Sunday, May 27, 2012
Something very freaky happened in the middle of the night.
I was sleeping just fine, when a car came by. Then another car came by, and another. All of a sudden the Spur One Forest Road was becoming some sort of super highway. But that wasn’t the freakiest part. I heard a vehicle come down the road and it stopped right by my tent.
And it just sat there
I didn’t know what to do, so I unzipped my tent door and looked out. It was actually a pickup truck. No, actually it was two pickup trucks and they were facing each other. And they actually had shut off their engines.
The thought had crossed my mind that my mom had died, and the sheriff was out looking for me based on my last spot message. Or it could have been that someone saw my bear bag over the road, and stopped to investigate.
I yelled out “Can I help You?”
There was nothing but silence
Then I yelled out again “Are you doing alright, Can I help You?”
Then I heard a voice “Dude, you scared the crap out of me, what are you doing out here.”
I said, “I’m backpacking the North Country Trail and decided to camp right here next to the road”
The voice said, “Dude, that’s crazy. "
And I said “Well, everything was going alright until you decided to park your truck right next to my tent.”
The guy said “Alright, we’re heading out.”
So, they started up their engines and the truck that was facing to the left drove past the tent to the left. And the other truck pointing to the right went down the road and turned around. He came back past the tent and I waved at him as he passed by. And that was the end of that episode
Well, I took the mandatory pee, and snuggled back in the sack.
Then something else happened in the early morning hours. It started raining. The rain woke me up and I couldn’t get back to sleep. The tent had sagged and the bottom of my sleeping bag was wet. The tent slopes down at that end, and the rain made it slope even more.
Well, I had a bad case of not wanting to get out of bed, but I had to. I started packing stuff up while I was still in my sleeping bag. It was raining ever so slightly, but still enough to get everything wet. I put on my poncho and placed my backpack in a spot on the road that was fairly dry. It was under some pine tree branches. I placed everything that was fairly dry in the bottom part of the backpack, then closed the bag liner. Then I put the wet sleeping bag and tent on top of that. Finally, I retrieved my bear bag and placed it on top. I got a power bar out of the bear bag. That would tide me over the next hour or two while I was hiking. I got everything together and headed out. It had been an interesting night on the edge of Spur One Road.
As I said before, the NCT usually gets mowed in the middle of June. So, now the worst part is the one to two feet high plants on the edge of the trail constantly are rubbing against me, making me even more wet. But I was hiking now, and going in a slightly uphill pattern. And the hiking warmed me up, especially since I had both my nighttime clothes and daytime clothes on at the same time. I came to one spot that looked like you could see for a long ways if the sky was clear. But the sky wasn’t clear. This was another clear-cut area. Then the trail went back in the woods for another half mile and came out at another clear-cut area. This one looked as though it might have a really good view too, if it wasn’t an overcast day.
The trail goes back in the woods and continues on a slightly uphill trend. After hiking through the woods for quite some time the NCT comes out to a two-track forest road in a grove of taller pines. The NCT takes a right on the road. But the grove of taller pines looked like it was a little park. The ground cover was cleared. Then I realized that I had made it to the site of the Thorp Tower. There was a campfire ring with just rocks, and no log seating. And beyond that there were the 4 cement footings for the Thorp Tower. I walked to a clearing where there probably is a great view on a clear day. The clearing looked like a small parking lot for the very rough road that came up the site
I headed down the two-track forest road. The trail goes off that road and back into the woods. It’s pretty much the same as before the Thorpe Tower site except you’re going on a slightly downhill run instead of an uphill run. I guess that makes sense. I went through another clear-cut area with a view. None of these clear-cut areas seem too recent. They were perhaps cut within the last 2 or 3 years. Never the less, the Paul Bunyan State Forest section of the NCT still seemed like the “Tour de Clear-Cut.” Clear-cuts aren’t all that bad. Sometimes they give you a view that you don’t ordinarily see. Unfortunately today the only views were of the low-lying clouds.
