Best Kayaking Ever!

The number one thing on our list of things to do when we visited the UP was to kayak "Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore". It was a dream I could only hope would come true. I had done my research about kayaking there and was quite intimidated by what I read. This is Lake Superior, not a little inland lake like we are used to. It's the roughest and coldest of all the great lakes. All the articles I read said you needed to be experienced kayakers and have a sea kayak. OK, what is an experienced kayaker? I've only been kayaking since the beginning of this year and I've never been on big water. And I certainly don't have a sea kayak, our kayaks are very basic recreational kayaks. But the photos I saw of people kayaking Picture Rocks were so amazing that I didn't want to give up on the idea.

First we stopped at the information center. I told the lady at the counter we were interested in kayaking and I asked her if she could tell us where the easiest and safest place was to kayak. She in turn asked me if we were experienced kayakers. Great, there's that "experienced" word again. "Yes, we were" I told her not really knowing what experienced meant. She directed us to Miner's Beach.

We stopped at the overlook first to inspect the water conditions. I couldn't believe it! There wasn't so much as a ripple in the water. It was as calm as could be. "We can do this!!!"

We couldn't get the kayaks down to the water fast enough. Not only was the water calm but it was crystal clear. If I didn't know better I would have thought we were in the Caribbean.

The Pictured Rocks Lakeshore is 43 miles long. We were on the water from 10:00 to 4:00 and kayaked maybe 5 miles of it. I cannot begin to describe the magnificence of it. Every corner we rounded there was something more amazing to see and experience. We couldn't get enough of it. We just wanted to keep going and going and going. The fact that we had to kayak all the way back made us turn around. Plus the fact that we were absolutely exhausted.

It was everything I hoped it would be and more. Even the next day I was still floating in the clouds. It was a true gift! We talked to some of the other kayakers when we were getting out of the water. They told us how unusual it was to have the water as calm as it was that day and that the conditions were beyond perfect. How fortunate were we!

I'm still very excited about the whole experience and so grateful to have been there that day in those perfect conditions. Maybe someday I'll be fortunate enough to do it again.....