Shovelin' and Swattin': Picture Rocks Part 2

Locals describe the seasons of the UP as Shovelin & Swattin.  THANK goodness we are only here for the swattin season -- late rains, a cool spring (no evaporation), and lots of snowmelt have lead to a prodigious bug season.  Even the locals are complaining and the stores are out of various chemical interventions.  Temps:  we set up camp in the 80s and shivered in the low 40s at night.  um.  Other than the bugs -- the place does "rock" on.

We moved early to the east side of the Lakeshore and snagged a campsite on the bluff with a view of Lake Superior.  From there we explored:  shipwrecks, a lighthouse, the sand dunes at Au Sable,  Tahquamenon Falls, and Seney National Wildlife Refuge.  The North Country Trail wandered through the park.  AND we sat in our campsite inside the bug tent and watched the Lake.

One interesting thing I learned -- the loggers worked in the winter so they could float the logs down the rivers in the spring!  They iced up the dirt roads & pulled enormous loads to river's edge.  In the spring logs would shoot down the rivers.  Log jams of 50 feet at the Falls!! Yikes.  Then, surprise surprise the trees were gone and deserted towns dot the landscape.

Tahqumenon Falls is the 2nd largest falls east of the Mississippi.  Um, what would be 1st?
50+ foot drop; 200 feet across--lovely tannin color.  No maid of the mist rides here!

Au Sable Light Station -- sits above the reef at Au Sable Point and west of the Grand Sable Dunes.
Built in 1872 the lighthouse still functions (note the tiny solar panel to power an LED light!)

Sneak a view at the Lake as we climb the Lighthouse

97 steps up!  Can't imagine lugging the kerosene upstairs everyday.

Even with the Lighthouse -- wrecks litter the seashore.  These are the remains of the Sitka and Gale Staples; lost in 1904 and 1918.  20+ wrecks remain though most are in 20-35 feet of water.  Scuba Diving???

Rocky Shore -- sparkling in the water.  What will tumble to a shine??

Coast Brook Trout in the Hurricane River.  Closest I am getting to fishing!

View from my campsite.  Lake Superior -- 10% of the world's fresh water -- a sight for sure!!

Intrepid hikers who ran down the 200 foot "log slide" and now are coming back.  They would slide logs down a chute, build a log raft & tow the raft to mills in Grand Marais.  Scene from  top of Grand Sable Dunes.

Wind & sand -- the dunes are always on the move!

Looking out at the dunes from a pine scrub forest -- far point in background is Au Sable Lighthouse.

Success story at Seney National Wildlife Refuge--trumpeter swans everywhere!