August 5-6, 2018 Waboose Lake with Dana

Waboose Lake with Dana
3 miles total

Dana and I decided to do a short hike-in to Waboose Lake NCT campsite for an overnight in this gorgeous site. The weather was perfect 80s with no chance of rain. 

We hiked in 1.6 miles and once again the swim just felt amazing! We set up camp and got ready for cooking supper, one of Dana's favorite things to do! We also read by the lake in the sun, Dana swam and dove with her goggles. Then we hung our bear bag after many failed attempts. We didn't mess around and hung it way back at the main loop trail. Then we took a calm water, sunset swim and tucked into bed. This was the first time I slept all night with the fly off. It was amazing to sleep under the open sky and watch the stars. 

Unfortunatley on a Sunday night we had the bad luck of having a camp neighbor across the lake who found it necessary to run a generator from 8:30 to 11 pm!!! We have no clue for what? After that it was awefully quiet and despite our bear spray and food hung far away Dana struggled with the sounds of the night forest. I think we slept from midnight to 3 and then she listened to her audio book for hours while we both dozed off and woke many times. After 5 we both slept like rocks as daylight brightened. I got up at 8:30 and filtered water etc. then decided to get the bear bag alone since I could not get Dana awake. I finally woke her around 9 out of deep sleep and we ate our oatmeal. We ran out of fuel after this morning cooking which was good timing. It lasted for 5 nights and mornings of cooking. 

After packing up we hiked around the north end of Waboose and reached the boat landing after 1.5 miles. Brett and Leo picked us up! Another wonderful time in the forest!

July 5-6, 2018 North Country Trail

First solo overnight trip
20 miles total

Day 1- 10 miles

Brett dropped me off at the County 4 Trailhead south of Lake George around 10:30am. I had prepared my route with the brand-new edition of the North Country Trail in MN guidebook.

This was my first solo trip with an overnight. I think my pack weighed 15 pounds without food and water and then about 22 pounds with food and water.





I hiked 10.3 miles down the NCT to Nelson Lake. I was already familiar with the lake and campsites there, which made it a little less daunting. I took a 1 hour lunch break at a little lake and with an average pace of about 30 minutes per mile I got to camp in the late afternoon and set up camp.

It was a beautiful evening and I enjoyed setting up, swimming, cooking, making a fire and all in total solitude and silence. I was pretty pretty worn out. After 8 miles my legs were pretty much done for the day and yet I had two more miles to do, so now after supper, they said: "Time for bed!" I heard quite a few sounds but was able to keep my mind in check and relax and get good sleep. The mat, my z-lite Therma-rest is not the most comfortable. I might have to upgrade that if I do several nights with big hiking days. 

Day 2 - 10 miles

It is always surprising to me how cooled off I get in the mornings although the temperature is usually around the 60 degree mark. It was a beautiful calm morning with mist hanging over the lake surface.

I had breakfast and headed out for the day. Day 2 was hiking on to Waboose Lake. Another lake and campsite I was familiar with about 10 miles away. I was planning on meeting Brett and the kids there since Waboose is some of his old stomping grounds and good fishing and they could just boat into the campsite Dana and I had discovered. 

I found many wild raspberries and also some strawberries each day. They were delicious and my only raw, fresh food on the trip. The crop is plentiful this year. The hiking was quite different this day. On Day 1 I came by quite a few lakes. This day was on higher ground and when I still didn't come by a Lake after 7 miles, I decided I had to come up with a different solution to take a lunch break. I finally decided to just set up my tent in the middle of the trail and lay down and enjoy my lunch. 

 My feet had gotten drenched in the dew-covered morning grass and this was my first time airing them out. I discovered a small blister underneath my right pinky toe. I hung my socks out to dry and set my shoes in the sun. I had yet to see a single person on the whole trail so I was not concerned blocking the trail. I was pretty proud of my great solution! It was nice to lay down and not worry about bugs and flies. There were enough mosquitoes every day where just sitting down as not an option, unless your idea of lunch is feeding your blood to the mosquitoes while eating your crackers and guacamole! I was almost out of water in my 1.5 liter bladder. Since I had assumed that I would get to a lake by lunch at least, I had not even topped it all the way off last night. Live and learn. I ran out by mile 8 and hiked the last 2 miles without water. 

