Spoons & Mischevious Ojibwe Spirits

When I woke up the next morning in my campsite, I had to put my shoes on and fetch my food. I had hung it on a nearby tree due to the information I obtained from the trail crew I bumped into. A bear went rummaging thru one of their tents (they were working when this occurred and no one was at home/injured) so, even tho I usually sleep with my food, for the first time since I was in grizzly territory in 2019 I hung my food.

Y’all can come at me about sleeping with my food, but 1, HYOH (hike your own hike), 2, kindly stay in your lane, and 3, only my parents are allowed to be upset with me for decisions like this since that is their right as my creators.

good mornin’ oj

I was having my daily morning OJ – I swear I crave it more than coffee (fun fact, I haven’t had coffee since about day 7), when I ran into the second trail crew. There was a handwritten note on a piece of paper the size of an index card hanging from a tree that said “work crew ahead – PLEASE ANNOUNCE YOURSELF”

And giggling I yelled “I. AM. ANNOUNCING. THE. ARRIVAL. OF. STARFISH” a head popped around the bend in the trail and a cute, curly-haired blonde in a hard hat laughed and said “you are the first hiker to actually do that.” To which I replied with a wink “well, unlike most of the general public, I can read” and I carried on.

Hopi Spring looked like a great lunch & water spot. The comments on the water source were good – “clear” “flowing” “ice cold” and I got there about 11:30am.

This is where I bumped into Tiga for a third time. Tiga passed me about 5 minutes after I started hiking that morning. And when he did I had to put my eyeballs back into my head. I’m talking this man was FIT. And also wearing incredibly short shorts. It’s just not something you see often lol. He also had a killer smile. Always been a sucker for a great smile. I think it’s cuz my Dad is a dentist. Moving on – about an hour after he passed me, I passed him (well his pack) which was leaning against a trail intersection sign. I’m guessing he was seeing a man about a horse. A while after this I stopped briefly for my second breakfast which is when he passed me for a second time. This brings us to the third encounter.

I told him I was gonna start calling him Hopscotch and he laughed and that’s actually when we exchanged trailnames. I asked how his morning/afternoon was going and he said “Well. Good. Mostly. Something stole my spoon last night”

I dissolved into giggles. I couldn’t help it. When I met Spud he told me the same thing. Only whatever tried to commandeer his spoon had thoughtfully left it a few yards away. Teega’s on the other hand was straight up disappeared.

I said “It must’ve been Dustin” to Tiga between my laughs. He was extremely confused and I explained that Dustin is my personal Memegwesi (pronounced Mim-i-gwish-ee). Basically an Ojibwe spirit that causes mischief, like stealing your left shoe. Or spoon.

^Dustin

He laughed and we visited a little. He had already gotten water from the spring there and kindly offered me the last liter he had stating that the walk to the spring was a bit of an uphill. So while the water filtered thru his VERY slow Sawyer – he informed me it was due to the condition of it’s prostate (he needs to backflush/clean his filter lol) we chatted a bit. He had been off trail for a couple weeks but was sending it to Utah, and needed to finish by May 15th. I told him he had it in the bag, he was a strong hiker and doing 30 mile days. I also found out he was a survival & tracking expert and gave seminars all over the world. Pretty awesome stuff. I wished him well and happy trails, and he continued on while I wrapped up my lunch and added water to my talenti jar to start cold soaking my bulgur for dinner.

my bff – talenti jar of delicious concoctions

Later that day, I bumped into a day hiker on an uphill. I have no idea where this man came from, there were absolutely no trailheads in the area and he had a very small day pack and was wearing khakis. As I breezed past him he yelled after me: “Your hiking partner is about 15 minutes ahead of you!” I thanked him while laughing and shaking my head. I’ve been a solo hiker since 2012, it’s 2025 and people still can’t seem to fathom a woman hiking alone.

I started to feel like the sun wasn’t searing my neck like it usually does and upon closer inspection of the sky I noticed to my shock, there were gray clouds ahead. I could even see RAIN in the distance and off to the left. In 2023 I don’t think I ever, like ever saw a gray cloud in the sky. I was convinced the AZT just didn’t allow them. Like at all.

tut tut looks like precipitation

That’s when the impending sense of “will I make it to camp in time to set up my tent before hell is unleashed?” descended on me. The trail wasn’t helping either. First I was headed right for it. Then it curved left and I was in the clear. Then back to the right and I was on the storm’s heels, and finally the last quarter of a mile I was straight up IN it. I gotta say, for as much as I love how green the trail is getting, being in a dark, looming storm is an entirely different experience vs. being in the desert where you can see forever in any direction. Wide open spaces. But in tree cover? It’s a tad bit…scary, but in an exhilarating way.

I made it to camp in the nick of time. Snapped my fingers and had my tent up and was cozy inside when the storm introduced itself. It was then that I thought about Tiga. He told me he did not have a tent. I’m guessing he hiked thru it until the rain let up. That’s what I would’ve done anyways. I went to bed cozy in a dry sleeping bag that night with a happy tummy of delicious dinner and dark chocolate and a lil smile on my face. Clutching my spoon.

Never stop exploring. Embrace the suck. I. Believe. In. YOU. ily <3