Saturday, May 26, 2012
I got up and out of my tent and saw a visitor out on County Road 50. It was a black bear. It was wandering around, then it went up the hill on the other side of the road, near the Paul Bunyan Trail. I managed to get a couple photos of it. I failed to mention previously that this trailhead is also a trailhead for the Paul Bunyan State Trail. I kept an eye on the trail while I cooked and ate breakfast. I figured maybe some early morning bicycle riders might be coming by. But I didn’t see any. That’s a good thing too, because this morning any bicycle riders on that trail might surprise a black bear, and that wouldn’t be good. I packed up my stuff and headed down Highway 50 to the Shingobee River. It’s about 100 yards down from the trailhead.
The bridge over the river has a special walkway attached to it for the North Country Trail. That’s funny because it’s pretty safe walking over the bridge without the walkway. In all the time I was at the trailhead, I only seen one car go by on County Road 50. I’m sure you could wait for that one car to go by then cross the bridge, if need be. At any rate, I’m betting that fishermen use that walkway more than hikers.
The Shingobee River wanders around in a 1/2 mile wide marshy valley. It goes for a long ways in each direction. There’s a hill on the other side of the valley and I walked up there on County Road 50 and found where the NCT begins again. I started walking up a hill then along a ridge that’s parallel to the valley. I could see glimpse of the river down below from time to time. The trail is more of a two-track forest road along this ridge. It was a pleasant walk through the mixed forest. The elevation of the trail kept getting lower and lower. Soon I was down low at about the same elevation as the river valley. I came to a little clearing in the woods then came out to the marshy river valley area.
I could see the trail bridge ahead, it’s known as the “Troll Bridge” by the locals. I hiked up onto the bridge and saw Anoway Lake to the north. It looked like a pretty swampy lake. Then to the south and west was the marshy Shingobee River Valley. It was time to fill up another container with water, so I went down to the far end of the bridge and found a good spot to lower my bottle into the water. You may be wondering why I stop to get water so often. Well, if I know there’s going to be another water opportunity soon, then I fill up just what I need. Then I don’t have to be carrying extra water with me. Water can be heavy. Why carry more than you have to.
I took a timed shot of me on the bridge. After all, I don’t get to a locally famous Troll Bridge very often. I finished up at the bridge and continued west on the NCT. The trail goes on a slight uphill run as it comes out of the valley. Pretty soon I was out of the valley area and back in the mixed woods. Now I was entering the Shingobee Recreation Area, which consists of trails, small lakes, a camping shelter, a campsite and a sledding hill. I made it to a trail junction where a map was posted. I knew I would be headed right at this junction, but I checked the map anyway. And yes, I headed to the right. The trail is still wide now, like a two track forest road. They use it as a Cross Country Skiing Trail in the Winter.
I was hiking along some taller pines that looked like they had been planted in a row. I hiked along the pines until I got to a clearing, then there was a campsite on the left. According to the map, this was the only campsite in the Shingobee Recreation Area, but there is a camping shelter elsewhere in the Recreation Area. This campsite was occupied. As usual I announced myself by saying “Ahoy, Campers,” but there didn’t seem to be anyone around. There was a tent setup, a bicycle in the site and some stuff including some water bottles on the picnic table. I determined that the occupants of the campsite must have gone on a little walk. Perhaps they went for water, which is nowhere nearby. If the closest water is at the Anoway Bridge, then that’s a quarter mile away from the campsite. That’s way too far if a fire breaks out. But after looking at the map I determined there might be a creek to the south of where the trail junction, but that would still be over an 1/8 of a mile.
Right across from the Campsite there is big wooden cross with the name Henry Jennings Crockett on it. It also said “in memory of” on the bottom of the cross and “Mile 15” on the top of the cross. Well, I’m not exactly sure who Henry Jennings Crockett is, but he stole William Jennings Bryant’s Middle Name and Davy Crockett’s last name. There’s really no explanation of who is Henry Jennings Crockett and I even googled his name when I got home and found nothing. Maybe there’s some sort of explanation at the Shingobee Recreation Area Chalet, which I won’t be going near on my journey.
