunch we packed up to leave and drove across the international bridge, from Sault Ste Marie, MI, to Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, Canada. Yes, we had to pull out the passports again and swap US dollars for Canadian Loonies.

We drove east on the TransCanada Highway 17, but this portion took us through much different countryside than we had experienced in Saskatchewan and Manitoba. We saw a few small farms, but mostly we saw lots of trees and some lakes. The terrain reminded us of Michigan.

We stopped for the night in Iron Bridge, only 75 miles from Sault Ste Marie, but we had started out at 2:30 p.m. and we wanted to stop before dinner. When we checked in at Viking Tent and Trailer Park, we bought some home picked green beans and cucumbers from the owner. Earlier in the day we had bagged some wild blueberries.

Ken set out the Qube, so we were able to watch the evening news. The coverage of Ted Kennedy’s death has been very touching for me, partly I guess because the deaths of his brothers were such traumatic and meaningful events in my youth. His devotion to making decent health care available to all Americans is touching too.

Today the weather cooperated with us. The sun shone most of the day, with only a few showers this evening, but we’re expecting cold rainy weather for the next
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Heading North Again

We stayed in Traverse City for a while this morning to test for any remaining leaks. The good news is that we didn't find any, so we're hoping that our problem has been solved.

We drove north on US Hwy 31 along the coast of Lake Michigan, often with lakes on both sides of the road--a lovely drive. At Petosky we stopped for lunch and ate overlooking Lake Michigan and watching the sailboats.

We're spending the night tonight at the Kewadin Casinoes and will go see the Soo Locks in the morning.

We ate supper at Jeff's 50s Restaurant. It had the traditional red and white checkered roof design, and the interior decor featured Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Betty Boop, James Dean, and John Wayne. We had a shrimp and whitefish platter with fries and cole slaw--all fried of course, but pretty good.
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The Miracle of Sealtech

We knew we had a leak in the bedroom slideout, and we wanted to have Venture checked for any other hidden leaks too. Water is definitely the #1 enemy of RVs. It insidiously finds its way into any tiny opening, and often the damage is hidden until it has gotten really advanced, resulting in rot and mold. The difficulty is in finding such hidden leaks. The Sealtech system works by pumping air into the RV, creating positive outward air pressure, and then applying a soapy water solution and watching for bubbles, which form immediately at any leak.

Machine that creates air pressure goes through a vent inside the RV where a fan has been temporarily removed.

Tell-tale bubbles show where leaks have developed.

Venture turned out to have several poorly sealed areas, including the tape along the outside edge of the bedroom slideout. We are hopeful that the repairs done today by TC-RV technician, Larry, will effectively fix the leak in the bedroom and prevent future problems. Larry also removed the tape along the juncture between the rubber roof and the front end cap, which has been peeling back in the passenger corner since a couple days after it was applied last year. Removing the old tape is a laborious job, involving heating a scraper with a blow torch. That adhesive is really strong!

While we were waiting in the showroom, Ken struck up a conversation with another customer, named Steve. After chatting a while, they discovered that Steve is the "kayak guy" at Bentsen Palm Village and remembered my kayak trip from last January. Small world. He and his wife live here but spend winters in Texas. They plan to arrive December 1 this year, as do we.

At the end of the day, the Service Manager, Dean, said that it would be best if the new seals had some time to cure before being subjected to the rigors of travel, so we're spending another night in the parking lot.

We found a PBS station on broadcast TV and watched the Newshour and Nova and Nova Science Now, which included a segment on H.M. and memory titled The Man Who Couldn't Remember. It was rather poignant to hear H.M.'s voice speaking of his gladness about helping other people through the research being done on him. He died last December and left a final gift: his brain to be dissected and studied.
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Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

We drove to Traverse City today to TC-RV, where our repairs will be done tomorrow. We crossed the Mackinac Bridge, the Mighty Mac, which is the longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the Western hemisphere. Opened in 1957, it links St. Ignace in the Upper Peninsula to the City of Mackinaw Village in the Lower Peninsula.

