About That Hike
It’s been a couple of days since I mentioned the hike I went on. Only because I struggled to find the hiking book and now I finally have it in my hands so I can give you the exact(perfect) mileage of the distances.
It was last week on, oh great, now I can’t remember what day it was, the day after the big wind. It must have been on Tuesday since Mike had to be in town for meetings both at 9AM and another at 4PM. We had spent the night in town and the first thought I had in the morning was that I should go on a hike that day. Quickly my mind reminded me there had been a big wind the night before and there would probably be millions of trees and limbs down in the forest making a hike extremely difficult.
The day went on and a thought of a hike again entered my mind. Only this time I wasn’t reminded about the fact there had been a windstorm the previous day. That thought was nowhere in my mind until after Mike had dropped me off for the hike. I started hiking on the west end of the Lakewalk portion of the Superior Hiking Trail near mile marker 120 in route to County Road 14.
With my high expectations I had allowed myself plenty of time to make it to County Road 14 where Mike would pick me up around 3:30PM so he could make it to his 4PM meeting on time. The first portion of the trail to get to the Kadunce River bridge was 3.2 miles and from there to County Rd 14 was only 2.4 miles for a total of 5.6 miles. Of course I allowed myself plenty of time to travel the distance assuring Mike I would be there on time.
I checked my watch when Mike pulled away and it was 2:30PM. It would be a trot but I was pretty sure I would make it to County Road 14 without making Mike more than 5 minutes late for his meeting in town. That was before I entered the woods that in places resembled parts of the forest after the Blowdown. Over a couple of trees I would climb, scooting underneath a few trees piled high and walking around those where it was impossible to go over or underneath.
A half of a mile later I came to a sign on Kelly’s Road that said, "No bridge at Kadunce River." At this point I kind of remembered Chelsea, my Voyageur Crew Super Girl, mentioning something about the bridge being replaced when she had hiked the Kadunce a week prior. I couldn’t imagine there still not being a replacement with fall being such a popular hiking time on the Trail. I didn’t have an option of turning around so I continued on my trek.
The trail was gorgeous, the weather was warm and the smell of fall was in the air. I kicked up tons of grouse and a deer while enjoying the tall trees and views of Lake Superior. I checked my watch and decided I would need to sprint the parts of the trail where I could because all of the down trees was really slowing me down. When I finally made it to the Kadunce it had taken me 55 minutes! Ooops!
I thought there would be a sign where the bridge had been but I thought wrong. I also thought I would be able to tell where the bridge was but again I thought wrong. There were no signs of any type of where a bridge once stood. The sun was shining at precisely the wrong angle for me to be able to tell where the path continued on the other side of the river. So, I picked my way across the river, trying not to get my feet too wet in the process. I walked along the rocky riverbed until I determined where the trail was and continued on my hike.
I had been on this section of trail earlier in the year and knew I could make pretty good time if there weren’t too many obstacles in the way. I made my way back to County Road 14 feeling like a person in basic training. Running, army crawling, doing the tire run and pulling myself over down logs. All of the while looking at my cell phone to see when I would get enough reception to call Mike and let him know I was close.
Finally the call went through and I breathlessly told Mike I was within 10 minutes of the Trailhead. To which he replied, "Don’t hurry, my meeting got cancelled." I won’t tell you my exact words, but it was something along the lines of, "Oh really dear? Ok, I’ll just continue my leisurely stroll through the forest and see you in a little bit."
Me, being a perfectionist, couldn’t understand how a meeting could get cancelled an hour before the meeting start time when the people in his meeting know where he lives and how long it takes him to get to town. We had spent the entire day in town because of this meeting and I had just risked life and each one of my limbs to try to get to the trailhead for him to get to his stinking meeting on time. I had hurried enough on the 2nd portion of the trip that he wouldn’t have been more than 5 minutes late!
Anyway, it was more of my unrealistic expectations in myself and in others. But, I was happy I had went on the hike and not let Mike’s meeting time prevent me from time in the woods. If that would have happened then I would have been really upset.
It’s been rainy and cool this weekend, more perfect weather for hiking, so get out and enjoy it, meetings or not!