I headed down the trail wondering what I would come to next. Soon I came to another trail junction where the North Country Trail heads to the left. The NCT here in the Shingobee Recreation Area seems to go in a Z pattern. Soon I got to another intersection with a sign, but I kept going straight. Then I got to the intersection where the NCT leaves the Shingobee Recreation Area. There’s a big sign there with a map of the whole NCT in the Chippewa National Forest. I took a right there and soon came the MN Hwy 34. If I would have kept going straight on that other trail, I would have came out at the Shingobee Chalet and Parking Lot.
I crossed the nicely paved Hwy 34 and found a nice sign marking the NCT on the other side. The trail goes down a two-track forest road, but it is blocked off by two 3 foot high posts that are as big around as a telephone pole. It also had some “No ATV signs” Posted. The trail here goes on a slight downhill run, with some taller pines along the trail. The trail continues on a mostly western course for a while, then I started seeing glimpses of a lake to the north of the trail. I reached the edge of Ten Lake where there is a grove of tall pines. I thought would be a really nice spot for a campsite. And it’s right next to a lake, unlike the campsite in the Shingobee Recreation Area, which is a long ways from water.
The trail follows the curve of the lake for the next 1/8 mile, then comes out on a gravel road. The road is called 6th Lake Road, which is kind of funny because I was at Ten Lake. But evidently there is a whole series of numbered lakes. I hiked up the road and there was a muddy boat launch on the right side of the road. It looked like a place where you could launch a canoe, but if you tried to back a boat on a trailer into the lake, it would get stuck.
Soon the NCT took a left off the gravel road and immediately crossed the combined Heartland/Paul Bunyan Trail. It’s kind of weird because the road is gravel, but yet the bike trail is paved. But right between the trail and the road is a nice little clearing that’s big enough for a couple tents. I don’t know if it had been used as a campsite previously, because I didn’t see any evidence of a Campfire area. But it was much closer to water than that Shingobee Campsite. Yes, I’m not getting over that Shingobee Campsite, yet. There is NCT sign right on the Bike Trail, so I stopped and did a timed self photo at that spot.
I took the trail back into the woods and was hiking in a mature aspen forest. The NCT is still pretty wide here. Not quite as wide as a two-track forest road, but wide enough to go cross country skiing comfortably without a lot of twists and turns. It’s fairly easy hiking through this section and I made it over to Hwy 12 fairly fast. I came out to the paved road and crossed it. There’s a grassy trailhead just to the south of the trail, and I went over and checked it out. It has a big sign with the whole map of the NCT in the Chippewa National Forest, similar to what I’ve seen at several other places. There was also a literature box that you could open up and get an Itasca Moraine Chapter Brochure. Plus there was a list of distances to landmarks down the trail in either direction. For Instance, the Heartland/Paul Bunyan Bicycle Trail that I crossed earlier was 1 mile away. For future landmarks, I would be getting to the boundary of the Chippewa National Forest in 2 miles, and the Sprinkle Lake Campsite would be in 4.5 miles. I headed out.
The trail heads north along the road for about 75 yards then turns left into the woods. And the trail is a non-pine forest here. Not a lot of what I would call real solid hardwoods like Oak or Maple. But a lot of the softer hardwoods like birch and ash trees. I saw a few little pothole swamps along the trail, but nothing that substantial. And there were a few end table sized rocks along the trail, perhaps put there by the glacier. I came to one spot where a bigger tree had fallen over the trail and it had knocked over two smaller trees onto the trail also. The bigger tree was only about a 16 inches in diameter, but it had been pretty tall. I’d say about three or four stories tall.
