Thursday, April 17, 2025
Mike McFadzen
Pictured Rocks was designated the nation’s first National Lakeshore in 1966 to preserve this extraordinary setting. Located on the south shore of Lake Superior near Munising, Michigan, among the most dramatic features of the 72,000-acre preserve are its 300-foot sandstone cliffs that tower over Superior’s pristine blue-green waters.
Pictured Rocks has over 40 miles of protected shoreline to explore. Kayaking the emerald water is a big draw with several outfitters offering rentals and cliff-side tours. Hiking is also spectacular with hundreds of miles of trails. The North County Trail places hikers atop cliffs hundreds of feet above Lake Superior, giving views of dazzling rock formations, including Miner’s Castle and Grand Portal.
Most travel to Pictured Rocks in summer or fall, but this place is spellbinding in the depths of winter as sea caves are transformed into ice caves when waterfalls freeze into scalable curtained formations. Extreme caution must be used as icy cliffs, high winds, and big surf can create hazardous and rapidly changing conditions. Rescue Teams Hazards lurk within this natural beauty. Each year, hundreds of people put themselves in dangerous situations that sometimes lead to fatal blunders. The Alger County Sherriff’s Department, National Park Service, Coast Guard, and Superior High Angle Rescue Professionals have been called hundreds of times to rescue people who didn’t think through their excursions, fell off a cliff, or disregarded barriers and warning signs. Chief Pictured Rocks Ranger Joseph Hughes works closely with these teams, coordinating rescues that inevitably result from the mass of new visitors discovering Lake Superior’s dramatic landscape. “Over the last 10 years, Pictured Rocks have added 800,000 to 1 million visitors annually,” Hughes said. “We used to see experienced outdoor people who were properly equipped and had pre-planned their trip. Now we see weekend warriors not properly outfitted, routinely getting lost turning their 5-mile hike into 10 or 12. In warmer months, these teams and volunteers patrol the lakeshore daily looking for people that may need help.” People getting injured falling off the famous cliffs is becoming much more common as Pictured Rocks’ reputation has grown. Mainstream media giants, including CBS, ABC, the New York Times, and others, have lured thousands of new visitors to the area every year. Even European and Asian television stations are popularizing the area. Great Temptations The sandstone cliffs and arches towering hundreds of feet above Lake Superior’s deep blue waters are a key draw. Rivers cascade through dense forests, forming pools and waterfalls before emptying onto sandy beaches with rocky shorelines. Kayaks and tour boats offer visitors a close-up view of the cliffs from the water, and more than 100 miles of trails provide access to a wild and remote backcountry. Michigan’s annual Ice Fest draws more than 10,000 visitors to the area to climb and view ice formations on the cliffs that run along the Lake Superior shore. An accident in these areas can drop people directly into Lake Superior, or on a narrow beach along the water’s edge. These rescues are complicated, often requiring long snowmobile and/or snowshoe treks through harsh backcountry to reach victims. The spectacular Grand Island lies less than a mile off the Munising coast. Grand Island provides additional miles of cliffs and sand beaches and is outright remarkable. This U.S. Forest Service Grand Island Recreation Area covers almost the whole island; approximately 13,500 acres. In summer, it’s a biking, hiking, and backpacker’s paradise. In winter, it can be treacherous. Some test their mettle to get to the island in winter, which isn’t courageous — it’s dangerous. Then there’s the frozen Munising Bay. Snowmobiles, ATVers, hikers, and skiers often use the Bay to access Grand Island. Several snow machines and ATVs have broken through the ice in the area termed “The Whirlpool” in the west channel. “Even with good ice, the whirlpool constantly erodes from underneath,” according to former sheriff David Cromell. (See Cromwell’s profile in this issue.) Incidents, Rescues and Deaths Several people have fallen off the cliffs to their deaths, including a woman hoping for the perfect selfie when she slipped and perished near Chapel Beach. The woman was a social media influencer known as the Wandering Banana and was taking precarious selfies as she traveled across the country. The fall was witnessed by two kayakers who were able to retrieve and bring the body to shore. A 31-year-old ice climber from Gaylord, Michigan, perished near Miner’s Castle during the 2023 IceFest event at Pictured Rocks. A witness described the climber as being hit by a wave and falling directly into Lake Superior. There were 7 to 10-foot seas, with waves peaking at 13 feet. The rescue effort and body recovery operation were probably the most complicated ever performed in the area with multiple agencies taking part, including the National