Nothing feels as good as a lake swim after a sweat-drenching 10 mile hike in long pants, long shirt, socks and shoes with a 20 pound pack! When I got to camp, I dropped my stuff, ripped my clothes off and ran into the lake. Amazing! 

After that I filtered water and drank and then set up camp. I laid down in my tent to read since I had made good time this day, and fell asleep until I heard a boat motor coming closer and it was Brett and the kids. 

We enjoyed more fishing, swimming and grilling and after those monster 20 miles in summer heat and alone, I decided the option to go home with them and sleep in my own soft bed was just too tempting to pass up. I had planned on overnighting and then hiking out 5+ miles to Highway 64 the next day, but that seemed unimportant now. And I think it was a smart decision since that night my right calf seized up and got painful. I used magnesium oil, supplements and rested well and it was much better the next day, but I doubt that hiking 5 more miles on it would have been good. 

I was really happy with my first big Solo Backpacking Trip!

June 23 - Itasca Day Hike

Itasca State Park Day Hike (no pack)
5 miles

I joined an Itasca Lady Slipper Hike in the morning, which was a leisurely 2 miles, I believe and since I was there and prepared I did a 3 mile power hike to the Firetower, up the tower, back down and back to the car. Took me 1 hour for the 3 miles. I had no pack but it was a good workout.

June 14 - Gooseberry Day Hike

Gooseberry State Park Day Hike
8.1 miles

I used the chance to day hike with some elevation changes and a heavy pack when we camped at the North Shore of Lake Superior at Gooseberry Falls State Park. Since my goal is to hike the Superior Hiking Trail in the Fall, I wanted to see how I do with a heavy pack and lots of miles. 


So I hikes 8.1 miles and wow, that was about enough too! I couldn't have done much more. My legs were pretty quivery but I was pretty happy with myself doing that with my pack and quite a bit of up and down. Such beautiful scenery too. Only downside was that I had to hike out and back but it was great training. It took me just under 4 hours to do it with a couple of shorter breaks. 

June 12, 2018 Whiteface Day Hike

Whiteface Reservoir Campground
2.1 miles

This is one of our favorite campgrounds and when we camped with the family I took a morning to explore a hiking trail that led out of the campground. I shouldered my pack to strengthen my legs. 

I hiked 2.1 miles and found some neat boat-in/hike-in campsites on the lake. It was buggy so I used my head-net and it was cool enough to use the rain jacket for warmth and bug protection. 

June 4-6, 2018 - Itasca State Park with Dana

First overnight backpacking trip
11 miles total

Day 1 - 4.25 miles 

Itasca State Park. We started at the south entrance parking lot. There is access to the North Country Trail which connects to the Itasca State Park hiking trails. I had made reservations online and we drove to the main entrance to get a vehicle sticker. I decided on an annual sticker this year. When we went to the Visitor center to check in they said as long as our vehicle has a permit and we reserved a site online we do not have to check in. Good to know!



We took a short break at the first campsite we came to after starting out, which is #6. That is a beautiful somewhat small site right on the lake and semi-open, not too brushy! We took our stuff off and dangled our legs in the cool water and enjoyed the sunshine and a snack. After that it got buggier and hotter and the going was rough. There was no way to stop for anything since the mosquitoes would have eaten us alive. We were pleased to see that our permethrin-treated pants worked wonderful on the ticks. Our legs were often covered in ticks of both kinds and we noticed that they started falling off by themselves after being on for about a minute or two. DD was most annoyed by the flies buzzing our heads. I handled the bugs well, but the temperature was starting to bother me. We wore long pants and long-sleeve-shirts of course and the temperature was only about 75 but without a breeze on most trails that was getting pretty hot.