I kept chugging down the trail and all of a sudden I came saw someone on the trail. It was Darrel Rodekuhr. He had his bow saw in hand and was doing some trail maintenance. We started talking and I told him the trail was pretty clear except for one bigger tree that I had just seen down the trail a ways. He told me I would be coming to a spot where two bigger trees make a gateway of sorts, then I would get to a bench. After that I would get to a forest road where the trail turns on for a little bit, then I would be in the Paul Bunyan State Forest. I thanked him for watching over my van and told him I’d probably be calling him to pick me up in a couple days.
I said goodbye and continued down the trail. And sure enough I came to a spot where two taller trees were about 8 feet apart, providing a gateway of sorts. The trail went right between them. Those were some of the bigger trees I had seen in the forest for a while. I’d say they were two to three feet in diameter and very tall. I kept going and sure enough I came to a bench. But this wasn’t just any old bench, it had a little Plaque on it saying “Eagle Project by Aaron Melheim, August 7, 2002.” It was located in a very picturesque location because there was a fairly good-sized pond located down a hill from the bench. It was really nice to see the results of the Boy Scouts in action, out here in the middle of nowhere. I check out the area around Aaron’s Bench and decided this might be a good spot for a campsite. There’s a level area behind the bench and a nice pond down the hill. Pretty much all the ingredients you need for a campsite.
I continued on a found a nice little creek just down the trail. Then I went across a grassy two-track forest road. I came out to a muddy forest road, where the trail takes a left for a little ways. This was the boundary between the Chippewa National Forest and the Paul Bunyan State Forest. And you could tell right off the bat that they were different forests. The Paul Bunyan area looked really scrubby, like it had been clear-cut about 5 years ago. I walked down the road for a little ways, then the trail takes a right into the Paul Bunyan. After a few minutes I was finally back into some woods that had not been clear-cut.
I hiked by a pond that was barely visible to the left side of the trail. Then I was hiking through a scrubby forest again, which looked like it had been cut, about ten years ago, except they left the really tall pines, which was nice. I came to a stump from one of the trees that had been cut, and they put a blue blaze on it to mark the trail. It was actually a pretty good spot to put the blaze.
I came to a tipped over tree that had a bunch of those shelf mushrooms on it. Boy, that mushroom hunter that I met at Waboose would have sure loved this spot. Every once in a while I came to a two-track forest road that looked like it might be used by ATV’s. The NCT had Carbonite Posts at those locations with No ATV sticker’s on them, to protect the NCT from people riding on it. Evidently, that’s been a big problem up in these parts. Then I came out to a big grassy clearing, which looked like it might be some sort of ATV camping or gathering spot. Perhaps it had been a staging area for the lumber company when they logged this area. I saw a big pile of wood that looked like it was left over from a logging operation. It’s the wood that’s not big enough to take to the mill, mostly limbs as stuff like that.
After the clearing I came to a muddy dirt ATV trail. I could see the tracks from the ATV’s in the dirt. I was definitely in ATV country, which is a lot different than being in the Chippewa National Forest. I crossed the ATV trail and besides having the Carbonite Posts, there was a brown sign saying “No Motorized Vehicles Permitted.” I continued on in a mixed wood that had not been cut.
Soon I reached a bigger pond with some marshy areas next to it. I skirted along it for about 75 yards then took a left away from the pond. But I did notice something, there was an old road next to the trail, a very old road. Both the road and the trail went over to another little lake. This must be the Sprinkle Road that Bruce Johnson had talked about. It’s a road that the loggers sprinkled with water in the winter, then they would slide logs on the icy road over to the next lake. Then eventually the logs would be moved out of the forest from that lake. I went down to the other lake and found the campsite which the Itasca Moraine Chapter is calling the Sprinkle Road Lake Campsite.
It’s a nice campsite in the woods up from the lake. The campsite has a couple things I hadn’t seen before. It had a bench with a flat board in front of it, that you could use as a small table. It was all one unit built out of 2x8 and 2x12 boards. Then the campsites also have grass seeded tent pads. Darrel Rodekuhr told me they actually bring a rototiller into the campsite and rototill the tent pads, then plant grass seed. It’s a really nice touch. The campsite also has a big round metal campfire ring with a metal grate that slides over it. But they need to make some seating around the campfire ring. All in all, it’s a really nice campsite. I decided to take a nap on the bench, swinging my legs over the table in front. I think I rested there about forty minutes. Then I ate some snacks for lunch and re-hydrated with some water. I went down to the lake and filled my water bottles.
