Daily Stats
Start:        5:15 AM - South Point (near Negwegon State Park)
Finish        12:15 PM - Ferron Point (Two miles north of Rockport, MI)
Time:        7:00 hours
Daily dist:    22 miles
Total dist:    4200+   
Companions:    None
Weather:    Started out breezy out of NW then W clear skies and 80’s
Notes:        Perfect weather and an all around great day!  Also, Happy Anniversary Amy & Luke! (7 years)

One would assume, perhaps for reasons of security or safety, that it would be the difficult days that I would feel like I’d like to have somebody along with me on this trip.  Strangely the opposite is true.  It’s the very nice days when everything seems to fall in place to make this endeavor seem like a pleasant vacation that I wish I had somebody along for the ride.  Today was one of those days. 

Last night, with only fifty miles to go to Rogers City where I’ll be staying with a host for the night, I decided to run two (somewhat shorter than my recent average) twenty five mile days on my way in.  Today started with a somewhat bumpy crossing of Thunder Bay with ten mph northwest winds blowing down the length of the bay.  After three hours of rolling water things calmed dramatically as I rounded North Point on the north side of the bay.  There I started down what turned out to be one of the most beautiful sections of shore line I’ve seen on the Great Lakes so far.  Few paved roads access this somewhat remote shore line meaning the cabins (which are spaced shoulder to shoulder everywhere else) are spaced up to a half mile apart leaving long stretches of unbroken and undeveloped shore line in between.  The trees, as I continue north, are changing from broad leaf hardwoods to thicker pines and cedars which form a dense green backdrop to the gin clear water that seems to glow from within with a dozen shades of blue.  Because it was a Monday, and because there just aren’t that many people around, I only saw two boats while I was on the water and both of those were small commercial fishing boats on their way in after tending their nets.  The scenery combined with the peace and quiet of no boat traffic made for a wonderful day of paddling.

With twenty five miles as my goal for the day I was figuring on about an eight hour day.  However, when I saw the completely undeveloped beach on Ferron point I decided to call it a day an hour and three miles early.  This unbroken mile long beach, without a house, dock, or sign of human influence is a rare find, and I didn’t want to pass up the chance to stay here for just a few more miles.  So, at noon, I landed and set about taking advantage of a dry breeze and bright sunshine to air out and dry all of my gear.  Because I break camp so early, most mornings by tent (and other gear) is still wet with dew when I roll it up.  Consequently all of my stuff rarely gets a chance to completely dry and was starting to smell like it.  While my gear airing out I grabbed a bar of soap and got myself cleaned up (including a shave).

This long broad beach also gave me a rare opportunity to go for a bit of a hike.  So often I’m on such a tiny bit of a beach that I don’t have room to explore, it was a treat to get out and see some of the natural surroundings.  A few hundred yards down the beach I found a trail that led into the woods which I followed a quarter mile back to a logging road that paralleled the beach through thick cedars that covered sand dunes that were blown up a long long time ago.  The road seemed to continue on endlessly, so I turned around after reaching a small shallow pond that flanked the road.

Once back on the beach I found a nice shady spot and lay down on the golf ball size stones there and took a nice nap.  Napping comfortably on golf ball size stones may sound strange but, I was that tired, and the stones pressing into my back felt great, like a massage.  The nap was followed by a hour or so spent reading a book then dinner with a view of Middle Island floating on multi hued blue water…

Like I said it’s days like today that I feel a little guilty about being out here alone.  At least if there was somebody else along I wouldn’t feel like I was the only one having this much fun.