Days 8-10

Day 8

Driving back from dinner last night, a young black bear ran across the road. Kati slammed on her brakes to avoid hitting her. I reached for my phone to take a picture, but I wasn’t fast enough. Hopefully, that will be our only bear encounter this trip.

Once we returned to camp, we took out our rucksacks and started to organize our gear for our backpacking trip in the morning. We are going out for three days in the backcountry. We’re doing the shorter beginner trail since Kati has never gone backpacking before and G3 has only done a couple of overnight trips. We’ll be staying at two different campsites and covering roughly 27 kilometers which means the trek will count as a requirement for backpacking merit badge.

Once we had things somewhat ready for tomorrow, G3 asked me to play catch with him. We were having fun until he asked Kati to demonstrate the way she throws. She tried to throw to me, but it went very wide and landed in woods, rolling right into a poison ivy patch. G3 tried to find it, but he couldn’t and he is upset. The baseball came from the Mattituck house. During COVID, when G3 and I were out there grieving Dad’s death, we played baseball nearly every day. The baseball was a small connection to Dad. And now it is gone.

As are Kati’s car keys. We can’t find them. She must have dropped or misplaced them when we were getting ready for our trek. She can still start the car which means they are somewhere inside, we just don’t know where. But it’s late and it’s dark, so we’ll look again in the morning. Fingers crossed no one tries to steal anything from the car—or the car itself—overnight.

We got a much later start on the trail than I wanted. We had to break camp and then pack up our gear and shower. That took a bit longer than I had hoped, but it was looking for Kati’s keys that consumed a good deal of time. We pulled everything out of the car and shifted through everything. After wasting a good hour, Kati found them in the carrier on top of the car. While Kati showered, G3 and I played catch with the football. Now Kati and Gary have gone to town. Kati wants better insoles for her shoes and is hoping to find them. I stayed back at camp to shower and now I am reading as I wail for them to return.

We started our hike on the Coastal trail at 11:07. It was a 12.2 kilometer hike to our campsite. I was concerned that Kati might not make it. She’s never done any long distance treks before that required her to carry weight on her back. But she did it. I am extremely impressed.

The first half of the trek was on the Coastal Trail. It was all forest. The path was dirt with roots and rocks acting as obstacles. Mostly, it was flat with a few small changes in elevation. After about and hour on the trail,

G3 was hungry and ready to eat. But we had such a long hike ahead of us I didn’t want to stop until we went several kilometers. We went slow, switching up our usual order and letting Kati go first. For a long hike, it is best to stick together, and therefore best to let the slowest person set the pace. G3 followed, and I came up the rear. We didn’t talk much except to laugh at each other, especially when Kati or I slowed down even more and looked awkward as we traversed a different part of the terrain—climbing up rocks or navigating around roots.

By two o’clock, we were all hungry and itching for a rest. That’s when we stumbled upon the beach by the Playter Harbour 1 Campsite—the site we have booked for tomorrow. The site, which is on the beach, is gorgeous. (How many times have I used the word gorgeous since I arrived the Great Lakes up here in Canada.) It was the perfect place to stop for lunch, and oh boy did it feel good to set the pack down for a while. Lunch was peanut butter wrapped in a tortilla. I am not a fan of peanut butter, but when I’m ravenous on the trail, I’m not exactly picky. Peanut butter and tortilla’s are easy, not messy, and not too heavy to carry.

We ate, we rested, I cooled my feet in the water, and around three o’clock we got back on the trail. G3, however, was dragging. The plan was for he and I to carry more than Kati. Our bags were fairly heavy. I weigh the most so it makes sense for me to carry more. But G3 is much younger and his body is not yet breaking down. Plus, he insisted on bringing It by Stephen King which weighs at least a pond if not more. I was afraid he wouldn’t make it unless he bag were lighter. So Kati took some things out of his bag to carry, and I did the same, making my already heavy rucksack even heavier.

At the second turn off, we turned right to hike the Mdaabi Miikna Loop in a clockwise direction. From there it was another four kilometers to our campsite—Picture Rocks Harbour 5. Again, most of the trail was through forest, the way marked by yellow bands tied to the trees. However, parts of the trail, as we seemed to climb in elevation, were over rock. In those sections, cairns pointed us in the correct direction. Not long after we turned onto the Mdaabi Miikna my heel started to hurt. I was happy we had been keeping a tortoise pace since the beginning.

