A brutal Breakdown hike

 

The girls were dropped off at the ‘Mowegians” and we started heading north.  Amy and I had wanted to get in a long hike to test some of our new gear and what better way to do it than a quick overnighter in the Northwoods.  Initially we were going to head to Raven trail and both hike an scout the area for cross country skiing in the winter.  We weren’t convinced that we could camp there legally overnight and instead headed to the big woods of the National Forest and hiked Hidden Lakes trail.  It turns out that the lakes are not that well-hidden, they are on the map, the trails go right to them and there are even signs that tell they names of the lakes as well.  That being said, after a quick stop for sustenance at Donna’s Café and ten minutes to order and eat before they closed at 1:30pm we headed east out of Eagle River. It did have a nice clean restroom however, which is more that can be said for the gas station we used on the way up on the way up, which may have had ‘toilet fleas.’ They day was breezy and in the high seventies, perfect hiking and the dappled sunlight through the trees made it even more beautiful. In hindsight some of the breeze may have come from the sings of mosquitoes, as there were certainly more than average.  We put on some DEET and even our head nets at times and then it wasn’t too bad.  Found some wonderful campsites along the way and stopped to refill our water bottles at a pretty place where the lake drained into a fast-running creek.  Amy had to use the ‘bush’ and as we left we noticed what might have been poison ivy, but it turned out to be ok.  We wanted to hike a little further rather than set up camp so early in the day so we pushed on past “Tortilla Point” There were tow more lakes on the trail ahead, according to the map, and we figured we would find equally good sites there.  That ended up not being the case, but the first place set the standard for beauty quite high.  WE camped at the south end of Harriet Lake.  It wasn’t a real flat area or very open, so the mosquitoes were a little thicker there than on the trail.  Amy’s feet had gotten tender during the day, so she rested a bit and I cooked some dinner.  After a nice meal of chicken fajitas and teriyaki chicken, we lay in the tent watching the sun set and chatting the evening away while picking off the occasional tick.  Until darkness settled in and we crashed for the night.  A thunderstorm blew in about 1 am and I was a little worried that in my haste, I hadn’t put the rainfly on well enough.  It held, but we still woke up to a pretty rainy morning.  The tent was dry inside and we had pulled our packs in during the night as well, so they were dry.  We at a meal on the trail as we hiked out and decided to cut the trip a little short and walk on the pavement, rubber tramp style, back to the car.  Even passed a bar and talked about hos a bloody Mary would be a great end to the hike, but unfortunately it was closed.  The ride home was quick, and we were tired, but we laughed and had a good muscle weariness to let us know we were alive and that made it all worth it.