After my rest period, I headed out. It didn’t take me long walking through the woods when I noticed a big pond on the left side of the trail. Then beyond the pond there was a road. I had made it to Parkway Forest Road. There was a little two-car trailhead right at the junction of the road and trail. I crossed the road and went into the woods again. I went past a little pothole pond and then came up to a grove of tall pines. This pines didn’t look quite big enough to harvest yet. Maybe it will be harvested in about five to ten years. But it looked like it could be thinned out right now, because some of the trees were growing in close proximity to each other. This grove of pines offered a little variety to mixed forest that I had been walking through all day up to this point. But it didn’t last, I came out of the Pine Grove and was back in the mixed forest again. I saw an old deer stand made out of 2 x 4s. This one actually looked like it was still in good condition. At least it was good enough to climb up and stand on. But, I wasn’t going to climb up on it. I can’t take too many chances out in the woods all by myself.
Then I walked past some Lady Slipper Flowers. They were yellow and it was a real treat to see them. On the upcoming Saturday, I am scheduled to go on a Lady Slipper Hike with the Laurentian Lakes Chapter. It’s part of their National Trails Day Celebration. I am also doing a presentation for them after the hike. Down the trail I walked by the remains of another wooden tree stand. This one only had two boards remaining up in the tree. After that I came out to a clearing. Not really sure what the clearing was for. Perhaps at some point it was a staging area for a logging operation. Then I went past a pond on the left side of the trail. Good luck getting water from that pond, because the shoreline was covered with brush. There was one little game path going over to it, but still it was very brushy. The trail went through a little grove of birch trees then continued through the mix forest, crossing an ATV trail. Soon the trail came out to the gravel Steamboat Forest Road, right at the junction of the paved Minnesota Hwy 64.
Right near the junction was a gravel trailhead. It had a nice kiosk with a big map of the trail posted. There was a little box holding a log book, so I wrote my usual stuff. There were two vehicles at the trailhead. One was a minivan and the other a station wagon. Both of them had roof racks.
I crossed Hwy 64 and when I got to the other side a bunch of ATV were coming down Steamboat Forest Road at me. I waved and took a left on the trail as they stopped for the stop sign. Back at the kiosk it said I would be coming to Picnic Rock in 0.8 miles and the Waboose Lake Campsite in 6.1 miles. In between those two landmarks is the area that Jerry Trout called “The Void.” Evidently there isn’t a whole lot happening in that area, you’re just walking through the woods with very few landmarks. Jerry wanted me to scout out a location for a possible camping shelter in that area. I would be a landmark on the map, and be something to break up the monotony of that section. But first I would be encountering Picnic Rock and an Overlook, according to the NCTA Wiki Guide.
The trail goes south and is just in the woods along Hwy 64. There’s Hwy 66, then there’s a ATV/Snowmobile Trail, then there’s the NCT. This continues for 150 yards then the NCT takes a right into the woods, but that doesn’t last long because it comes out to an electric line right of way. Right in the electric line right of way is a huge rock. Surely this can’t be Picnic Rock, because I had not travelled 0.8 miles. Perhaps there’s some sort of typos, and it’s suppose to be .08 miles. The Rock was pretty impressive, and the view down the electric line corridor was quite nice, if you don’t mind have tall electric line poles in your view.
