Here I sit, freshly returned from Grand Marais this year. Josh and I headed up to do some paddling in the U.P. but we weren’t officially attending the Great Lakes Sea Kayaking Symposium. We did get to hang out with some people though, and as a result may be going up to instruct next year.
We left Thursday late morning and got there in the early evening. It was a bit late to paddle, so we drove down to Sable Falls to wander and shoot some pictures. It turns out, Doug was leading a trip up the West side of Grand Island on Thursday, so we could have joined up with that, had we gotten in Wednesday night.
[Not a valid template] [Not a valid template]Friday, we joined up with Doug who was leading a trip from Whitefish Point to a couple shipwrecks and the shipwreck museum. This was a pretty leisurely trip. After some GPS mishaps, we were able to employ modern technology to download GPS apps on our phones and found one of the two, the Saturn. I sat right on the coordinates of the second wreck but saw nothing. The map said it was in 10 feet of water, but at the given coordinates, it was only about 3 feet deep.
[Not a valid template] [Not a valid template]Since we had driven about two hours to get to the paddle, we also took the time to stop at Tahquamenon Falls on the return trip. It wasn’t really part of the day’s plan, but we were basically there already. The lower falls are the smaller, and there are two sides. Without renting a boat, you can really only get close to the west side.
[Not a valid template]So, we weren’t officially symposium bound, but it was a fun trip just to go up and do some moderate paddles, hang out with fun people (some of whom were new acquaintances to Josh and me), and have a few beers at the Lake Superior Brewing Company.
As a side note, I see that it’s been more than year since I posted anything here. That’s hardly something we can call a blog. I’ll have to make an archery related post sometime since that’s been my winter spring obsession. I’m not really sure how to turn it into a story though – my hobbies are not necessarily interesting to those who are not me.
Sable Falls, with a stupid fallen birch tree
The run-out of Sable Falls and the dunes next to it.
One decent picture of a portion of the Saturn. Josh went swimming and dove down, so he may have some better ones.
Just a pretty shot of the beach looking back toward Whitefish Point.
The lighthouse from the water to the north
Closeup of the lighthouse structure from on land.
Miners Castle from the overlook above. It used to have two turrets, but one collapsed a few years ago.
Miners Castle from the water, it looks more impressive this way.
Our path back from Sand Pt. to Miners Beach. Unfortunately, I forgot my real GPS and this is the only track I have, taken with my phone.