I headed through another long stretch of woods then the trail comes out onto Steamboat Forest Road. It’s the same road I encountered when I crossed MN Hwy 64 yesterday, but this crossing is nowhere near a State Highway. There is a little trailhead here near the trail. The Trailhead isn’t marked, but the trail is with a NCT sign. I decided it was time for breakfast. So I went over to the trailhead area and grabbed a foil emergency blanket from my backpack. I spread it out on the ground and put my stuff on it. I grabbed my cook kit and got everything ready. Soon the water was hot for my usual backpacking breakfast, the Choco-Oato. I just relaxed, leaning up against my backpack eating breakfast.
When I was eating breakfast I came to a new conclusion. This day would never clear good enough for the sun to dry my sleeping bag. I would need to get into town this evening and dry it at a laundrymat.
I tried calling Darrel Rodekuhr to see if he could pick me up this evening. But he didn’t answer. But I figured that somehow I should make it back to my van at Darrel’s house. Then I could take my wet stuff and dry them. I could also sleep in the van overnight, too. So, that became my strategy. I decided I would take only what I needed and then hide the rest of my gear on the side of the road. I’ve used that technique a few times before. So, I sorted out the stuff that I really needed and placed the wet backpack under a pine tree on the side of the Trailhead. It’s a calculated risk, but I figured I’d be able to contact Darrel or be able to hitch a ride.
I headed away from the Steamboat Forest Road with a lighter load. I was travelling through a scrubby young forest, as if it had been clear-cut like 5 years ago. The fog was settling in. I made it to a spot where I should have had a pretty good view, but it now was just a misty landscape. I could see for about 200 yards, that was it. I went up over that hill and the scrubby young forest continued. I could see piles of leftover wood debris every once in a while. Also, every once in a great while there was a really tall pine that was spared from the cutting, perhaps for scenic reasons. I got to a spot where there were lots of raspberry bushes, but none of the raspberries were ready yet. Cathy Horak of the Cobblestone Cabins told me earlier in May that Clear-cut Areas were great for berry hunting. But my berry hunt was non-existent because nothing was ripe. The NCT curves around for what seems like no particular reason. Everywhere around the trail is a scrubby thicket.
I came out to a little clearing where there is a pile of lumber leftover wood. The Trail goes right by the pile, and there is a blaze painted on one of the logs in the pile. That’s the first time I had seen a blaze painted on a pile of rubble wood. After the clearing I went back in the scrubby woods. Every once in a while you’d see some tall pines, then it happened, I came up to a grove of tall pines next to a beaver pond. What a sight to behold.
There IS a water hole between Waboose Lake and Nelson Lake, and I just found it. Even though there were many little grassy islands in the beaver pond it still looked big enough to have water all year. And there’s a big grassy beaver lodge in the pond too. I didn’t see any beavers in the pond or in the vicinity, so I don’t know for sure if there are still beaver working this pond. I didn’t see any freshly cut trees in the area, which is usually a good sign of beaver activity. At any rate, I found a water hole, and also a possible campsite. The grove of tall pines would provide a nice setting for a campsite. I continued on past the pond and back into the scrubby woods.
After walking for a little while I came to a rather interesting rock. It was black in color and had brown stripes in it. I’m not sure what type of rock it is, but it was smooth and was about the same height and shape as an ottoman. So I decided to sit on it. I was finally warmed up, in fact, too warm, so I decided to take my long underwear off. So, I took off my pants and long underwear being careful that nobody was sneaking up on me on the trail. That had happened when I was taking off my long underwear on the Kekekabic Trail in 2009. I put my pants back on and put the long underwear in the back compartment of my hiking vest. It’s actually a trout fishing vest and there’s a compartment in the back where you place the fish you catch. But I was using it to store my long underwear. They probably smell about the same.
I got up off that wonderful rock and headed down the trail feeling more refreshed and less overheated. Soon I came to Refuge Road. The road seemed like it was cut into the side of a hill, and there was a little rock stairway going down to it. There was a sign for Refuge Road right before the stairway. I stopped and took a self photo at the sign. Somehow it seemed like I need to seek a refuge at this point, after a wet and miserable morning. I hiked up the stone steps on the other side road and left the refuge of Refuge Road behind. The woods here are very think, with lots of trees of many varieties. But it wasn’t an overly mature woods, but yet not a very young woods either, if that makes any sense. After hiking through the woods for about a half-mile, I came out to a two-track forest road. But this road was wider than most, it was more like a fire lane. And on the other side of the road, there were orange signs posted every so often. The sign read “Area with Limitations, Hunter/Trapper exception does not apply here/No Motorized Travel.”
