Sarah at McGulpin Rock with the Mackinac Bridge in the background, October 4, 2006.
Sarah and I found McGulpin Rock in 2006 quite by accident. We were wandering the Lake Michigan shoreline and there it was. We did not know at the time that it is historically famous. Five years before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock in 1620, French explorers found McGulpin Rock in 1615. We were looking for different photo angles with the Mackinac Bridge in the background. The shoreline was so close to the rock that the waves were washing up around our feet.
Brittany in Lake Michigan with McGulpin Rock to the left and the Mackinac Bridge in the background, June 30, 2019.
In 2019, Brittany and I were in Northern Michigan and I was looking for McGulpin Rock. To my surprise it was out in the lake and over half of the rock was under water. The water level in Lake Michigan had risen so the shoreline had changed.
I used Google Earth Pro (a free software download) to look for satellite images that would show the changing shoreline. If you click on the clock icon at the top of the app, Google Earth Pro shows you a timeline of older satellite images that you can look at.
Google Earth Pro, McGulpin Rock, July 30, 2019.
This 2019 satellite image was taken just 30 days after we were there. You can see McGulpin Rock out in the water.
Google Earth Pro, McGulpin Rock, December 31, 2004.
The closest satellite image I could find to my 2006 photo was taken 20 months before my October 2006 visit. The quality of Satellite images from 2004 are not as good as more recent images, but you can still see the shoreline is at McGulpin Rock.
The story of McGulpin Rock.
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