I crossed the grassy right of way and went into the woods. These woods seemed a little different. The area was hillier than before and the trail curves along the side of a hill then goes on a downward run. This woods seemed a lot more deeper and darker than the other woods I had walked in today. It had hills and valleys. I got down to a little gulley at the bottom of the hill then started going up over another knoll. It was spooky, like there was something lurking in the woods, maybe right over the knoll. And when I got up to the top of the knoll, I saw something down the hill in front of me. It was three mountain bikers coming up the hill at a rather slow rate. When they got to me they hopped off their bikes. The one guy wanted to know where the trail went. I told them it goes down into a little gulley, then there’s a rather long uphill stretch going on the side of a hill, then you come out at and
Electric line Right of Way. There’s a big rock, right there, then you get out to Hwy 64. I asked him about the trail towards where I was headed and he said he didn’t know that much about it because they just got on it. I could have lectured to them about riding on the North Country Trail, but I really didn’t know for sure if Mountain bikes are allowed on the NCT in the Paul Bunyon State Forest. Usually, mountain bikes are not allowed. I took a photo of them and continued on. Then I met up with another Mountain biker who was lagging behind. He was struggling a little bit. I took a photo of him while he was riding his bike and he said it would be a photo of “The Agony of Defeat.” At least he had a sense of humor about. He passed me and I started to hear the whine of engines in the forest. I came up to an ATV trail and 5 ATV’s passed by while I was standing at the intersection. Some of them waved at me, and some didn’t even see me. That must have been the intersection where the mountain bikers came on the NCT. There are signs posted at that intersection for no ATV’s on the NCT, but nothing regarding bikes.
I waited until all the ATV’s passed then I crossed the ATV trail. Not very long after that I came to a rock that was about the size of a VW bug. This must be Picnic Rock but it had no sign marking it. Soon after that I came to a bench and a side trail going to the left. I was at the overlook. I went down the short trail and saw the view. It’s a nice overlook where you can see for miles, but all you see is the forest off in the distance. It would have been nice to see a lake or something out there. After all, this is Minnesota, home of 10,000 Lakes. That overlook was the last real landmark on the map until the Akeley Cutoff, five miles away. I was entering “The Void” as Jerry Trout calls it.
He wants me to keep my eyes open for a spot to have a campsite or Adirondack Shelter. I will keep my eyes peeled. Soon, I came to another ATV Trail. I could hear the buzz of ATV’s off in the distance, but none were near me this time. After the ATV trail I came to a pond on the left side of the trail. Aha, perhaps this is a site for a campsite or shelter. It looked like a big enough pond to sustain a campsite. But it’s fairly early on in “The Void.” It would be nice to have a site out in the middle of it, just to break it up. I continued through the woods. Jerry was right. There really isn’t a whole lot happening in this section except you’re hiking in the dense woods. I came up to another ATV Trail. And of course you’re encountering ATV trails on this section. But that’s about it.
I came to a spot where there was a clearing off in the woods to the left of the trail. I looked over there and it didn’t appear that there was a pond over there. Maybe the clearing was from logging, not sure. Then I came to an area that the forest wasn’t quite as dense. Perhaps it had been logged many years ago. Then I came to a small pond. Woila, perhaps I had found the location for a campsite or shelter. But this pond seemed pretty small and murky. Perhaps it’s just a mud pit later on in the year. Then I started walking in a sunny cleared out woods. It was clear that it had been cut within the last couple years because there were debris piles of branches and wood unsuitable to be milled. This area was a real contrast to the deep dark woods I had been travelling in. Well, the contrast soon became the usual because the Clear-Cut area continued for a very long ways. It’s hard to tell how long ago it was clear-cut but I’d say within the last 5 years. They did leave a few tall pines just to add some favor to the view. Sometimes the trail would go into some denser woods, but that didn’t last very long. Soon it was back out to another clear-cut area. I came up to a road, at least I thought it was a road. I wondered if it was the Akeley Cutoff. But it didn’t have a trailhead area, and the Akeley Cutoff is supposed to have a Trailhead. I figured this road I was looking at was an ATV Trail, but more substantial than most ATV trails. I continued on into some denser woods, and to my surprise it stayed that way for a long time. Then I came out to the Akeley Cutoff. That other road had been a false alarm.