Mighty Mac is an awesome sight

Glen Lake is divided into shallow Little Glen Lake and much deeper Big Glen Lake, joined by the narrows at the M-22 bridge

After dropping off Venture at TC-RV, we headed over to the shores of Lake Michigan, to our second national lakeshore: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We stopped first at the Visitor Center, where we saw some nice displays of the history and ecology of the area. A friendly ranger advised us to take the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive and called out some other points of interest on the map, and we set out.

The Scenic Drive took us to some great vistas. At one stop we saw beautiful blue Glen Lake, carved out by glaciers and then cut off from Lake Michigan by sandbars, which have since widened. From another vista on top of a 200-foot dune, we had a panoramic view of the dunes and surrounding points.

Dune trespassers

Sleeping Bear Dune with the Manitou Islands in the background

At another stop we could walk to the Lake Michigan Overlook and the Sleeping Bear Dune Overlook. Signs at the Lake Michigan Overlook request that visitors stay on the boardwalk to protect the fragile dunes vegetation (and for their own safety), but many people were ignoring the request. The Sleeping Bear Dune doesn't look much like the sleeping mother bear of the Chippewa Indian legend anymore.

We drove to Glen Haven, a small community where the original Blacksmith Shop has been restored and is open to visitors, but we were too late in the day. We did take a hike out to Sleeping Bear Point. The hike wasn't very long, but any hike in the dunes is made more strenuous by the deep, loose sand. As we were slogging along, we saw some barefoot teenagers running around playing a game in a large sand bowl. "Where do they get the energy?" was Ken's question.

Manning Lighthouse at Empire

Sunset over Lake Michigan from beach at Empire

We ended our time at the lake at a small beach park in nearby Empire, MI (where the park Visitor's Center is located). The name is much more grandiose than the town. Once a busy lumbering town, it is now a quiet village. At the park we spotted a small lighthouse. A plaque is inscribed "In Memory of Robert H. Manning, Dedicated 1991." A Google search brought up this explanation.

The beach was lined with benches and a handy wall, where many folks came to sit and watch the sunset. We joined them, wishing we had come as well prepared as the couple with the bottle of wine or the ones sharing a delicious looking pizza. The sunset was a lovely end to our visit to the lakeshore.

By the time the sun had set, we were famished and headed home for a quick and very late supper. We'll have to set the alarm for early in the morning to be ready for our 8:15 appointment. I ran out to a 24-hour Meijer's for some dog food and groceries.
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Mackinac Island

We loaded our bikes in the truck and headed for the Star Line main dock to "Hightail It to the Island!" The "high tail" is provided by the hydro boat which speeds to the island in 25 minutes. On the way we had a good view of the Big Mac (the bridge) and of a lighthouse on a neighboring island.

A sister ship hightailing it

Round Island Lighthouse

No motorized vehicles are allowed on Mackinac Island, to preserve its Victorian ambience. As we debarked, we were advised to "watch out for the horse exhaust!" We later saw a horse-drawn street sweeper--an essential civic service. Bike rental places lined the main street, and many people brought their personal bicycles to the island.

Horse-drawn carriages--horse-drawn street sweeper on left

Bicycles everywhere!

We biked around the perimeter of the island, about 8.2 miles. Along the way we saw several impressive brecciated limestone formations. These were created when limestone caves collapsed and a cementing matrix flowed in around the fragments, making a much harder rock which survived the erosion of surrounding limestone. We climbed to the top of Arch Rock.

Devil's Kitchen

Arch Rock

When we got back to town we browsed the little shops and had a drink on a patio overlooking the water. We enjoyed our experience of the island but were ready to go home.

Beading shop reminded us of Nanci Rowe

And we thought backing up our rig was hard!

Tomorrow we'll drive to Traverse City and do some sightseeing before spending the night at the RV repair shop. Read more!

Castle Rock

We climbed the rock! The Castle Rock, that is. It's a large sea stack overlooking the freeway across from our campground. The owners charge fifty cents to climb the rock stairs to the top, and today they were definitely making plenty of money from climbers and from sales of souvenirs and curios (mainly tawdry junk). The family has owned this business (and the rock) for 80 years.

Climb the Castle Rock!

