Lake Country!

Wouldn’t it be nice to have a cabin on the lake?

We continue on with our road walk. It’s quite pleasant walking as the temperatures are cool with a nice breeze and there is little traffic. One of the mailboxes has a hiker’s welcome sign on it which makes us smile and snap a selfie.

We don’t see much wildlife today and what we do see is roadkill. A bit depressing, but it’s probably the closest I’ll ever get to seeing a badger. Other victims were a baby turtle, a porcupine, and a deer.

More uplifting were the cute log cabins alongside McCann lake. We pick our favorites and fantasize about sitting on the porch sipping our favorite drinks looking over the water.

We soon make it to the Round lake with a picnic area and bathrooms. The water spigots aren’t on yet but the bathrooms are open! Hurray!! Happy dance for us! It’s the little things you know.

We take a long break, using the sun and breeze for tent drying. The condensation was intense last night even with Little Bird’s double-wall tent. This is also a good time to address Little Bird’s blister. She’s got one under the ball of her foot due to the friction of the road walking. I help her tape it up and we hope for the best.

A family shows up with kids and dogs and they actually go swimming in the lake. It would be a tad too cold for me. Instead, we put on sweaters, sit in the shade and make a hot drink (well just me is making the hot drink, cause I skipped my morning coffee).

Eventually, we tear ourselves away from the lovely spot and walk the last few road miles. We enter the Chippewa Moraine segment and it’s absolutely wonderful! The trail is smooth and well maintained, the lakes are brilliant, the blue skies with puffy clouds reflect beautifully in the still water. The trees are leaving out and ferns are unfurling. Little pink flowers are intermixed with white trillium. We’re loving it!

We stop by the visitor center and are looking forward to learning more about the geology (and well, maybe we’re hoping for a soda machine…). Unfortunately, it’s closed due to a lack of personnel. Major bummer.

We realize we made a mathematical error calculating our mileage, which ironically was added by our former math teacher Little Bird. We all know I suck at math but she is supposed to be good at it! We only have one more mile to go and it’s only two p.m.! We reassess and will aim for the next primitive site instead. This will put us only 18 miles from town tomorrow so we also rebook our Airbnb.

We now went from a 14-mile day to a 20-mile day but we push on and make it with plenty of daylight. It’s so nice when trail is good!

The last two miles we both are pretty tired but the site is lovely and breezy. It was quiet too until three youngsters show up and keep walking back and forth near our tent. I’m getting old.

Geese start a mating ritual and cause a ruckus for a while until they take off. Now the peepers are exceeding their allotted decibels. Loud enough to drown out the mosquitoes. But not loud enough to drown out the youngsters tearing down the forest for their fire.

Today’s tick count: 5

Black flies minimal. Mosquitos are out for the first time.