Nothing felt better than to get to camp (DeSoto site #4), strip and run into the lake. I was swimming before DD ever got her belly-button wet, but we enjoyed a skinny-dip since we had not encountered anyone all day.

We set up camp and had a snack. Cooking dinner worked well and we ate a Knorr Noodle Side and an organic Ramen noodle package. We hung our bag in a tree a ways off and tucked into the tent. I was a little cool most of the night and was glad I had brought my scarf, a sort of hat and the leggings. Night was probably about 50 or 55. Slept decent with the tent flaps open. I found I was most comfortable with my pack under my knees.

Day 2 - 3.9 miles from DeSoto to Myrtle Lake.

We had reserved site #8 but we didn't like the site so I checked the online reservation system and #7 was not reserved so we just moved over there. It was a cute site with a little bit of a long brushy walk to the lake but two nice long trees sticking out into the lake that served as our dock for the afternoon.


On  our way to Myrtle Lake we stopped into site #5 on McKay Lake. It had lots of blow-down. Gorgeous site right on the water but hardly any room for a tent. We had lunch here and took about a 1 hour break. We also walked into #10 on Deer Park Lake, which was on the lake but very grown over and brushy. Not open. I don't think I would like that site for overnight.

At our site we set up camp and got ready to swim. We both jumped off into the crystal clear water at the same time and it felt so good. We got to camp just after lunch and so had lots of time to spend. We ate snack, collected firewood, swam again, sat on the logs, explored a little, changed the tent and finally cooked dinner twice!  Later we hung our bag outside of camp and when it got late we tucked into the tent but we heard a bunch of rustling. DD had seen a beaver several times earlier, but somehow our mind was on bears and our bag. We somehow both managed to get spooked and sat up to play cards with our headlamps on for a long time. I finally got tired and DD decided to listen to recordings on her phone. It also started thundering around 1 am and then pouring rain for several hours around 4 am. DD was finally asleep, and now I woke up and was totally freaked out! Although all we could hear was rain I could have sworn I heard bear snorts. Your brain can sure take you for a ride! I had failed to pack any sort of pepper spray but kept the SPOT on, ready to hit a button. We were both glad that night was over, when it was finally morning, although we managed to sleep in a little.

Day 3 - 3.25 miles from Myrtle Lake back to South entrance parking lot.

We wore rain jackets although it had stopped raining, but the bugs were numerous. I also wore the head net which was very handy. We had a nice hike back out. Shortest stretch and some nice conversation. DD caught me mis-navigating when we got to the way end, where I insisted on following the NCT to cross Highway 71, she had directed us to the left to get to the parking lot and she was right. Should have followed her.

What a great experience! Our first overnight backpacking went really well, although DD did not like the scary night #2. She did really well but does not want to repeat that.

Here is the food we brought:

Oatmeal packages and Protein granola bar for breakfast. Coffee for me.
Lunch: Crackers and guacamole minis, Hard chunk of Parmesan cheese, beef jerky, nuts, dried apples
Snack: Snickers bar, cocoa almonds
Dinner: Knorr Sides, next time I will bring tuna packets. Organic ramen noodles.

DD also liked having propel powder for her water. I liked my coffee and creamer and sugar.

May 23rd, 2018 Cut Foot Sioux Trail

Third Hike in the Woods
6.3 miles


Location:

Cut Foot Sioux Hiking Trail starting in the Deer Lake Campground by Lake Winnibigoshish. The trail was heavily wooded with mature stands of leaf trees.

Weather:
Humid and 68, sunny, when I started out after breakfast. It got hot pretty quickly but I was back by 1pm.

Miles: 6.34 in 3 hours with a longer break at the 3 mile mark and many shorter breaks.

Insects:
Only 3 wood ticks in the first 3 miles. Added several more to total 12 for the whole trip, with one being a deer tick. All of them picked off my cream-colored, light-weight hiking pants that were tucked into my socks. Hardly a mosquito in sight. Many spiderwebs across the trail that ended up in my face.

Wildlife:
Several eagles, a garter snake, 9 trumpeter swans on the wilderness lake I stopped at for snack break.