Miners Beach

One of the most visited and alluring attractions at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is Miners beach, a typical strand of glacially perfected sand which graces the Michigan shores of Lake Superior.  Most iconic images of the beach will show the typical sunset shot overlooking the mouth of the Miner river, which flows into the lake in a wonderful channel of golden brown water amidst the sands.  Other pictures might have the lake being a bit bluer and brighter, showing off the Caribbean impression that summertime Lake Superior can manage to pull off.  My visit was a bit less glamorous, but certainly more appropriate.

 The day was quite overcast, a little on the cooler side for most people (upper 50s), and while the lake was showing off some teals and pastel blues, they were muted and offset by the dominant bluish grey that one would expect from a Canadian Shield body of water.  This is not to say that I was in any way disappointed, because the whole scene felt very much how it should for being in this sacred part of the world.  The grey soil covered in pine needles, cones, and broken roots which extended into the forest from the beach only added to the northern charm of the place.  The dwarf Balsam fir (Abies Balsamea) added a more intimate touch to an otherwise exposed location at the edge of the inland sea.  Steady medium-sized waves rhythmically washed onto the sands despite the stillness of the air; Lake Superior, after all, is assuredly much more of a sea than a lake.

 For a moment, walking along the beach felt like being on some quiet reach of a tranquil, northern lake.  The trees, gentle landscape, and intermixing of grand and diminutive scales were quite deceptive.  Indeed, if it were not for the sheer cliffs at either end of the stretch of sand, one might never know they were in an area of towering dunes and breath-taking cliffs.  Again, this is a lake shore, but it is also the shores of Lake Superior.

 In fact, Miners beach and river are not a few hundred yards away from the photogenic Miners Castle, one of the great scenic natural monuments of Michigan.

 I was just there, among the small crowds that had come to take their obligatory photos before moving on to the next tourist spot.  While the rocks were definitely a sight worthy of repeated visits, and yes, a future post (when I can show pictures of the place in different light conditions), the beach provided for a stronger memory.  The lapping waves, wonderfully smooth yet gritty sand, towering pines, and all those wonderful smells of the boreal northern world conspired to outdo the featured attraction.  Maybe the cliffs were a bit alien to the concept of the northern landscape.  The rocks here are mostly layered sandstone, rather than the granite and gneiss one can find in neighboring Ontario, Wisconsin, or even past Marquette.  The beach, however, had the fortune of being mixed up and tossed around by glaciers, and presents the walker from such places with a more familiar landscape.  My biases are showing through once more!

In any case, this beach has it all: scenery, forests, tranquility, grandeur, surf, sun, and even clams.  Those looking for great, open vistas and miles upon miles of water can find it on one side:

 While turning back, they can find it again in towering forests of Eastern White Pine (Pinus Strobus) which greet the sands in no less a dramatic fashion than the waves:

At the same time, the saplings, lichens, and damp, dark, green closeness of the forest reverts the scale back to our level, as does the foam and bubbles that the even the mightiest waves become.

The best way to experience Miners beach, of course, is to experience it with one's own senses.  As with any place in "le Nord", I highly recommend it.