The Itasca Moraine Chapter had placed a Akeley Cutoff sign near the grassy trailhead, so at last I knew exactly where I was. And now I was only about a mile from the Waboose Campsite. It was only 4pm so I was making very good time. The trailhead is just a big grassy spot on the side of the road. You could pitch your tent right there, if you needed to, it was so grassy. In fact it looks like it’s been done in the past because there is a rock fire ring near the woods. I looked around and didn’t see a water source. But since it’s right next to the road, if people are car camping they can just bring water, or drive down the road to a water source.
I was pretty happy now. It seemed like it took forever to get through “The Void,” but now it was less than a mile to Waboose Lake, and the beautiful campsite on the peninsula. And I had made really good time because it was around 4:30 pm. I still had plenty of hiking time left in the day. I headed down the trail. The area was sprinkled with really tall pines. Perhaps they are from the early 1900’s, and recently spared from clear cutting because of their majesty. Beside the tall pines, there were a lot of scrubby areas, that may have been clear cut a few years ago. The woods seemed to become better the farther I went. Perhaps they were protecting the woods around Waboose Lake from clear-cutting. Soon I could see a lake off in the distance through the woods and I came to the trail junction. The Trail going to the Waboose Lake Campsite was going to the left. I turned to the left and headed down the campsite trail. It’s a fairly long trail for a campsite trail, but much of the trail goes along the shore going out to the campsite peninsula. It was great to be by a lake. What a change of scenery. Soon I came to another trail junction of sorts. It had a sign say “Campsite” with a arrow going to the left, and “Latrine” with a arrow going to the right. I went and checked out the latrine. It was nice for a wilderness latrine and had a privacy barrier built around it. I continued down into the campsite. I came to one of those benches with a table in front of it. On the little table were some from the head of a deer. An usual sight indeed. To the left of the bench was a metal campfire grate and in back of the bench were two grass seeded tent pads. I continued down the trail and there is another metal campfire grate and two more seeded tent pads right down on the tip of the peninsula. But the two tent pads didn’t look ready to use. The grass was just barely growing, as if it had just been planted. But this was definitely a spectacular spot. I could see some fisherman in a boat out in the lake. I wanted to wave at them, but I didn’t want them to think it was some sort of distress signal, or something like that. They were pretty far out in the lake, almost to the other side.
My sleeping bag and tent were still damp from the morning dew. So I threw some rope up over a branch in a tree near the lake. Then I attached the sleeping bag and tent. I hoisted them up the tree like someone hoisting a flag. I tied it off and went back to the bench. I decided I would eat supper at the campsite, then I would decide whether I would hike any more. I had all of my gear scattered about around the bench. Luckily, everything was in its own little kit. I grabbed the cook kit and unpacked the alcohol stove. I went over to the campfire grate and set up the stove.
The Itasca Moraine Chapter still hasn’t learned to put seating around the campfire area. I don’t know why, it seems like the logical thing to do. People like sitting next to the campfire. The other campfire area down by the tip of the peninsula didn’t have seating either. Neither did the Sprinkle Road Lake Campsite.
All the stuff for the meal ready, then I lit the alcohol stove. In four minutes it was boiling and I put the water into a dehydrated meal package. I stirred it up and let it sit. I packed up my kitchen kit, except for the spork and just rested. Soon my meal was ready and I dug in. I decided to have the Mountain House Spaghetti dinner, and boy was it good.
After my restful and nutritious supper I decided I would continue hiking. So, I retrieved my tent and sleeping bag from the tree they were airing out on, then I hastily jammed everything back into my backpack. After all, I had less than two hours of hiking left in the day. I was about 6:30 when I headed out. I took the Campsite Spur trail and headed back towards the NCT. On the way, I found the spot where they had cleared the trail going to the right, for the Waboose Lake Loop Trail. It was marked with pink ribbons. The trail was what trail builders call “Cut thru” meaning they had come through with a chain saw and cut all the trees and branches that were in the corridor. Normally they don’t cut big trees down, they go around them. They will cut smaller trees down, then dig out the stumps later when they build the trail tread.
