Monday, September 18, 2006

Rain, Rain...

So it was off to the north shore of Lake Superior for a weekend of backpacking and climbing. At least that was the plan when we left the house. It all started with the drive up. Road construction added a little over an hour to our already 4 hour journey to the begining of our hiking. We finally reached the parking lot around midnight and began preparing for a short hike to sleep out in the open on top of a large rock dome.


The walk in was beautiful. It was about 65 degrees and windy. There was a slight fog in the air which gave a very eerie appearance with our headlights shining ahead. We made it to our destination in a little less that an hour and began to look for a flat place to sleep for the night.

The sky was incredible. There was a small cresent moon with some clouds meandering across the sky. The stars were extremely bright. I forget how amazing the stars are when you get that far away from a major city.

We finally got to sleep around 2:30am. I never really sleep all that good when I am out in the open. I usually wake up and look around a lot to make sure that if there is something ready to eat me I at least see it before it happens. I woke up about 7:00 am to rain falling on my face. It was just a slight drizzle, so I just pulled the ground cloth I was lying on over my sleeping bag and went back to sleep. I woke up at 8:00 am to find my bag totally wet. Apparently my ground cloth is no longer water proof.

The rain caused us to change our plans for the day. So we decided that we would hike out and stay at Temerance River State park instead of staying in the woods when we would not be able to climb anyways. After hiking out in the rain we were able to check into the park and set up a tent. Very soon after that we were off to the store for some soothing barley based beverages. Lake Superior Brewing Co. is my friend. Limited release IPA and Sir Duluth Stout can help you to cope with the changing plans and the shotty weather.

Sunday also got rained out. We decided to pack it up and head for home. the rain let up for a while so we stopped at a marina to walk around and let the dogs swim for a while. I you have ever tried to go for a swim in Lake Superior you know what cold water feels like. I wish I could swim with the blind determination of my yellow lab. The best part of the afternoon was my wife decding that she was going to swim with the dog. She was going to race him to the stick. Well, I through the stick and she didn't go. We were standing on the large marina dock. Anyone want to guess what happened next? Yep, I pushed her in. Whe came up with a rather suprised look on her face and began panic swimming to the shore. She stopped when it was about waist deep and played with our lab for a while, telling me that the water was not that bad. Ya right, her lips were blue. We tried really hard to get our husky to swim, but he just wasn't having it. So, does anyone want to guess what happened. Yep, I threw him in too. He was more pissed off about the deal than my wife.

All things turned out good. We finished our weekend get a way with the traditional stop at Little Angies Cantina in Canal Park for food and a drink before the long ride home. All in all it was a good triop even though there was not chance to climb.

I can't get any photos to load, so I will try to add some pics later.

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