St. Ignace lighthouse graces the waterfront

Then we went downtown and walked along the boardwalk which traverses the lakeshore through downtown. Interpretive signs tell about the history of the harbor, which has funneled fur and timber into the Great Lakes transportation system. Today the harbor serves tourists, mainly those taking the ferries to Mackinac Island, which is what we plan to do tomorrow.

The sky has been clearing, and it looks like we might actually have sun for our visit to the island tomorrow.
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Downtown

We went downtown today, mostly because we needed milk and bread, but also because we were getting a bit of cabin fever staying inside with rain outside. We found a place to park off the main street and immediately noticed a prominent rock formation at the corner of the parking lot. A sign indicated that it is named St. Anthony's Rock and is a sea stack. Castle Rock, near our campground, is a similar sea stack, and several are found on Mackinac Island.

We strolled along the main street by the waterfront and came to Fort de Buade Indian Museum, a haphazard collection of Indian artifacts from multiple historic periods put together by a Lansing dentist and donated to the local historical society. We browsed through that for a while, and our attention was caught by a video mentioning effigy mounds. An interesting segment described the great city of Cahokia near present day St. Louis, which has the largest Indian mound north of Mexico.

Article from June 29, 2006 St. Ignace News:

Historical Society To Operate Fort de Buade Museum
Fundraiser Launched To Keep Straits Artifacts Here
By Paul Gingras
Determining what is authentic and what is not will be one of the Historical Society's major challenges. Here, the museum displays what appears to be an authentic Native American baby carrier, alongside a reproduction. The Society plans to seek the help of experts from Michigan State University and the University of Michigan to identify the pieces. This will enable them to create more definitive explanations for museum patrons to read.Hidden behind the Treasures and Trinkets gift shop in downtown St. Ignace is a historical gem, the Fort de Buade Museum, which has recently and temporarily been taken over by the Michilimackinac Historical Society The group has until November 1 to reorganize the displays, set up a new gift shop, and secure funding for the building to keep the unique collection of area artifacts and guns in the area. To do so, they are seeking donations and volunteers from the community.
Despite its impressive contents, the Fort de Baude Museum has been seen by few area residents, said Historical Society member Cheryl Schlehuber. Its obscurity is related, in part, to the layout of the building.
Susan Brown of Lapeer (left) and Cathie Risko of Lansing examine the elaborate collection of arrowheads in the Fort de Buade Indian Museum in downtown St. Ignace. The museum has recently been taken over by the Michilimackinac Historical Society to preserve the collection.Behind the gift shop, the sizable museum is loaded with Native American, French, British, and American historical items and displays. The Fort de Buade collection emerged from the passionate, historical interests of Dr. Donald "Doc" Benson, who passed away last May and left the museum to his wife, Marylyn.
Thursday, June 15, she allowed the Historical Society to take over, granting the group time to gather the $500,000 necessary to buy the building and its contents. If the historical society is unable to do so, Mrs. Schlehuber said, St. Ignace will lose an irreplaceable collection that could significantly help develop "the story of St. Ignace" and promote tourism on this side of the bridge.
The Historical Society plans to promote the museum, reorganize the contents, solicit donations, and seek volunteers to help at the museum and store from now until the end of the season.
"Without support, our project will be hard to pull off," said Keith Massaway, president of the Historical Society. "We need community involvement."
"I appreciate the Historical Society's effort a great deal," Mrs. Benson said. "My husband wanted the collection to stay in St. Ignace. That's what he collected it for."
The Bensons traveled extensively, she added, and they collected wherever they went, concentrating on objects related to woodland Indians. Artifacts at the museum are from the immediate area as well as Canada and from woodland cultures in the western United States.
This summer, the Michilimackinac Historical Society is concentrating on learning how to run the museum, a process made easier by an anonymous donation of
$10,000, which will be used to pay the building's lease and utilities for the season.
Mr. Massaway described the variety of artifacts and objects inside as "stunning," and to help reorganize them, the Historical Society hired Darryl Brown as a consultant at its regular meeting Thursday, May 1. Mr. Brown will help streamline the displays, making sure everything is appropriate to the museum's focus, which will be on cultures active in the Straits area during the fur trading era, mainly French and Native American groups. Mr. Brown will also help promote the museum project. He has extensive knowledge of Native American history and culture, many years of experience in marketing, and is familiar with organizing events, Mrs. Schlehuber said.
As it stands, the museum is "a hodgepodge of eras and groups," Mr. Massaway noted. It includes Civil War artifacts, pre-Colombian artifacts, French and Native American artifacts, some authentic, and some not.
With the nearby Museum of Ojibwa Culture focusing exclusively on American Indians, a second museum with a somewhat different focus would be "nothing but advantageous for St. Ignace," Mr. Massaway said.
The museum is home to elaborate, symmetrical displays of arrowheads and stone tools. There are statues, early pieces of pottery, knives, and antique guns. It also hosts a full reconstruction of Chief Santigo's lodge, a local chief who passed away in the early 1900s, at 100 years old. His lodge includes tintypes of his family.
Elsewhere in the museum are English colonial uniforms, a reconstructed trading post, trapping and leather-making tools, period oil paintings, Indian dolls, quill work, even a letter written by Abraham Lincoln.
Deciphering what is authentic and what is not is one of the Historical Society's chief concerns. Professional assistance would enable the Society not only to determine objects' authenticity, but could also provide information needed to create explanations for certain artifacts and displays, information lost when Mr. Benson died.
Some of the objects, though valuable, would not belong in a museum with a Mackinac Straits historical focus, said Mrs. Schlehuber and Mr. Massaway, so to help raise money to buy the museum, the Historical Society hopes to sell objects that do not represent the area. There are buffalo guns (artifacts appropriate to the western United States) and Navajo crafts, for example. These would undoubtedly be appreciated by other museums, Mr. Massaway said.
In the process of reorganization, the Historical Society plans to completely revamp the current store front. The gift shop would be scaled down and streamlined to make the museum more prominent, and to highlight its theme and contents, Mrs. Schlehuber said.
"There has been a recent surge in 'cultural tourism,'" she added. "St. Ignace was once the capital of the new French world," so developing the Fort de Buade museum could help St. Ignace get on the cultural tourism map.
"St. Ignace is also the center of the fresh-water world," Mr. Massaway said, and this means it has a unique history that should be highlighted.
Throughout history, the area was noted for having good farmland and fishing, and its geographical characteristics made it a convenient place for traveling native groups to cross the Mackinac Straits.
Fort de Buade itself was built to protect missionaries, he added.
The Michilimackinac Historical Society, which is a 501c3 and 509a2 nonprofit corporation, plans to have a museum open house this summer.
Anyone interested in helping with the Fort de Buade project can contact the St. Ignace Chamber of Commerce at (906) 643-8717.
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Rainy Day