Just when Kati and I were starting to feel tired and taxed, we reached the fork that carried us to our campsite. And OMG! It is stunning. It’s by far the most amazing, gorgeous, heavenly site we’ve ever camped at. I never want to leave. We each set up our one man tent on the beach, a beach which overlooks rock islands jutting out of Lake Superior. G3 could not get in the water fast enough. I followed and the two of us swam out to a few of the islands. I didn’t feel steady enough on my feet after the trek to climb up the rocks on bare feet, but while I treaded water, G3 explored. None of the islands were big. They were tiny, some no more than a giant rock.

The water was cold, as was the air, especially since it was late. We didn’t get to the site until 6:23. That’s—taking into account our lunch break—six hours of trekking. By the time I got out of the water I was shivering. I sat in the sun to warm up, but it was only after drinking a cup of hot water that I started to feel better. We boiled water for our dehydrated food and ate on the sand. I couldn’t walk, or even stand. My feet hurt too much. G3 was upset I couldn’t play frisbee. My feet just refused. Since G3 finished the hike today practically trotting and then had energy and lacked pain to explore, I think he can take on more weight tomorrow.

The sunset was amazing. If not the most beautiful sunset I’ve ever seen, it’s definitely in the top five. The sun set beyond the rock islands, painting the wispy clouds that threaded the sky various shades of pink and orange. G3 went out to a point jutting into the water to watch the sun set and then he came to sit with me. Together, in peaceful silence, we watched the sky turn a deeper pink before the colors started to fade.

I am now in my tent, huddled in my sleeping bag for warmth. I can hear the ripples on Superior and I am looking forward to them lulling me to sleep.

Day 9

Waking up on the beach is heavenly. It feels like we have our own private beach. There is another site nearby but those campers didn’t set up on the beach, so we alone here. The sky is cloudy and gray this morning. I hope it doesn’t rain. I had a nightmare last night. At the end of last school year, the principal promised me I would be teaching history this year. In my dream, I showed up on the first day to find out I was teaching special education. I can think of nothing that would make teaching more miserable than that. I simply do not have the right disposition for it. Otherwise, I slept decently. The sound of the water was soothing and lulled me to sleep every time I work up. The sunrise, with so much cloud coverage, couldn’t be seen. Kati and G3 are still asleep. I am sitting on the sand and reading.

We do not want to leave this campsite. It’s so pretty here. But I am glad we came. We had a leisurely morning. We ate breakfast—instant cream of wheat—and sipped our hot chocolate and coffee.

The first half of today’s hike has been somewhat challenging. We’ve mostly been climbing up and down the rock face, and getting an excellent leg workout. The cairns have guided us, but Kati has been struggling. This is not an easy trail for a beginner backpacker. However, she is persevering, and doing her best to keep a positive, chipper outlook. G3 is getting frustrated at the slow pace. I can tell he wants to push ahead and move more quickly, but he’s fourteen and his body is still young and spry. He bounds up the rock like he’s a mountain goat, whereas Kati moves more deliberately, her feet not nearly as steady. He’s losing patience with her.

We had planned to stop at the midway point for lunch, but our slow pace meant we were hungry before we got there. Instead of eating on another beach, we stopped next to a cairn and ate on the trail. We rested a bit, but not too long since we still had quite a ways to go.

The second half of the trek was through forest with only a few patches of rock face. However, there were stretches of uphill which were always followed by equal stints downhill. I spoke to G3 about being a bit more patient with Kati. At one point he went ahead, dropped his pack and then came back and helped Kati with hers. The last kilometer was relatively flat, but by then Kati’s knee was hurting. She pushed through and made it to the campsite—Playter Harbor 1. We hiked a total of 10.1 kilometers today—-roughly six and a half miles. We started at 10:30 and got to our site sometime after six.

Throughout the morning and early afternoon, the sky was threatening rain. ominous clouds and patches of blue fought for supremacy. By the time we finished lunch, it seemed the blue had won. It was hotter with the sun shining brightly. But by the time we reached the campsite, the clouds had returned. We raced to get the tents up so that we would have shelter for ourselves and our gear. Once they were up, G3 and I jumped into the lake for quick swim. We didn’t stay in long, just a dip to cool off.

Kati went to sleep early. G3 and I sat on one of the large rocks overlooking the harbor and ate our rehydrated lasagna. As I was finishing up, G3 caught sight of a black bear way down the beach where the harbor forms a U. She kept pacing as if looking for something. I sincerely hope that’s as close as we get to a bear on this trip. We sat for awhile in comfortable silence, first watching the bear, then looking out over the water. Due to the clouds, we didn’t get to see the sun set. I think we were both disappointed.

My heel did not hurt so much today which was good. I’m hoping tomorrow will also be a good day for my feet.

