Our plan was to spend 5 nights in the back country and then come out and spend one more night in the campground before heading home. We would start on the Orphan Lake Trail that connects to the Coastal Trail. We planned to go as far as Mermaid Lagoon and then turn around and come back the way we came.
Once we had eaten breakfast and packed up our gear, we headed over to the gatehouse to register for the back country. While we were there, we noticed a white van that was filling up with people who, I overheard, were also going to Orphan Lake, the trail we were about to start our journey on. It seemed to be a shuttle bus and we were curious about it. So, when we arrived at the Orphan Lake Trail head, my sister, Heather, took a moment to talk to the driver. He said that his name was Morgan and that he worked for Naturally Superior Adventurers in the town of Wawa. When Heather asked him about the pricing of a shuttle, Morgan did not know the pricing off hand. He said that it depended on where you were going, but that it was in the hundreds. That seemed a little pricey to us but I suppose if you only wanted to hike the Coastal Trail in one direction then it would be an option for you.
With our packs on our backs, we headed over to the large map to take a quick look at where we were and where the Orphan Trail would take us.
The trail markers that we needed to keep an eye out for were blue. But we also had to watch out for rock cairns (markers made of piles of rocks) in places that were not well marked.
With the sound of the waves on the shore and the patter of rain on the tarp, it sounded like I could hear faint voices in the distance . But it was just my mind playing tricks. We didn't have a single neighbour at the nearby sites that night.
We went to bed around 11 pm and fell asleep to the sound of the rain, the waves and the loons. It was a wonderful night.