Day 3: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Jessie: The third day of our vacation is the longest day we would have. We started off with a morning hike at Tahquamenon Falls State Park. When we pulled up to the trailhead we noticed a squirrel sitting on the wooden fence. Dad told me to get a cracker, and as I did the squirrel went away. I was going to leave the cracker in the car because the squirrel had gone but after minutes of a back and fourth argument I was told (ordered) to keep the cracker. I never knew that I would be in an argument about giving a squirrel in Michigan a cracker at 8 in the morning. After three miles of hiking and 574 steps (yes I counted them) we saw the upper and lower falls of Tahquamenon. The water flowed over the falls looking like tea due to the tannins that leached into the water from decaying vegetation: spruce and hemlock trees. Next destination: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.

Earlier on my dad programmed our GPS (named Jill) to take us to Spray Falls. As we drove through the National Forest we noticed that Jill was taking us down every gravel and dirt road possible. When we finally came to the trailhead we realized that Jill had taken us to the wrong location. My dad, looking at the map, started venting. "Jill you flipping idiot! This really burns my ass! You're so stupid... Oh wait, she's right." It turns out that she was just taking us to the trail from a different direction. After some reprogramming we finally got to where we needed to be, Chapel Basin Trailhead. Originally, Alli and I were told (by our dad) that it would only be a four mile hike round trip. Upon arrival we found out that it was a six and a half mile hike round trip. The long hike was well worth it though, taking us by Chapel Falls and finally ending with a picturesque view of Chapel Rock and Chapel Beach, which looked like one you would find on Hawaii. We didn't have swimsuits but that didn't matter. Being the only clothed people on the beach we swam in our clothes. We stayed there for hours, taking pictures, swimming, and collecting rocks to pass the time. The water in the lake was so cold that we found ourselves drifting to the water coming from the falls, which was blissfully warm.

After this long hike we made our way to see Miners Castle (no hiking, just a beautiful overlook) and Miners Beach to sit and relax and play in the water. Dad then added one last stop along the way, Munising Falls. Only an 800 foot long trail so not too much complaining. Finally finishing the day with dinner at the Bonanza in Marquette and a 100 mile drive to the hotel. Filling up on the buffet we were ready to just relax in our hotel room for the rest of the night while Dad went over the next days activities.