I hiked passed the orange sign and continued in the thick woods. Well the thick woods didn’t last very long because soon it became a thinned out woods. It looked liked it was clear-cut about 5 years old. Then I came out to a recent clear-cut. So much for having a no motorized area when it’s obvious they used motorized means to clear this area. I was up on the top of a hill, and the clear-cut area swept down the hill and to the right. After the clear-cut area I could see the faint image of a lake through some woods down there. At least they didn’t clear-cut all the way to the lake. I made my way through the Clear-cut area, which was a little confusing because of all the waste wood scattered about.
I was finally able to connect with Darrel Rodekuhr. He said that he would be able to pick me up later on. I told him that perhaps the best place to pick me up would be at the Steamboat Pass Road. I originally wanted him to pick me up at Highway 91, but I had made significant progress on the trail and now that it had stopped raining, I figured I could easily make it to Steamboat Pass Road by 6 or 7 this evening. I told him that I was at the clear-cut right above Nelson Lake, and he seemed saddened to hear the news that the hill had been cut. He began talking about all the lakes I would encounter over then next 5 miles, then he said when I got to the Tee Pee Lakes Land Bridge, a little strip of land between Upper and Lower Tee Pee Lakes, to give him a call and he would start coming to get me.
That was great news. I would be able to be picked up, thus my gamble of ditching my backpack at the Steamboat Forest Road would pay off. It was paying off because I was hiking a lot faster now, and was really relaxed. I followed the trail down through the woods to an overlook of Nelson Lake. There is a bench at this location, and it looked like someone had used this location as a campsite because there were the remains of a small campfire. I guess that’s okay because dispersed camping is allowed in the Paul Bunyan State Forest. But there are real campsites available within 3/4ths of mile, so why set up camp here?
I took the NCT down the hill from the overlook and soon reached the junction with the Nelson Lake Loop Trail. The sign pointing down the trail to the right read that the Nelson Lake Trailhead was .6 miles away. And there are two backpacking campsites along the trail on the way to the campsite. I hiked on the NCT up from the shoreline of Nelson Lake. There was a good stretch of woods between the trail and lake, so I really didn’t have a clear view of it. Then I reached the other junction of the NCT and the Nelson Lake Loop Trail. The sign there read “Nelson Lake Trailhead .6 MI” with a arrow pointing ahead. I was to take the NCT going to the left. But right there at the junction there was a nice clearing where I could get down to the shoreline. That’s what I did, and I got some more water.
There was a fishing boat out in the lake with two men and a boy fishing. I waved at them and they waved back. It was good to see the boy out fishing. He looked just about old enough to join Boy Scouts, and he’d probably be able to get Fishing Merit Badge pretty easily considering his interest in fishing. I went back to the trail junction and headed to trail junction and headed to the left.
I was hiking through the young mixed woods here in a westerly direction. The trail had been going in a north/south direction from Waboose Lake to Nelson Lake. Now the trail would be heading mainly in towards the west all the way past Itasca State Park. The young mixed woods had a few tall pines mixed in, just to add some scenic value. Soon I came to a pond on the left side of the trail then to a smaller lake. There has been talk of building a campsite at this lake so hikers wouldn’t have to detour off the NCT at Nelson Lake for a campsite. At any rate it looked to be a perfectly good spot for a campsite next to this small lake. All they would have to do is to clear out some of the brush along lake. After passing the small lake it didn’t take me long and I was out onto the gravel Hubbard County Hwy 91.
I looked around and saw a place where there was a forest road heading into the woods. Perhaps that’s the trailhead, but I didn’t go investigate, I just headed down the trail. This section contains many lakes, and I encountered a pond almost right away. Then after hiking through the young scrubby forest I came to the south shore of Robertson Lake. The Itasca Moraine Chapter has posted a sign there identifying the lake. That’s a nice touch because there are so many lakes on this segment.