Park Service, Coast Guard, Michigan State Police Dive Teams, Superior High Angle Rescue Professionals, and sheriff agencies. Windy conditions, surging surf, and poor visibility combined for a complex operation. The body was recovered 5 days later. Watch for the November Silent Sports Magazine issue for more information on this and other cold weather rescues. Rangers responded to a call that a visitor had fallen through shore ice on Lake Superior near Sand Point. National Park Service staff, the sheriff's department, and the local ambulance service responded. They found a 63-year-old man in a boat on the shoreline with two local fishermen. The man was walking on the ice about 100 yards from shore when he fell through. The fishermen pulled him into their boat and then pushed the boat over ice to shore. He was treated for hypothermia and a spiral fracture of the left femur. On June 22, 2006, Juanita Richardson, 43, fell to her death from a cliff above Lake Superior near Miners Castle. She was picnicking with her husband, Thomas David Richardson, when the incident occurred. An investigation by the Alger County Sheriff's Department, FBI, and the National Park Service suspected foul play and arrested the husband months later on murder charges based in part on asserted inconsistent statements. After a six-week trial, he was convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Thomas did not testify at the trial but appeared on Dateline, maintaining his innocence. In 2011, the conviction was upheld by the Wisconsin Supreme Court despite scolding the trial prosecutor for unprofessional conduct. In another incident, a tour vessel was heading back to Munising when the captain spotted a yellow patch along the shore. Suspecting it might be from a life jacket, she changed course and spied two adults and two children huddled on the rocky shoreline only partly out of the lake's 47-degree waters. The Minneapolis family's plastic canoe capsized, forcing them to swim 150 yards to a tiny beach area. They were huddled together, hoping for a boat to see them with diminishing daylight as a storm approached. Winds were blowing 25 mph and rain started to fall. The National Park Service responded with two smaller rescue craft and saved the family. The daughter's legs were so numb that a rescuer had to pick her up and carry her to a boat. One of the rescuers and a sheriff's department captain reported that it was highly improbable the four would have survived the night. And still again, a group of 18 kayakers was viewing the spectacular cliffs when they narrowly escaped disaster. A massive section of cliff fell into Lake Superior about 50 feet away. No one was injured. A Coast Guard helicopter crew airlifted an injured ice climber suffering from head and back injuries she sustained during a fall. Due to location and terrain, a ground evacuation was not possible. The aircrew conducted a hoist operation and the injured climber was transported directly to Munising Memorial Hospital. A 4-year-old cocker spaniel/poodle mix named Leo jumped over the railing at Miners Castle, falling 30 feet to a cliff ledge below the lower overlook. National Park Service staff and a volunteer from the Superior High Angle Rescue Professionals rescued the dog by utilizing high-angle rope techniques. The rescuer was lowered down to the ledge where he found Leo barking and wagging his tail, but the dog wouldn't budge. After 25 minutes of coaxing and offering dog food and Goldfish crackers, Leo finally came to the rescuers. Two kayakers perished when caught in gale-force winds while paddling within the national lakeshore, but not without a heroic rescue attempt. Chief Ranger Joe Hughes and Ranger Matthew Nemeth received Department of Interior Valor Awards while National Park Service volunteer Lynnea Fredrikson and Michigan State Trooper Trever Kirkpatrick-Bray were recognized with a Citizen Bravery Award for their efforts during the operation. These rescue teams put their lives on the line way too often. In one particularly bad year, there were six snowmobile deaths in the county, including at Munising Bay. Helicopter rescues have also become more common. Ice fishermen and others have been rescued on ice flows that floated away from shore. Two kayakers were struggling against the elements after 30 mph winds whipped up 4 to 5-foot waves northeast of Grand Island. Captain Kate Faust of Glass Bottom Shipwreck Tours was piloting the Shipwreck Express with 51 passengers when she saw the besieged paddlers. Faust was able to maneuver her large tour boat nearby and lower a homemade device to rescue the kayakers, averting a tragic situation. The aluminum framed device, named the Shark Cage, was designed and built by Faust’s brother, Joe Lindquist, which was specifically designed for emergency rescues. “I was able to lower the Shark Cage and hoist the guys straight up in several minutes,” Faust said. “They didn’t have to get into the water. “I’m grateful to have been blessed with the tools and abilities to help these people in