22 May 2018
It was cold last night but with my 20F bag, long johns, air mattress and foam pad, I stayed pretty toasty. I was up by 6 am and decided to hike a ways on the Huginin Trail. It’s a 9.4 mile loop and I knew I wouldn’t do the whole loop.
This is a very pretty trail where you cross over Washington Creek and walk through a fir forest. After about a mile, my ankle started to ache and I decided to turn back. I was carrying the big pack with the water full in the hydration system plus two Nalgene bottles, also full. Water weighs a ton!
The result of turning back around 9 am was I had plenty of time to kill before our 5 pm flight back to Hancock. I rewalked part of the nature trail after my ankle quit throbbing, dozed a little on the picnic table, had lunch (more Pringles, another Pepsi and another Snickers bar. Always eat healthy, I say.
Around 1:30 pm, two guys appeared at the picnic shelter where you are supposed to wait on the plane. They were Joe and Tim who had just spent 5 nights in the backcountry hiking from the northeast end of the island to the southwest end of the island – according to their account 72 miles.
Both could hardly walk. They even spent one day covering a20 mile stretch. They are graduate students in business at the University of Michigan and are apparently best buddies. After talking a while, they settled into an intense game of cribbage (portable board and all). Tim was the expert and Joe was the learner.
Cholesterol blockages were causing his heart to wither viagra pfizer online away. As ever the Government are weak and feeble with this issue and succumb to the insurance companies as they did with the newspapers and their best buddies the Murdock family. http://appalachianmagazine.com/category/featured/page/59/ generico levitra on line These ingredients are purchase cialis mixed in the right ratio and processed further in the decoction of Bala, Musli Sya, Ashwagandha and bala. A number of different factors can increase your risk for serious side effects. levitra no prescription 
During the game we talked hikes, national parks, gear, and any other thing that backpackers do. I admire their ability to do 72 miles in five days. Just before I left to go to the sea plane dock, they asked me to take a photo of them by the Windigo sign. I was happy to since upon my arrival, the three ladies asked the same and then took a photo for me.
Tomás flew in right at 4:30 pm for a 5 pm departure. We all four talked trips, experiences, and what not for the return flight.
As I mentioned in a previous post, this was the one about which I had the greatest anxiety. It ended up being totally anxiety free. I was able to find a camping space and the sea plane took off and landed right on time. Isle Royale Sea Plane is a great company that serves this area and the Naples, Florida area. I highly recommend them.
This also signals the end of my camping experiences for the remainder of the trip. Saugatuck is 2 nights at a bed and breakfast, Cuyahoga is a Comfort Inn, en route to Acadia is a B&B, Acadia is a B&B, en route to Shenandoah is Quality Suites, Shenandoah is a lodge, then two nights with my cousin Jimmie and Stephen, and then a B&B en route to home.
I would have preferred camping more – not to mention the cost savings – but when some national parks don’t let you make reservations, you pay the price of a motel when the campground is full.
The one thing I would do differently would be to ask for state park lists, Bureau of Land Management lists and U.S. Forest Service lists as a plan for when national parks don’t accept reservations. Of course, there is no state park, BLM or USFS on Isle Royale so I had to take my chances anyway.
Hopefully, a good night of sleep before a 10 1/2 hour drive to Saugatuck!