After passing Robertson Lake I crossed a two-track forest road then went up a small hill with a lake down below to the south. There was no way I could have gone to the edge of that lake because the area going down the hill was too dense with younger trees and thickets. Perhaps if I went back to that two-track forest road it would go to the shore of the lake. But I wasn’t going back. I just observed the lake from up on the hill then I continue. I believe that is the lake that the Itasca Moraine Chapter is naming Crazy Lake. Perhaps it’s too dense along the lake that it would be crazy to go down to it. There wasn’t a sign calling it Crazy Lake, but maybe it hasn’t been officially named yet. Evidently, you can name a lake in Minnesota if it hasn’t been named yet and you fill out the paperwork with the DNR
I continued through the young thickety woods and soon came up to a lake on the north side of the trail. I came to a sign saying Crappie Lake. I was in lakes territory now, and they were occurring at a fast rate. That's kind of funny because in the area South of Nelson Lake I had been concerned about having enough water for the nine-mile stretch from Waboose Lake. Now during the nine-mile stretch west of Nelson Lake I would be encountering dozens of places to fill up with water.
But I wasn’t thinking about filling up with water right at that moment. I was thinking about filling up with pizza at Benson’s in Walker. Yummy. I would be picked up by Darrel and reunited with my van. I would be able to go to a Laundromat and dry my stuff, then head to Benson’s for Pizza. I would have do figure out what to do for the next day. But right now Pizza was on my mind. I would be ordering my usual meat lover’s pizza without the pepperoni. And Benson’a Pizza is so good.
I hiked along the south shore of Crappie Lake then along the western shore. I came to a place that looked like a campsite right next to the lake. It had a rock lined fire ring and enough room to set up a tent. It also had a wheel rack for portaging a canoe. Someone had brought a canoe into Crappie Lake. I looked around the Lake but didn't see a canoe out there, but perhaps it's tucked into a place that's out of view. Once I looked around I noticed a path leading away from the campsite, which is presumably the portage to Island Lake. The campsite had enough from for about one tent. Perhaps it’s not really a campsite and just a fishing spot.
The trail goes away from Crappie Lake and is still an immature, scrubby woods. Pretty soon I reached Island Lake. It’s a bigger Lake, and true to its name there’s an Island out in the lake. But this Island is a really big Island compared to the size of the lake. According to the MN DNR site, Island Lake is a 560 acre lake. I’d think that the island out in the lake must be at least 40 or 50 acres. The Trail goes along the northern shoreline of the lake for quite some time. I passed the Island Lake sign that the Itasca Moraine Chapter placed there. There are other connecting trails that presumably canoeists and fisherman use to get to the lake. One trail looked like it might be headed towards Halvorson Road, which is north of the Lake.
I had heard that the Itasca Moraine Chapter has been considering putting a campsite on this Lake. I think it would be a good idea. In fact the NCT travels along the north shoreline of Island Lake for at least 3/4ths of a mile, you could easily have more than one campsite. I reached a spot where I could see the western shore of the Island and I could see a couple guys unloading a canoe out there. So there must be some sort of campsite out there. I completed hiking the northern shoreline of the lake and now was hiking on the western shoreline. Pretty soon that ended and I came to a spot where I thought the NCT became a portage between Island Lake and the next lake down the trail. And sure enough it wasn’t long before I reached Upper Tee Pee Lake.
There was a sign for Upper Tee Pee Lake almost immediately when I got to the lake. I hiked up a little hill next to the lake and found a bench. That was nice. I looked around and thought the area behind the bench might make a nice campsite. It was flat but would have to be cleared out of all the brush and scrubby trees. I walked along the eastern shore of Upper Tee Pee Lake for several hundred yards then I came out to a forest road. There was a sign right there at the road. It read “Welcome to Hubbard County Land.” It felt good to be official welcomed. I took a right on the road and walked across the land bridge between Upper and Lower Tee Pee Lakes. That reminded me, I needed to call Darrel Rodekuhr.
