It’s Lake Superior Day! Well. OK, it’s not a nationally recognized holiday but for me day 3 was all about Lake Superior. I couldn’t be in the Upper Peninsula, so close to the big lake, and not go for a visit.

So I drove from Tahquamenon Falls State Park up to Grand Marais which sits on the shore of the massive Great Lake and arrived just as a storm was rolling in.

Perfect timing! Some people might be bummed out that there was rain (literally) on the horizon. But not me. The sky was amazing and I rushed down to the shore.

I was not alone.

Though there was wind and the threat of rain, several families strolled the beach.

Once the clouds rolled through I went for a quick lunch at a local restaurant, wandered the town and checked out the bay. I don’t know why, but this kayak caught my eye. I still haven’t figured out just why I like this shot. But I do.

With some advice from friends I traveled along the shore of Lake Superior, visited a waterfall….

…and explored a campground, potential for a future adventure…

…but my all time favorite place on this adventure was along the trail to the Au Sable Lighthouse. I’d visited the lighthouse two years ago, and this year I didn’t walk all the way out there. Too many tourists.

This time I took a short trail out to the lake and walked along the shore. I love Lake Michigan, enjoy Lake Huron, was pleasantly surprised this past spring by the beauty of Lake Erie. But there’s something extraordinary about putting your feet in Lake Superior.

Lots of people had been before me. But I had the place all to myself for the time I was there.

I climbed up on some big rocks and listened to the lake gurgle against the underside of them. Watched the water move, the clouds, the seagulls. Took a gazillion photos. Smiled.

Eventually I climbed down, gathered up two rocks from the shore and headed back to the car. Someday I hope to camp at the Hurricane River campground which sits right across the trail from the lake. Not during a hurricane of course.

My last stop of the day was Munising. By the time I arrived it had begun to rain in earnest so I stayed only long enough to check out the harbor and grab a sandwich for dinner.

Pictured Rocks is there, and it would be fun to take a kayack tour of the cliffs. But that would have to wait for another trip, a sunnier day. I headed back to the campground, two hours away, satisfied with what I had seen on this trip to Lake Superior.

I ate my sandwich in the tent as the gentle rain fell. And fell. And fell. It rained for nine hours, luckily all overnight. In the morning I’d head out again. Time to go home.

Or not.