It rained all last night and on and off all day today, so the park is wet and sloppy. We made an appointment in Traverse City next Tuesday to have the leak in the bed slideout fixed and the tape on the front of the roof replaced. TC-RV has a leak detection system, so we'll have them check the whole rig. Meanwhile we put a tarp over the slideout and weighted it with rocks from around the campfire.

The brightest spot today was a rainbow over the lake with very intense colors.

The rain let up enough that we were able to grill chicken for dinner which we had with a potato onion casserole and yellow squash.
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On to St. Ignace

We are staying at Castle Rock Camp Park in St. Ignace, planning to visit Mackinac Island. St. Ignace is in the Upper Peninsula, and across the bridge, Mackinac City is in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan. To the west of the straits is Lake Michigan, and to the east is Lake Huron.

Looking out our windows we see St. Mary's Bay on Lake Huron. Each site has trees, which are nice for privacy, but also made it hard to find a place to put our internet dish. So far we haven't found a spot for the DirecTV, so we're watching local on-air (four channels, no pbs).

Snowmobile crossing!

Venture nestled in the trees

On the way here we passed another snowmobile crossing warning sign. It seems the whole upper peninsula is full of cross country ski trails and snowmobile trails.

We drove in to town to get some groceries and scope things out. St. Ignace is really small, so not much to see. On Saturday there's a farmer's market and free music downtown, so we'll check that out.
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Tahquomenon Falls

Ken remembers his parents talking when he was growing up about how impressive Tahquamenon Falls was, so we decided to spend a night in the Tahquamenon Falls State Park Overlook Campground. We moved on from Grand Marais this morning, and after lunch we went out to explore the falls.

