Sleeping Bear Dunes and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshores

In June 2002 I drove up to northern Michigan for a weeklong backpacking trip. I spent three days on North Manitou Island, part of the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (on Lake Michigan), and then drove to the UP of Michigan and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Lake Superior.

A few comments on the pictures:

All of the ones from North Manitou Island were taken around what are called "perched dunes". These dunes are not right along the lakeshore, but are several hundred feet above the lake, as can be seen in the "west side of North Manitou" picture. The dunes cut into the forest several thousand feet in places, sometimes covering trees entirely, only to have them reappear later as a "ghost forest". A map of the island is here. The pictures were taken in an area due west of the Old Grade trail shown on the map.

The Pictured Rocks on the shores of Lake Superior are sandstone bluffs that drop off hundreds of feet in places. The first day I hiked along them, it was so foggy I could stand on a cliff, look down, and not see any water. I went back a day later, and was amazed to see all the rock formations I had missed previously. I will try to scan some of the foggy pictures in for comparison later.

Click on the thumbnails to see the larger image.

Hurricane Beach, Pictured Rocks	Pictured Rocks	Pictured Rocks
Grand Portal Point, Pictured Rocks	perched dunes, North Manitou Island, Sleeping Bear Dunes	west side of North Manitou Island, Sleeping Bear Dunes
North Manitou Island	North Manitou Island	North Manitou Island
North Manitou Island	the northern point on North Manitou	perched dunes, North Manitou

Chapel Cove, with tourboat, Pictured Rocks

Chapel Beach, Pictured Rocks