2013 Guys in Retreat - Pictured Rocks
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09/13/2013, A Superior Morning, Hurricane River Campground, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan. This is the first morning of the 2013 Annual Guys in Retreat hiking trip with Kevin Alexander. This year we decided to base camp at Hurricane River and day hike instead of backpack. Although we didn’t carry our home on our back this year, we still hiked about 19 miles for the weekend, visited many waterfalls, enjoyed Pictured Rocks Natural Lakeshore’s 200’ sandstone cliffs and beaches, and found something rather unusual on one of the trails.
09/13/2013 Scott Falls, Alger County, Michigan.
09/13/2013 Scott Falls, Alger County, Michigan. Scott Falls is right beside M-28 by Au Train Bay, but this is the first time I've photographed it.
09/15/2103 Woods Close to Silver Bell Waterfall, Alger County, Michigan.
09/14/2013 Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
09/14/2103 Hurricane River, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
09/14/2013 Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
09/14/2103 Mosquitos Falls, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan. I’ve been to Pictured Rocks many times before, but never visited Mosquito Falls. I can’t believe what I was missing. It is a beautiful set of falls and rapids that are only about a mile from the Chapel Parking area. I wish I had a little better lighting for photography, but I’ll definitely be back. This is now one of my favorite places in the lakeshore.
09/13/2013, Hurricane River Mouth, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
09/13/2013, Hurricane River Mouth, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan..
09/13/2013 Scott Falls, Alger County, Michigan.
09/13/2013 Scott Falls, Alger County, Michigan. Scott Falls is right beside M-28 by Au Train Bay, but this is the first time I've photographed it.
09/13/2013 Munising Falls, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
09/13/2013 Munising Falls, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan. This photo was taken after sunset when the light was very low. We were surpirsed how many visitors were still coming to the falls at such a later time.
09/14/2013 Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
09/14/2013 Chapel Falls, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Chapel is one of the most beatiful waterfalls at Pictured Rocks, but you have to hike 3 miles road trip to photohgraph the falls.
09/14/2013 Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
09/14/2103 Mosquitos Falls, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan. I’ve been to Pictured Rocks many times before, but never visited Mosquito Falls. I can’t believe what I was missing. It is a beautiful set of falls and rapids that are only about a mile from the Chapel Parking area. I wish I had a little better lighting for photography, but I’ll definitely be back. This is now one of my favorite places in the lakeshore.
09/13/2013, Hurricane River Mouth, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
09/13/2013, Huricane River Mouth, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
09/13/2013 Face in the Rock, Alger County Michigan.
09/13/2013 Face in the Rock, Alger County Michigan. I've driven past this roadside stop and beach many times and never knew of this historic spot. It is amazing what you can learn if you actually read historic markers and signs. This sculpture was made by a French trapper in 1820 to honor a young Ojibwa hero named Ogichidaa (Powers of the Air) who was the leader of the tribe on nearby Grand Island.
09/14/2013 Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
09/14/2103 Lake Superior Sunrise, Hurricane River Campground, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
09/14/2013 Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
09/14/2013 Kevin Alexander & Ken Jacobsen, Chapel Falls, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Guys in Retreat 2103 Trip.
09/14/2013 Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
09/14/2103 Mosquitos Falls, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan. I’ve been to Pictured Rocks many times before, but never visited Mosquito Falls. I can’t believe what I was missing. It is a beautiful set of falls and rapids that are only about a mile from the Chapel Parking area. I wish I had a little better lighting for photography, but I’ll definitely be back. This is now one of my favorite places in the lakeshore.
09/13/2103 My Hennessey Camping Hammock, Hurricane River Campground, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
09/13/2013 Face in the Rock, Alger County Michigan.
09/13/2013 Kevin and the Face in the Rock, Alger County Michigan. I've driven past this roadside stop and beach many times and never knew of this historic spot. It is amazing what you can learn if you actually read historic markers and signs. This sculpture was made by a French trapper in 1820 to honor a young Ojibwa hero named Ogichidaa (Powers of the Air) who was the leader of the tribe on nearby Grand Island.
09/14/2013 Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
09/14/2013 Mouth of the Hurricane River, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan. One of the nice things about camping at Hurican River is having the river mouth, rapids and falls to photograph in the morning without having to walk far or drive.
09/14/2013 Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
09/14/2013 Chapel Falls, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. If you look really close, Kevin is actually at the top left side of the waterfall.
09/14/2013 Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
09/14/2103 A Very Big Foot Print, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan. I always watch muddy and sandy spots on trails for wildlife tracks. On our way back from Mosquito Falls, Kevin and I were surprised to find this unusual foot print on the trail. It looked like a human footprint, but much bigger. I photographed it with one of my keys and my Keen’s (8.5 size) for comparisons. When we got to Miner’s Castle later that evening we reported it to the rangers at the visitor center. One of the rangers said he was going to go out to look for the track. Later that evening we searched the internet and found a Bigfoot sighting report from 2007 in Pictured Rocks on the trail to Miner’s Falls. It also seems nearby Schoolcraft County (10 reports) and Marquette County (9 reports) are a bit of a Bigfoot hot spot for Michigan’s Upper Peninsula according to the information at http://www.bfro.net. Was this a real track or someone’s joke? I don’t know, but I know we didn’t make it.
09/13/2103 Site Nine, Hurricane River Campground, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
09/15/2103 Silver Bell Waterfall, Alger County, Michigan.
09/15/2103 Silver Bell Waterfall, Alger County, Michigan. This waterfall was very anticlimactic for quite the adventure finding it. We decided to visit this remote waterfall Friday afternoon. We had to drive many forest service roads that could be a bit rough, but not too rough for my Jeep. Following the directions in my waterfall book we took a left where instructed and ended up at a trailhead for a segment of the North Country Hiking Trail. We walked around a flooded trail and hiked for an hour before we decided we were on the wrong trail. Upon returning to the Jeep and consulting the map, we figured out were we went wrong. It took us about 10 minutes after that to find this little waterfall. It is probably really nice in the spring, but in September it was barely a trickle although a nice spot.
09/14/2013 Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
09/14/2103 Hurricane River, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
09/14/2013 Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan.
09/14/2103 Mosquitos Falls, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan. I’ve been to Pictured Rocks many times before, but never visited Mosquito Falls. I can’t believe what I was missing. It is a beautiful set of falls and rapids that are only about a mile from the Chapel Parking area. I wish I had a little better lighting for photography, but I’ll definitely be back. This is now one of my favorite places in the lakeshore.