Taken 2007 August 10 from the Cape Smokey Trail
at the second look-off (counting from the trail head in the park)
GPS 46°36.2??'N 60°22.4??'W
One minute past the spot where the previous photo was taken, one arrives at the second look-off, at the edge of the cliff face seen in the tenth photo that was the focal point of the view from the first look-off. The views from this look-off are quite limited, the most interesting being the one shown here of the rocks at the base of the cliff face, somewhat below the top of which one is now standing. The distance to the water is a good 175 m (575 ft), but the zoom lens makes everything appear much closer than it is in fact.
As this photo makes obvious, this cliff face is severely eroded, littered with gravel that is anything but stable. The boulders in the water were once part of this cliff face and have been reduced to their current state by the constant action of wind, rain, and waves (the waters here are not always as calm as they were this beautiful day!). It is amazing that any vegetation at all can establish itself on the face of this forbiddingly barren cliff, but the trees one sees are proof that it can and does. The size of these trees is also a good indication of how big the boulders in the water actually are!