I called Darrel and told him that I was at the Tee Pee Lakes Land Bridge. He said he would be heading out to pick me up. After crossing the land bridge, the NCT takes a left off the two-track forest road. I went up over a little hill and came to a beautiful spot overlooking the lake. There was a sign there reading “Lower Tee Pee Lake.” The trail follows the lake for a few hundred yards then veers away from it. But the lake action continued because I came up on Spur Lake, which also had a sign. It’s a smaller lake. I’d say around 20 acres, and there are cabins on the other side of the lake. It’s a nice little lake, but since there is a cabin on the other side of the lake, it would not be a good choice to have a campsite. But all the other lakes that I passed recently would be good choices for campsites.
There was a path cleared out to get to the lake, otherwise the shoreline is one big thicket on this side of the lake. I passed the lake and came to a very muddy forest road. I passed that by and pretty soon I saw Darrel Rodekuhr walking towards me with a bow saw in hand. He must always keep a bow saw in his car, just in case he decides to go walking the trail. I greeted Darrel and he invited me to stay overnight at his house. I accepted and I said I would treat for dinner at Benson’s. I was really yearning for one of their great pizza. He said that he would join me, but he didn’t know about Roy. Evidently, Roy cannot eat anything after 6 pm at night. It was already past 6 pm at the moment, and by the time we got back to Walker and ready to go it would be much later. We walked to the Steamboat Pass Road, which wasn’t very much of a road. It didn’t look too much better than the muddy forest road I just crossed on the trail. It was lucky Darrel beat me here or I might have passed it by thinking it wasn’t the road. We hopped in Darrel’s Suburu Outback and went away. I told Darrel that I stashed my gear at the Steamboat Forest Road, if that mattered on which way he went. He told me that Steamboat Pass and the Steamboat Forest Road are two totally different roads and they don’t connect. I told Darrel that the Itasca Moraine Chapter should put a sign marking the Steamboat Pass Road, or as I stated before I might have walked right past it. He told me a story about when he was out trail clearing off of Steamboat Pass Road and when he was finished he went out to his car and started driving away. But unfortunately a big tree had fallen across the road. He called Jerry Trout to help him get out. Jerry came with his chainsaw but it broke down when he was cutting the tree. Then they had to drive some place and get the Itasca Moraine Chapter’s Chainsaw and then they finally cleared the tree off the road. That’s adventures in trail clearing.
Darrel knew exactly where to go to get the Steamboat Forest Road. We pulled up to the small parking lot near the trail and I hopped out and grabbed my backpack from under a pine tree. Everything was pretty much all wet still. Darrel drove the forest roads back to Walker. Darrel agreed to shuttle me in the morning, we would drop off the van at the South Entrance of Itasca State Park, then he would drive me back to Steamboat Pass. We pulled up to his cabin house where my van was sitting on the right hand side of the driveway, across from the garage.
I grabbed a set of clean clothes from the van, then we went in the basement of the cabin where I put my wet sleeping bag and tent in Darrel’s Dryer. I went upstairs and put the rest of my stuff in the guest bedroom. I took a quick shower and put on the clean clothes, then I was ready to go. Roy decided to join us for supper down at Benson’s, although he said he wouldn’t be eating much. So we headed down to Benson’s. I love the place. It has a wonderful northwood’s décor and the pizza is great. Plus, since this is Minnesota, there is hockey on the television.
I ordered the Meat Lover’s Pizza without Pepperoni. It’s my favorite when I’m out hiking. I’m not the biggest fan of Pepperoni, so that’s why I order it that way. Plus, pepperoni seems to do a number on my stomach. Roy ordered some French fries. We settled in with our beverage of choice and started talking about the trail. I told them my freaky story about camping next to Spur One Forest Road. I also talked with Darrel about the clearing I found next to Crappie Lake. I thought it might be good for a campsite, but Darrel said during the summer that area stinks like fish, so it would not be a good place for a campsite
The pizza came and I started chowing it down. I was hungry and the pizza was really good. You can’t ask for much more than that. It was an evening with some good food with some great people. We headed back to Darrel’s Cabin and I started sorting gear for the next day. The next day would come early, so I had to hit the hay.