WATCH: Drone Captures Pictured Rocks Cliff Sheer Right Next to Kayakers
OutdoorHub Reporters 08.15.19
A group of kayakers on a tour of Michigan’s famous Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore are surely counting their blessings after a huge chunk of cliff nearly collapsed on top of them.
Standing about 200 feet above Lake Superior, northern Michigan’s Pictured Rocks is one of the state’s most picturesque attractions. But after watching a large section of the cliffs crumble and narrowly miss a group of kayakers below, you may want to keep your distance next time you visit.
Here’s the video, and watch for the kayakers just to the right of the huge splash:
According to MLive, nature photographers Jon Smithers and Craig Blacklock watched from a distance in another boat. When they heard sounds of the cliff collapsing, they turned the drone just in the nick of time to record it on video.
Sue Reece, Pictured Rocks’ chief of interpretation, told the Detroit Free Press if these kayakers had been just 100 feet closer to the cliffs when they collapsed, the results could have been “catastrophic.”
Check out this video from the kayakers perspective:
The cliffs that make up Pictured Rocks are made of sandstone, so they erode and crumble quite easily. While these large cliff sheers don’t occur every day, the cliffs are much more vulnerable in the spring when they thaw out after winter.
Reece also issued a warning to hikers, as well, saying the cliffs’ texture can make them feel like a sandy beach. However, staying on trail and not getting too close to the edge is important, she said.
