Kayaking Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
We were in the thick of planning our Lake Michigan Circle Tour, and my friend who spends most summers in Michigan mentioned Pictured Rocks. It was an “oh you have to go, I’ve always wanted to go kayaking up there it looks amazing” type of recommendation, so I absolutely had to look into it. I found a great local tour company called Pictured Rocks Kayaking and booked our tickets. It was the only plan we had with a hard timeline, and we made our way to the Upper Peninsula the night before our tour so we could have a lazy morning getting ready.
We woke up bright and early, packed our bags and headed over to the meeting point. There was still an early morning chill in the air, and as we were drinking coffee we started to feel a drizzle. Our tour guide came out to meet everyone, and let us know that there was going to be a big storm rolling in that afternoon, but that we would still be heading out as planned. We did end up altering our route a bit to ensure a safe trip, as well as making sure we could see as many of the main features of the cliffside as possible before the storm fully set in. So with a few extra layers, we all jumped onto the boat and set off for the kayak launching ground.
A and I were in a tandem kayak, so we paddled around as everyone launched into the water so we could establish a good groove. We started at chapel cove, and slowly made our way along the rainbow colored cliffside. We passed through the grand portal, listened to the cacophony of the birds in gull rookery, and paddled through some low caves where we could run our hands along the ceilings. We didn’t get to paddle to Lover’s Leap, one of the more notable features of the shore, due to the impending storm (it had already started to drizzle on us by this point) but luckily we did get a chance to see it safely from the boat on the way back to harbor!
We docked the boat just in time, as the sky opened up and the rain started coming down in sheets. Everyone ran back into the office to change and then we took off back into the car. We were absolutely famished after paddling all morning, so we set off to get some pasties at Muldoon’s, got acquainted with their sasquatch statue, and then drove further into the Upper Peninsula to continue our road trip.
