Post by steiny on Sept 26, 2018 12:41:04 GMT -5
A buddy and I took off last week for a fishing and camping trip to the UP. Just picked a place out on the map in the Hiawatha national forest northwest of Manistique and went there. Took a good 12 x 12 tent, a cooking awning, my 14' aluminum boat and motor and all the necessary gear and gadgets.
Wound up on a primitive site on a beautiful little 50 acre lake with nobody around. First afternoon all we got done was set up camp and cooked supper. Next morning we fixed breakfast, then launched the boat and fished. Caught a bunch of small pike, some nice bass and some small perch before rain ran us in about noon.
We tarped in the sides of the cooking canopy and just hung out, ate and had adult beverages out of the weather, then turned in. Later that night the rain really kicked up, along with high winds and one heck of a lightning show. At daylight it was still doing the same and we were wondering if the gear was going to hold up to the constant wind. We had some breakfast and coffee and decided to ride it out.
By 2PM, it's still the same, the wind is beating up our gear, we added more ropes, stakes, etc. but it's looking questionable. Jumped in the truck and found a local radio station weather forecast and there wasn't any improvement in weather forecast for about 36 hours so we elected to break camp and get the heck out of there. Took about an hour to get everything packed and loaded, boat hooked up, etc. The cook canopy frame was damaged beyond repair.
On the drive out of forest there was a lot of down limbs and debris on the roads we had to go around, then as we get close to Mackinac bridge we find out it's closed to everything but cars, empty pickups and passenger vans (no trucks with toppers and boats on trailers). Allegedly 50 mph winds in the straights of Mackinac. Had to sit in line there for about two hours, then by a stroke of luck the winds subsided enough that we got across the bridge about 8:00PM and on our way back south.
Made it to the family lake house near Kalkaska about 10:30 and spent the night and another two uneventful days there just jacking around and fishing since we still had some days away planned. Crazy trip, but no regrets. Seems like the ones with a little hardship are the ones you remember most. We did see some nice country and discover a real cool camping place on a nice fishing lake that I'll be going back to again, and kudos to Cabelas for their design of their Outback lodge tent. That tent held up to extreme wind and rain and kept us and all contents dry.
On to the next adventure.
Wound up on a primitive site on a beautiful little 50 acre lake with nobody around. First afternoon all we got done was set up camp and cooked supper. Next morning we fixed breakfast, then launched the boat and fished. Caught a bunch of small pike, some nice bass and some small perch before rain ran us in about noon.
We tarped in the sides of the cooking canopy and just hung out, ate and had adult beverages out of the weather, then turned in. Later that night the rain really kicked up, along with high winds and one heck of a lightning show. At daylight it was still doing the same and we were wondering if the gear was going to hold up to the constant wind. We had some breakfast and coffee and decided to ride it out.
By 2PM, it's still the same, the wind is beating up our gear, we added more ropes, stakes, etc. but it's looking questionable. Jumped in the truck and found a local radio station weather forecast and there wasn't any improvement in weather forecast for about 36 hours so we elected to break camp and get the heck out of there. Took about an hour to get everything packed and loaded, boat hooked up, etc. The cook canopy frame was damaged beyond repair.
On the drive out of forest there was a lot of down limbs and debris on the roads we had to go around, then as we get close to Mackinac bridge we find out it's closed to everything but cars, empty pickups and passenger vans (no trucks with toppers and boats on trailers). Allegedly 50 mph winds in the straights of Mackinac. Had to sit in line there for about two hours, then by a stroke of luck the winds subsided enough that we got across the bridge about 8:00PM and on our way back south.
Made it to the family lake house near Kalkaska about 10:30 and spent the night and another two uneventful days there just jacking around and fishing since we still had some days away planned. Crazy trip, but no regrets. Seems like the ones with a little hardship are the ones you remember most. We did see some nice country and discover a real cool camping place on a nice fishing lake that I'll be going back to again, and kudos to Cabelas for their design of their Outback lodge tent. That tent held up to extreme wind and rain and kept us and all contents dry.
On to the next adventure.