I connected with the Main NCT and took a left. It seems like a pretty long detour to get to the campsite, maybe a 1/3 of a mile, but the campsite sure is located at a scenic location. Soon I was hiking near the northern bay of Waboose. It’s almost a lake by itself, but there’s a channel that connects it to the bigger part of the lake. Out in the northern bay there is a really big beaver lodge. So it must not be a very deep bay because beavers don’t usually build there lodges in very deep water. It was pretty evident that it was shallow because of all the marsh plants on the outskirts of the bay. Well, right as I was walking near the northern bay I noticed n nice little knoll up from the trail. I thought this nice little knoll would be a great spot for a campsite. It was up from the lake with a really nice view of the lake. It looked like when you got to the top of the knoll that there’d be some flat spots for tents.
Theoretically, the Waboose Lake Loop could become really popular when it’s done. And the Campsite over on the peninsula is the only campsite on the lake. I could see that campsite getting a lot of use. When fishermen find out about it, they will be using it, too. So, at some point it might be a good idea to have another campsite on Waboose Lake. This spot, thou not as scenic as the other location, would still be a great location for a campsite. Plus it’s on the main NCT and you wouldn’t have to take a detour to get to it. But that’s a small point of contention.
I continued on and soon found a sign saying Waboose Lake, then I found the spur trail going to the left towards the Waboose Lake Parking Lot. That was the trail that I had worked on the day before with the Itsaca Moraine Chapter work crew. The spot where we worked was about 500 yards down the spur trail. Part of me wanted to go down and check out the trail to where we worked, but I needed to get going, daylight was burning. I continued on and left Waboose Lake behind me.
I was on a new mission now. I am keeping track of water sources between Waboose and Nelson. Nobody in the Itasca Moraine Chapter seem to know if there were any water sources. I had cameled up on water back at the campsite. I had even brought and extra platypus bag to fill up for this segment. And not far down the trail I spotted a water source right off the bat. It was a pond to the left of the trail. Unfortunately, that didn’t help very much because it was right next to Waboose Lake. If it was a mile or two down the trail, it would have been great, but right here, not so good.
I kept going, and soon I reached, you guessed it, a clear-cut area. It must be about the 10th clear-cut area I walked through since entering the Paul Bunyan State Forest. This was becoming the “Tour de Clear-Cut.”
Again, there were some piles of unwanted wood like branches. But this clear-cut had at least one advantage. There was a spot with a pretty nice view. I went into some small woods then into another part of the clear- cut area. After crossing that I was in the woods for good, leaving the clear-cut area behind. The trail goes on a slightly downward trend over the next 1/4 mile, then I saw a road down the hill in front of me. I got down to the road and there was a sign saying “Spur One.” I walked out onto the road and there was a road sign with the NCT symbol on it marking the trail.
I walked down the Spur One Forest Road to the left to see if there was a trailhead or water down that way. I didn’t see anything like that. Then I walked down to the right. I didn’t find a Trailhead or water, but I did find a nice flat spot in the tall grass on the side of the road. Perhaps this is where the Trail Maintenance people park. It’s where I decided I would park my tent for the night. Sure, I could push it and try to make it to the Thorp Tower site, but pushing it has gotten me into trouble in the past. This would be home for the night. I arrived there around 8:00 pm, so I still had some daylight left. But I had walked over 18 miles already, I really don’t need to go any further. I unpacked my backpack and set up the tent. Then I grabbed my rope and food bag and walked it down the road near the NCT crossing where there was a taller pine with a branch sticking out over the road. I found a suitable rock and tied the rope to it. I launched the rock and the rope up over the branch. I attached my food bag and pulled on the rope to raise the bag up to the branch. I tied off both ends of the rope and I was done. The bag was actually hanging up over the road, but since it was up in the branches, I didn’t think anyone would see it.
I went into my tent when it was still light out. But I was tired after over 18 miles of backpacking. It didn’t take me long to get to sleep.