Great Lakes Kayaking Trip Sunday 7/14 to Tuesday 7/28/02. Left Corpus Christi 10:10am Sunday July 14 to drive 230 miles to Austin to pick up Mark White. The two of us then drove to Grand Marais, Michigan, to attend the Great Lakes Sea Kayak Symposium from Wed 7/17 through Sunday 7/21. Arrived at Grand Marais 5:30pm Monday, just in time to select a campsite for the week at Woodland Park Campground, set up our tents, and have dinner. PICTURED ROCKS: Tuesday 7/16 drove through the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on a gravel road from Grand Marais to Miners Beach to launch for the 18 mile paddle along the Pictured Rocks cliffs, around Grand Portal Point, Chapel Beach, and Spray Falls. The road is slow but spectacularly beautiful. For the coast paddle, had great weather: sunny and warm^Eeven the water. Nice launch site at Miners Beach, although there is a long portage of kayak and supplies from the parking lot to the beach. Paddle north along the cliffs was spectacular. Wish I could have taped the sounds of the birds, surf, waves, and thundering of waves inside the caves. Were only a few kayakers out enjoying the spectacular sights, but lots of tour boats filled with tourists. Chapel Beach provided a nice lunch spot and swim area. Spray falls were spectacular, very cold. GRAND ISLAND: The rest of the week was spent in varied Symposium activities. The Symposium ended Sunday, and Monday we drove to Musening to launch from their tourist park for a two day paddle around Grand Island. Only $2 for each paddler to leave the car there and launch the kayaks, and camping was free on Grand Island. It was less than a mile to Grand Island^Rs Murray Bay, and we spent some time looking at an old sailing schooner that sunk in the late 1800^Rs. Wreck still very visible in the shallow clear waters. Then paddled up the east coast of the island, along beautiful painted rocks, caves, and forests. Paddled on up to the north tip of the island to land at North Beach and look at the lighthouse up there. Waves and wind were heavy out of the NW (25 mph and 3-5 foot waves) so didn^Rt continue around the island to the west side, but returned down the west coast to Trout Bay. Camping facilities at Trout Bay were great^Enew and clean rest room, and private sites overlooking the water. Surfed all the way into the campsite on nice large waves. Tuesday morning we were anticipating a grueling paddle against heavy wind and waves to continue the trip, but the weather calmed down nicely. Returned to the cars, and then headed off to the Les Cheneaux Islands just east of the Mackinack Bridge on the north shore of Lake Michigan. LES CHENEAUX ISLANDS: Arrived at Cedarville and found a great public boat ramp to launch for the trip to Government Island in the Les Cheneaux group. Planned to stay overnight, but the 6 mile paddle out was so quick, and there were so many campers already on Government Island that we just circled the island and had lunch, returning to the car to drive to Sleeping Bear Dunes on the east coast of Lake Michigan. SLEEPING BEAR DUNES NATIONAL LAKESHORE: Drove into Empire around 6pm. The Visitor Center was closed, both campgrounds (D. H. Day in the north, Platte River at the south) were filled with very high-density campers. But we received a listing of all public campgrounds in the area from the Park Ranger, and selected Platte River State Forest Campground to stay. It was remote, wooded, cheap and quiet. Again Golden Eagle card got the $10 campsite for just $5. Good choice! Wednesday morning we packed up and headed for the small town of Glen Haven, just north of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. They had a great beach launch spot, and a good place to leave the car (by the old Boat Building Barn Museum). Loaded the kayaks and took off for the 8 mile paddle out to South Manitou Island. GPS directed us right to the Weather Station Campsite, and we were able to select the best site on the island (#10 on a high bluff overlooking the lake and Sleeping Bear Dunes). The island is only 12 miles around, but has an amazing diversity of sights. We paddled a short distance up the west coast from our camp site to see the steel freighter wreck lying just off shore in shallow clear waters. The Francisco Morazan went aground here in a storm in 1961, and the superstructure still towers above the water. Further north are the 300 ft sand dune cliffs, with broad sandy beaches for lunch and rests. Thursday we paddled around the island, going counter-clockwise by the 1871 lighthouse, the ferry dock (with additional campsites), around Gull Point on the east, and up to a third campground at the very northern tip of the island. Friday, Saturday and Sunday were spent exploring the island forest trails, paddling, and eating three huge meals a day. Had great sunny, warm weather for the entire trip, but did have thunderstorms, lightning, and rain Sunday night before we left. Expected the worst for our Monday return, but were able to scoot across quickly that morning, although with a very heavy broadside and then frontal wind/waves (30mph, 4-6 foot waves that frequently broke right across your face). It still only took us 2 hours to do the 8 mile crossing, and my GPS registered 8.5 maximum speed during one of the few surfing opportunities. All in all, a fantastic ^Sperfect kayaking trip^T that will be long remembered! I rate this as one of the most scenic paddles I've done. About 4,200 driving miles, about 140 kayak miles, and 115 pictures. Pictures of this trip can be seen at http://community.webshots.com/user/johnsonkw1. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: Click Here *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:30 PDT