Originally printed September 26, 2019.
Last Friday, September 20th, was to be the easiest of my three days of hikes. After two days of challenging, longer distance treks, I had a short hop planned. While I didn’t know the exact distance, I knew it was in the neighborhood of 3.5 to 4 miles. My plan was to knock off this portion of Harrison Hills in an hour and a half or so, then drive back to my camp. I would then break camp, shower, get into some fresh clothes and head for home. It didn’t turn out that way.
Friday morning began for me at 6:00 with the alarm jolting me out of my sleep. I poked my head out of my tent, and immediately felt like I was inside a box of cotton balls. The area was completely fogged in. The visibility as I drove to breakfast had to be less than a quarter mile. After my meal, I made my way to the pickup point for today’s hike along County J and Alta Springs Road. Soon, Ruby arrived, and we made the short drive to the starting point near the junction of Beaver Trail Road and Turtle Lake Road. I said goodbye to Ruby, donned my pack and got started at 9:47. It was in the mid-60s and still quite foggy.
The hike began with a quick, steep climb in deep woods to get my blood moving. Very quickly, I crossed Beaver Trail Road and headed into another section of woods. At 10:23, I texted Jane that I was at the point “where the trail reconnects briefly with Turtle Lake Road.”
I didn’t realize it then, but by that point I had somehow drifted off the trail. I learned later that while the trail approached Turtle Lake Road, it never reconnected with it. So, I basically circled back to the starting point and entered the trail headed east – the wrong way. Trouble was, I didn’t know that, and I wouldn’t realize my mistake for several hours.
I was blissfully ignorant of my error, and I reveled in the beautiful country through which I was hiking. The fog had continued to lift, but plenty of it was still around, giving the woods that enchanted forest look again. The picture above gives you an idea of the beauty I was experiencing.
Because I had so much time, I took a leisurely pace, stopping often to gaze at beautiful vistas along the way and to snap pictures. I began to spot several lakes along the way. While admiring one, I had what I thought was my Thrill of the Day when I spotted an eagle circling overhead.
Of course, it didn’t bother me that the map didn’t show any lakes in the area through which I was supposed to be hiking. There are many unnamed lakes and ponds on the IAT; add these to the list.What started tipping me off to my mistake was the sheer amount of time I was out on the trail. While I was putzing a lot, I was now on the trail better than two hours. As much as I rationalized otherwise, two hours plus to walk less than four miles didn’t make any sense. Finally – don’t ask me why I didn’t do this earlier – I pulled out my phone and punched up Earthmate, a companion app to my GPS. There it was – I was going the wrong way.
Suddenly, it all made sense why I hadn’t reached the end of my planned hike in two hours’ plus. It also made sense why I was seeing all these lakes – because they were on the map! These were the same lakes I had blown past so fast the day before, so maybe it was good that I was given a second chance to see them. God works in strange ways.
But, it was late, and I needed to get pointed in the right direction in a hurry if I wanted to complete this segment and get back to the campsite before the 3:00 checkout. So, I called Ruby to explain the situation. I still couldn’t quite accept that I had made this error, but she was certain that I was going the wrong way. We now needed to confirm exactly where I was so she could help me. I recalled that there was a “You Are Here” sign not too far back. I told her I would hike back there and call her with additional information. Soon, I was there and back on the phone with Ruby. Meanwhile, she had been checking a map and had a question for me. Was there a sign nearby pointing to a camp site? Yes, there was. Ruby now knew exactly where I was located, and there was a road leading to that site where we could meet. So, I headed down the path to that camp site. While waiting for Ruby, I called Jane to explain what was happening. Very shortly, Ruby was there, and in no time at all, I was back on the trail and headed in the right direction. It was 12:49.
I didn’t want to repeat the morning’s mistake, so I was careful to follow the yellow blaze trail markers. With each turn and landmark, I was checking off in my mind. Yes, I passed this earlier today. Yes, I had passed that earlier today. Then I came to a footbridge I didn’t recognize. So, I made my error somewhere before I got to this point. I now continued, more confident that I was on the right track.
Generally, the trail ran through flat, forested country. In relatively quick succession, I came upon three large dead falls that blocked the trail to such a degree that I had to detour widely around each of them to get back on the trail. There was no climbing over or ducking under these blockages. I took pictures of each dead fall and emailed them to Ruby so her crew of volunteers could cut holes through them. I was now in the Alta Springs State Fishery Area, and the trail was getting progressively more muddy. Near the end of the trail, the ground got so soupy that Ruby marked a reroute to detour around the most messy portion. Finally, I got to the end of the trail at 2:31. I made it back to the campsite just before 3:00, broke camp, cleaned up and was on my way home by 4:39.
So, what should have been a two hour hike ended up being nearly a five hour affair. With help, I’ve able to deal with adversity when it occurs. But, I need to do a better job of using my resources so I don’t create adversity for myself, or at least nip it in the bud more quickly.
My Days on the Ice Age Trail 