We had been planning this trip for so long and had to postpone
so many times. This time during the memorial day-5/29/2017, finally we made plans to
the beautiful Upper Peninsula.
Our day started slowly around
8:30 AM in Mackinaw city. We had our breakfast and drove to Kitchitikipi at
Palms Book State Park, around 2 hours from Mackinac City. You would be driving
on M-2, which is kinda MI's own PCH :D The lake is just beside you at times, offering
great views of deep blue water.
Kitchitikipi is a hidden gem of Michigan. The name means big cold water and is commonly known as The big Spring. The gorgeous emerald pool acquired its color from the high Sulphur content in the water. The early native Americans called it “Mirror of heaven” which really suits the gorgeous pool.
We reached Palms Book State Park around 11 AM. Kitchitikipi is
small walk from the parking lot. It is MI's largest fresh water spring
constantly at 45 degrees. So even in winter, the spring wont freeze and I have
seen stunning photos of the blue spring surrounded by pure white snow. In summer,
the emerald water pool is surrounded by lush green trees and its gorgeous. The
crystal clear water let you see the deep water vegetation below 40 ft.
There is a raft which will take you through the pool letting you
enjoy the underwater world. The raft is connected to a cable and the visitors
can operate the raft to move it forwards and backwards. It will amaze you how
deep you can see from the raft.
A view of the inside of raft. See how the water looks like glass!
From the pamphlet they gave us while entering the park there are two main legends about this place:
"The
legend of Kitch-iti-kipi is said to be about a young chieftain whose girlfriend
got the best of him. He told her he loved her far above the other dark-haired
maidens dancing near his birch bark wigwam. Prove it, she insisted. As a test
of his devotion, she declared that he must set sail in his canoe on the pool
deep in the conifer swamp. He was to catch her from his canoe as she leaped
from an overhanging bough. His canoe overturned in the icy waters and he
drowned. It turns out that the maiden was back at the village laughing at his
foolish quest. According to legend, the Spring was named Kitch-itikipi in
memory of the young chieftain who went to his death in the icy waters in an attempt
to satisfy the vain caprice of his ladylove.
Other
legends tell of Chippewa parents who came to the pool seeking names for their
newborn. They supposedly found names like Satu (darling), Kakushika (big eye),
Natukoro (lovely flower) and We-shi (little fish) scribed in the sounds of the
rippling water. They attributed healing powers to the waters."
State of Michigan bought the
pool and surrounding 90 acres from Palms Book Land company for $10!, after John
I. Bellaire had fallen in love with this place and had persuaded the owners.
For such a deal the company asked State of Michigan to keep this place as a
public park forever, and to keep the name of -Palms Book. After it was made a
public park John I. Bellaire himself would come to the park and help with
the raft. Anyways, the park gained publicity and people started flowing to the
park. In a later interview it seems, John I. Bellaire said, he made up the
legends(the two stories quoted above) about the pool to gain publicity!, that clearly
worked 😃
This was a real treat to the
eyes and so precious. After the visit we got our souvenirs and tried the ice
cream from the park's store. At around 12 PM we started driving to
Munising.
We reached Munising after 1 PM. We had our
lunch and packed our bags with water and snack drove to Chapel Rock Trail Head.
From the main road you will have to drive through 5 miles of gravel road. The gravel
road had tons of potholes and real secluded. While we were driving towards the
trail head, we were the only one people driving on that road, and truth to be
told, it was not so inviting for us. We kept wondering why didn’t we see a
single person on the road. Anyways we kept driving and once we reached the
trail head parking it was packed with cars.
The chapel falls loop is 10+miles and is
really beautiful. But there are few detours which you can take to make the hike
short. We decided we will go to chapel beach enjoying the chapel fall,and return
the same way. So our hike was around 7 miles.
We started hiking at 2:30. Sky was clouded
so it was not so sunny, but bright and pleasant. When you go, make sure you
have good insect repellant coz, even with the repellant I am writing this down
with sore red swellings on my hands 😃
The trail is wide and beautiful with
moderate difficulty. Expect some marshalands when you approach the lake other
wise it is an easy trip.At some places you might find some fallen trees
obstructing the trail, but it was fun and we felt adventurous to go over them and
continue :D
After 1.2 miles we reached the first
vantage point of chapel falls. It is a 60 ft tall water fall surrounded by lush
canopy. You can hear the fall, smell the fresh air and unwind yourself.
As we progressed we crossed the creek just
above the waterfall. The water was nicely cold and fresh. It was a nice place
to sit and rest.
After a few minutes of rest we continued
hiking. There is one another vantage point of chapel falls before you turn
towards the chapel beach. We liked the first vantage view better since it had
unobstructed views of the fall, and the fall was so near.
Wild mushrooms on most of the trees: Doesn't it remind you of the Indian earring-jhumka? :D
Beautiful trail ahead:
As you get near to the beach you will hear
the sound of the lake, may be sounds of some boats exploring the pictured
rocks. We started seeing the deep blue color of the lake between the woods and
it made us happy. In 3.2 miles we reached Chapel rock.
The tree on the chapel rock doesn’t have
any soil to grow on. It has a root formed kind of as a bridge to the mainland,
which I believe is providing the nutrients for the tree. The rock itself is
rugged and with caves in between. It felt as a real wonder.
From the chapel rock we continued to
Chapel beach. The creek which forms the chapel falls meets Lake Superior at the
beach. The warm water from the creek meeting the cold water in Lake Superior
also was a pleasant experience. The beach has so many colorful pebbles in them
and it is illegal to take them with you.
From the beach you get beautiful views of
the colorful cliffs. If you are doing the 10+ mile complete chapel loop hike,
you get to explore more of the pictured rocks features. We had a cruise planned
for the next day to explore the Pictured rocks so we ended our hike at the
Chapel beach. We rested at the beach for half an hour had our snacks, admiring
the chapel rock, the creek, the colorful pebbles, beautiful cliffs, and the
magnificent Lake Superior.
At 5’o clock we started our hike back. Walking through the woods listening to the squirrels, enjoying the wild flowers and spotting deers was so much fun.
The hosts checking out the guests :D
7 miles was a really good distance for us, we felt really happy about the overall experience and not too tired. We took one more snack break at the chapel falls and reached the parking lot by 7’o clock. Even while returning we saw so many people hiking towards the beach, I am sure it would be a great place to camp! We returned to our hotel at Munising for the stay.
The hosts checking out the guests :D
7 miles was a really good distance for us, we felt really happy about the overall experience and not too tired. We took one more snack break at the chapel falls and reached the parking lot by 7’o clock. Even while returning we saw so many people hiking towards the beach, I am sure it would be a great place to camp! We returned to our hotel at Munising for the stay.
End of our awesome first day at beautiful Upper
Peninsula.
Comments
Post a Comment