Pictured Rocks

I woke up just after sunrise and headed back down to Little Beaver Lake for a gorgeous view.

Chris had already taken off, so I followed down the Beaver Lake Trail and into Beaver Basin Wilderness.  There were some really cool caves and cliffs along the trail.

I ran into Chris right before the split and he was heading back.  I first followed Beaver Lake Trail along Little Beaver Lake.

Again, there was a beaver swimming across the middle of the lake.

Then back to the split, I headed out on the spur towards Lake Superior.

The lake was beautiful in the morning light and I could see the Pictured Rocks in the distance.

On the hike back, I ran into Sandy and Mel who were hiking the trail after Chris got back.  I spotted some orange jewelweed before making it back to camp.

While waiting for Sandy and Mel to return, Chris and I finished packing up.  There was some wild bergamot blooming around the campground.

Once everybody was back, we took off.

Our first stop was the parking for Miners Beach at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  We hiked down to the beach and then walked along the beautiful lakeshore.

The sandy beach was really beautiful.  Mel spotted an American giant water bug along the shore.  Also known as "toe biters", don't want to step on one of them.

Making our way to the far end, it started getting rockier. 

At the end of the beach was a rocky area where Elliot Falls drops into the lake.  The water level was too low for much of a waterfall.

Pyro had fun playing the water, while Alex refused to go in.

After enjoying the beach for a while, we started making our way back.  Looking towards Bridalveil Falls, it too had very little water flow.

Our next stop was at Miners Castle.  A short paved path led out to views of the beautiful rock outcrop. 

An easy trail led down to a lower overlook of the "castle".

Lake Superior was really beautiful from here.

At this point, we temporarily parted ways with Chris and Mel as they were going to Mount Arvon.  We made one more stop in the lakeshore at Miners Falls.  This is a real popular hike following an old road.  The road ends at an overlook with a good view of the falls.

Unfortunately, the sun was shining right on it.

I climbed further down to the base of the waterfall.  It was very impressive and much bigger than I had expected.

It was also very crowded, so after a few pictures, I headed back up. 

From here, we headed west towards Wisconsin.  Just before the state line, we headed towards the Black River Harbor Recreation Area in Ottawa National Forest and parked at the trailhead for Gorge and Potawatomi waterfalls.  There are at least five waterfalls in this gorge, but we just didn't have enough time.  From the trailhead, we first headed to Gorge Falls.

As the name suggests, it falls through a narrow, water-sculpted gorge.

We enjoyed the view and then hiked upstream along the Black River.

Potawatomi Falls was just upstream, a really cool waterfall and very unique.

Another overlook was closer to the falls but had a partially obstructed view.

After some pictures, we headed back to the car. 

Continuing into Wisconsin, we made a stop at Potato River Falls to get one (or two) waterfalls in Wisconsin.  Leaving the paved road, we drove through a corn field to reach the trailhead.  First, we went to the Upper Falls.

This waterfall was in several sections and only the upper portion could be seen from the overlook.  I climbed down for a view of the lower sections.

Looking downstream, the brink of the Lower Falls was visible.

Then we headed back to the parking and down to the Lower Falls.

There was some nodding trillium fruiting near the overlook.

The view from the overlook was nice, but would have to wade the river to get close at the base.

Since it was so late by this point, I decided not too and we continued on.

We got to Duluth just after sunset and checked into the Radisson.  Alex enjoyed the comfy beds.

Since it was Sandy's birthday, we headed down to the bar and had a couple drinks to celebrate then went to bed.