One night stand at Overlook Campground

There are actually six falls. The Lower Falls is a group of five smaller waterfalls arranged around a sandstone island in the Tahquamenon River. We walked around the boardwalk and saw four of them, but the fifth can only be seen from the island, which is reached by rowboat.

Lower Falls

Tannin stains the water tea brown

Next we drove four miles down Highway 123 to the Upper Falls. A four-mile trail links the two areas, and we were surprised to see that a shuttle service is available to take you back to your car, but four miles was more than we wanted to walk (on top of the hikes to the falls).

The Upper Falls are quite different from any we have ever seen. The water is a dark yellowish brown from the dissolved tannins. We walked from overlook to overlook along the boardwalk and then descended the 94 steps to the brink overlook. As the streams of water plunge over the brink, the sun glitters on them and they seem like tresses of hair, ranging in color from platinum to beige to gold to brown.

We walked back around to view the gorge and took the 116 steps down to the river level. The steep gorge is quite dramatic.

The river has cut a deep gorge.

Multicolored streams glitter in the sunshine.

Tomorrow we’ll drive to Saint Ignace, near Mackinac Island, but our current plan is to take a couple of days off sightseeing.
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Grand Marais

We moved on to the east end of the National Lakeshore, staying at Woodland Park in Grand Marais. Because of road work on Highway 58, we had to take a long route around the south. We set up and ate a quick lunch before heading out to see the sights.

First we stopped at the Visitor Center, but no one was there, so we drove on to Grand Sable Lake, a peaceful sight, since few boats were on it. Next we drove to the Log Slide overlook, where loggers used to send their logs rushing down a wooden chute to the water. All that remains is an indentation in the sand. Signs warn that the trip down to the beach is quick, but the return climb is strenuous and takes an hour or more. Rescuers may take a while to arrive from Grand Marais. We chose to stay up on the overlook and watch the more intrepid work their way back up the steep dune. From the overlook we could barely see the Au Sable Light Station on a point to the west and the breakwater light at Grand Marais to the east.

Log Slide Overlook

Dunes up to 300 feet high

We drove to Hurricane River to see the campground there, which did have a few sites we thought we could have gotten into. Most of the sites were occupied by tent campers and class B campers.

We turned back east to visit the Sable Falls and take the trail to the dunes. The falls are accessed by climbing down several stretches of wooden steps, but the reward is the sight and sounds of a lovely multistage waterfall. Some people had climbed over the fence and were wading in the Sable Creek and even climbing the waterfall.

Au Sable Light Station

Grand Sable Falls

The hike to the dunes was interesting because of the marked changes in the ecosystem from hardwood forest to meadow to apple orchard to small evergreens, then dune grasses, and finally only sand.

Take only photos . . .

Looking for agates?

We were glad to head for home and fire up a grill to roast some turkey brats. We used a "FlameDisk" that someone was passing out at AirVenture to promote the product. It's billed as a substitute for charcoal, but quicker, easier, cleaner, and better for the environment. It worked well, but it's rather small and expensive. At sunset we walked down to the beach with Sweetie and lots of other folks to watch the sunset.

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More Waterfalls

We visited Munising Falls first this morning, where we saw a car in the parking lot marked "Just Married." Guess they're visiting here instead of Niagara Falls. Lovely little falls carving a valley through the Pictured Rocks Escarpment, so we could see the same layering and orange colors from iron ore in the rocks.

Munising Falls

Colorful kayakers at Miner’s Castle

Next we went on to Miner's Castle and hiked to Miner's Falls. We could stand on the cliffs near the "castle"--a formation on the Pictured Rocks escarpment. When we got to the falls, guess which car we saw in the parking lot. Of course it was the honeymooners. We wondered if they also plan to visit Niagara Falls.....

Miner’s Falls—No minerals mined here, but lovely colors

Sunset from Sand Point

After supper we drove to Sand Point to watch the sunset over the lake, a fitting close to the day. From Sand Point looking west, the sun appears to sink into Grand Island, which gave Munising its name ("Munising" comes from the Indian words for "place of the big island").

Tomorrow we will drive to Grand Marais on the east end of the National Lakeshore.
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