Last month Dave and I camped at Lake Muskallonge state park in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula right on the shore of Lake Superior. Our Great Lakes are nothing like small natural lakes or dammed reservoirs; they are huge, too big to see across, with wild storms, deep and cold. Lake Superior is enormous and 2-3 foot tall waves pound the shores.
Waves are powerful and transform the beach each day.
The first day I found the beach strewn with rocks: Agates, granite, jasper and quartz were all over the edges of the shore and in long, narrow lagoons right at the shoreline. The best place to walk was the sandbar just outside the lagoons.
Shallow Sand Bar and Rocky Lagoons Lake Superior
It was a lot of fun. The water was cool enough to feel good on a warm day and the waves splashed the bottoms of my shorts. The lagoon here was about 2 feet deep and the sandbar was only a couple inches in between the waves.
Lagoons by Shoreline on Lake Superior
There was a fallen tree that extended right to the water line behind me where I took the photo above. I had to duck and scoot underneath to get past it.
The next day was calm in the afternoon. Dave and I sat by the water and watched the storm clouds build up coming from the west. It’s about 100 miles as the seagull flies to the Keweenaw peninsula, plenty of space to build up storms along the northern shore.
Lake Superior Before Rain
Did you notice how different the shore looked that day? The rocks were further up leaving more sand right by the shore. The lagoons were gone too. The tree wasn’t blocking the beach either and it was easy to get by closer to the lake.
The shore stayed like this for a few days, with the rocks further up the beach. The lake bottom had rocks or small pebbles right by shore for most of the frontage we walked, but was sandy between and pretty much rock free out about 10 feet.
It was fun to dive in and let the waves carry me. It was about waist deep about 20 feet from shore, deep enough to swim and close enough that it wasn’t too cold. (“Cold” is a relative term here.)
Blue Sky and Waves on Lake Superior
Every day the rocks moved a bit and some of the trees tangled in the water shifted. The last day the shore lagoons were back.
Waves Washing Shore Lake Superior
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