distress.” Faust received the Coast Guard’s Dobbins Award for her efforts, which recognizes outstanding actions accomplished while performing search and rescue missions on the Great Lakes. These committed rescue teams lay it all on the line, day and night, in any condition to help those who make mistakes. Chief Ranger Joe Hughes said it best: “It’s important that people have a plan and know their limits, which means matching your level of experience with the exposure of the outdoors. If you are new to the area, we have many guiding operations that do a great job keeping everyone safe while exploring this great resource.” The beauty and danger of Pictured Rocks. Be aware and plan carefully to avoid becoming a statistic. Retired Sheriff Cromell: Gentle Giant, Humble Hero A DNR employee plunged through the ice on his ATV coming back from a Grand Island crossing. The Sheriff’s Department responded in blustery conditions. Donning immersion suits and attached to a 1,000-foot rope line, they harrowingly worked on the hypothermia victim who had pulled himself onto the ice but couldn’t move, fearing he would break through again. A life saved. All in a day’s work for the Alger County Sheriff. Man of Vision Former Alger County Sheriff Dave Cromell was getting harassed by Alger County board members for his department being over budget. This was exacerbated by Cromell’s purchase of a used hover-craft, selling roadside for $3300. (The Hovercraft had been a prize on The Price is Right.) Cromell knew that doing thousand-foot rope rescues with immersion suits on the ice of Lake Superior was risky for his deputies and took too much time. Why risk the rescuers? It was an easy decision to buy the Price is Right hovercraft. The Sheriff’s Department has practiced for and responded to all kinds of water rescues in every possible weather condition. Two years after the hovercraft purchase, it hadn’t been called into duty for a real rescue. At one heated board meeting, members chastised the Sheriff for wasting money. “If we save one life, it will be worth it,” he explained to the board, and just then, before the meeting adjourned, Cromell got the 911 call. One of the deputies had witnessed a snowmobile go through the ice on frozen Munising Bay. The Sheriff’s team rushed to the site via the Price is Right hovercraft and pulled the snowmobiler off the ice in a remarkable 17 minutes. The hypothermic snowmobiler was delivered directly to the Munising Hospital, where he stayed a few days, but survived. In a stroke of irony, the victim was a Munising City Commissioner. Cromell never got another complaint about his budget again. Increased People, Increased Need “Years ago, there wasn’t this kind of tourism boat traffic [at Pictured Rocks],” Cromwell said. “Now it’s exploded. In the early days, the department didn’t have a lot of rescue equipment or even a boat. If we needed to do a lake rescue, I would call one of the local boat owners and race to the scene. It was community service; everyone wanted to help. With the increased traffic, tourism, and incidents, the departments have to be prepared with complete rescue equipment.” Winter rescues have increased due to tourism growth and unstable Lake Superior ice conditions. “All this late ice may be due to climate change,” Cromwell said. “Ice doesn’t freeze as early as it used to.” Notable in Retirement David Cromell retired in 2013 after serving thirty-five years as the Alger County Sherriff. He’s received the Hub Perreault Citizenship Award and other honors. During his tenure, he spearheaded the 911 emergency call system, helped develop an ambulance rescue system, integrated EMTs into the service, and did this all as a working sheriff. Cromell, a modest man, doesn’t like taking credit for his numerous accomplishments. “I just did my job the best I could,” he said. “I’m not much of a politician. I always treated people like you would want to be treated, including the jail inmates. Don’t show favoritism.” "Dave has been very instrumental in a lot of things with the Sheriff's department,” said Joe Paquette Jr. during the Citizenship Award. “He has individually saved numerous lives. Dave has been a person who prided himself on being prepared." On a cold and sunny February day, Joe and Lee Pacquette were hanging out at Cromell’s house on Lake Superior when Dave spied someone breaking through the ice. “Dave immediately flew into action,” Lee said. “He told us to call 911. And then, running down to the water, he directed a rope and ladder rescue. There was no hesitation.” Another life saved. Cromell and his wife, Gayle, still live in the same house on Munising Bay. He purchased new fat skis this year to visit his remote cabin near Pictured Rocks. His retirement has allowed him to spend more time with his kids and grandkids, fishing, taking walks, and soaking up that Lake Superior beauty. And despite his modesty, it is notable that many others can still share in this beauty for years to come. Because of Dave Cromell.
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