Day 10

It’s raining. It’s been raining for three and a half hours and it’s showing no sign of letting up. I’m in my tent, but I can’t sleep. I’m too hot and worried the tent will flood since the only place for me to set up my tent was in a dip in the ground. Kati and G3 had better spots.

It’s eight o’clock and it’s still raining, still coming down hard. I’ve had to pee since one, but I haven’t wanted to get wet. I did manage to fall back to sleep after reading for a bit around four thirty. And while there are puddle around my tent, my tent stayed dry. It looks like we will have to break camp and pack up in the rain. We will also have to trek back to the car in the rain. We had hoped to leave our gear and hike further down the Coastal Trail to a scenic spot this morning, but we won’t do it in this rain. It won’t be fun, plus scenic places in the rain are never as pretty as when the sun is out. Oh well. Disappointments happens even on vacation. I guess I should get up, pack up what’s in the tent and wake Kati and G3.

I had a dream last night that my mother was so worried about us camping on the rain, she drove to pick us up. If you know my mother, you know how comical this is because she doesn’t drive. Plus, we are 18 hours from home. In the dream, G3 was angry she picked us up because it meant he hadn’t hiked enough miles and days to fulfill his merit badge requirement.

I woke Kati up to see if she wanted to start packing. She suggested we wait another hour to see if the rain lets up at all. So I am back in my tent. I suppose I’ll use the time to read.

Around nine o’clock, the rain stopped and the sky looked a little lighter. Optimistically, we thought the day was improving. Not wanting to head out without breakfast, we got the Jetboil going to make instant Cream of Wheat and coffee with hot chocolate. As we were pouring hot water into our cups, the rain returned. Leaving our drinks to cool, we quickly broke down our tents. G3 and I got ours down, rolled, and into our packs in no time at all. We then helped Kati get her’s packed.

This morning, since we were cutting out the day hike, we only had to hike back to the car, which meant going back on the first half of the trail we hiked at the start. It should have been a relatively easy 6.5 kilometer trek, but Kati’s knee was in excruciating pain. Walking on flat, even ground pained her. Carrying a pack, climbing up and down rocks, navigating over roots, and walking on slippery boards was going to be extremely difficult. I convinced her to let me and G3 race back to the car, drop off our gear, and then come back to carry her pack.

I surprised myself by how quickly I walked. It was a pleasant hike with G3. He was more talkative than he’d been previously while in the backcountry. He talked about the Marvel movies, which ones he liked and why he liked them. He discussed what he enjoyed most about the last Deadpool movie. Then he told me that DC is making a new Superman movie and he was sad because his Grandfather is dead and he thinks he would have been excited about it. Superman was Dad’s favorite superhero. If he were alive he would go to see it with G3 since they always loved going to see the superhero movies together.

When we got to the car, we tossed our gear inside, I stopped in the bathroom, and then we raced back to Kati. I was pleasantly surprised by how far she had gone. She had probably covered half the distance in our absence and she was in much better spirits than I expected. G3 took her pack and she was able to move a little better, however, her knee made walking, even unencumbered, difficult. The rain stopped shortly before we caught back up with Kati. I was hopeful that meant the sun was soon to follow, but the sky remained dark.

It was around two o’clock when we finally reached the parking lot. G3 and I had planned to jump back into Superior upon the completion of our trek. We had enjoyed swimming at Horseshoe Bay so much we wanted to go back. But the both of us were soaked and cold, and with no sun in sight neither of us was up for a swim. Though I can’t imagine it would have made me any wetter than I already was. Besides, Kati certainly was not up for waiting around for us to go swimming.

Soaked through and shivering, with packs as wet as we were, the thought of heat and a hot shower was appealing. Therefore, we are back in a hotel, this time in Marathon. En route—it’s only twenty minutes from Pukaskwa—we devoured a bag of pop corners because it’s all we had in the car to eat and we were famished. As soon as we pulled into the hotel parking lot, and walked inside, the rain started up again. It didn’t matter. We’d be able to get clean and stay dry. We took turns showering and emptying our packs. As always, I had lined my pack with plastic and had my sleeping bag in a dry sack, so even though the pack itself was drenched, everything inside was dry. After showering, we went to a local restaurant for an early dinner. For G3 and Kati, the food was edible and filling, but not tasty. My homemade pierogis, however, were delicious.

It’s now six o’clock and the sun has finally come out. But since there is nothing to do in Marathon, we are in bed in the hotel. Kati is posting pictures to Facebook, G3 is watching funny videos on his phone, and once I finish writing, I will read.