Plan A- I was going to start at the west end of the McCormick Wilderness, and Sue would pick me up at Wildcat Canyon. This is a remote access point, and we knew it would not be accessible if there was very much snow.
Plan B- I decided to start at Wildcat Canyon and hike west, because the west end of the McCormick is on a road that is kept plowed. We left in the dark to drive there, planning on an hour to go the 30 miles, since there were a couple of inches of snow that fell overnight. It was snowing fairly heavily. We slowly made it just a bit over 4 miles after we left the paved road (with maybe 8 to go), and there was a tree down across the road. I often don't think to take pictures at the moments that define the succeeding events, so no picture of the tree. But here's what the driving looked like.
Plan C- We went back to the paved road and headed north while I was studying the maps. I decided I could hike west across Craig Lake State Park. We turned on Arfelin Lake Road because going in to that road crossing would take a mile off what I would have to hike, cutting it from 16 miles to 15. Assuming Sue could drive in 2 miles on the road at the other end. If not, it was going to be 15 or 17. We found the trail crossing, and Sue dropped me off.
I went across a road bridge and into the woods. The snow was over my boots and there were big trees down every few feet. I went over two of them and ran back to try to catch Sue. She was already gone. Sigh... well, I'd just have to suck it up and do the miles.
So I turned back around and headed down the trail again. In about 300 feet of progress, I had to climb over 6 large fallen trees. No, just no. There was no way I was going to be able to do 15 miles of that before dark. I only had the day pack, not overnight gear with me. No matter what, I was going to end up wet to the skin with snow falling off the trees. It was probably a poor choice to try overcome any of those challenges alone. (I keep some emergency stuff in my day pack, but no tent or sleeping bag. I feel no compelling urge to check my survival skills while I still have a brain.)
Well, I decided to hike back down the road until I had a phone signal and then text Sue to come get me. Might be 10 miles til that was possible, but they would be a safe 10. I have promised a lot of people that I won't do anything really stupid.
In under a quarter mile, here came a truck! The guy rolled down his window and said, "Are you Joan?" I admitted I was, and he said he had just talked to Sue. He was a cabin owner on his way to finish closing up for winter. I flat out asked him if he had time to take me out to Sue (I did know where she was going). He said he could do that, so he turned around and we chased her down!
He said that the snow the area got at the end of October was wet and heavy. It brought all those trees down. The road to his cottage is only a mile long and he said they had cleared 60 trees that had fallen across the road. He also said the snow had been 3 feet deep at his cabin.
Plan C- We would See if the road in to Craig Lake State Park was driveable. I'd been told it was closed for the winter. Well, it was not gated but seemed about the same as what we'd already been on. We did not proceed.
By now, I was completely bummed out and really couldn't make any other plans without my computer and spreadsheet. Sure, I could have hiked a couple of miles willy-nilly, since I have all the maps on my phone, but without looking at the bigger picture it's hard to decide what makes sense. Zero miles for Joan today. I was in a snit and wanted comfort food. We decided to go to the Cozy Inn in Nestoria. Just as we were leaving the park road, Sue said, "There's a geocache." Sure enough, she got one today! That's 6 days in a row for her. Score 1 for Sue, and a total for her of 3802 geocaches!
Plan D- get comfort food. Sue had the sense to call Cozy Inn and learned they were not open until later. So we went back to Ishpeming. We had picked a restaurant, but were told it was noisy, so we picked a third one. So, I guess when I posted this picture on Facebook it should have said Plan D.3
We both chose hot meatloaf sandwiches, and we got bread pudding with lemon sauce to go for tomorrow.
OK, I'm over my snit, but despite my knowing that I'd have to alter the plan at some point, it's been quite a shock to go from hiking 15 miles yesterday to not being able to do any today. They may get another foot of snow tonight. I've now made some plans for the next few days that have accessible end points with shorter mileages. We spent part of the afternoon chatting with our current hosts.
The local chapter has already been out working on tree clearing, but I've now seen firsthand that it's a terrible mess they have to deal with.
It's probably a really good thing that I didn't set out to do 15 miles from the Plan A start. I might still be out there walking.
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2 comments:
I've been concerned that you might encounter such difficulties. I irust your judgment and know you will keep the promise. Here's to better days ahesd!
I'm glad you chose not to try and hike through that. The meatloaf sandwiches look delicious.
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