The Mind Is A Wild Thing

So, "How is it to sleep in an emergency tent"  you ask?  Pretty comfortable actually!  I had a great sleep. Thanks to my doors that I made out of the emergency blanket and some duct tape, I had no bugs in my tent. The cool thing about the emergency tent is that you can't see in, but you can see out.

I woke up at 8:45 and Carsten was still asleep. So, I stayed in the tent for awhile; just laying there looking up at the trees. I would have enjoyed it more but I began to think about the long day ahead of us as we try to find our way back and find Heather. 

Eventually Carsten got out of his tent and so I got out of mine. It was a beautiful sunny day out. 

It was so nice out that I took my breakfast down to the lake and watched a Merganser duck swimming nearby. 

As we were having breakfast we saw a motor boat approaching. It was filled with about 6 park rangers. We waved to them and one of them, Adam, came over to talk to us. We explained to him our situation and that we did not know where our sister, Heather, was. 

My first thought when saw the boat approaching was that Heather had sent them to come and look for us. However that was not the case. They were actually there to do maintenance on the trail and cut down the dead fall with chainsaws.  We told him that the section we had been through the day before was in great need of better trail markers. We explained that it had taken us 11 hours to travel 8 km and that we couldn't find the trail on many occasions. 

He said that he was disappointed that many of the cairns were either knocked over or in the wrong place. He said that he had personally built most of them and had hand chosen the rocks for them. We talked about how it is sometimes easier to see trail markers when you are coming from the opposite direction. He said that it is difficult to mark some areas. He thanked us for our feedback and said that he would send a crew back that way to take a look at the markers and see about making it better for future hikers.  (I thought about it a long time afterwards and realized that actually it wouldn't be too difficult to mark that area... just take some spray paint and spray some arrows on the rocks where needed. I have seen other parks do this so why not this one? But I didn't think of it while I was talking to Adam). 

Carsten was hoping that maybe we could catch a ride back with them. However, before we even had a chance to ask, Adam stated that he wasn't supposed to offer anyone a ride unless it was an emergency. He asked if we thought this was an emergency.  As much as it would have been really great to get a ride, I told him that I didn't think it was an emergency. I explained that Heather was an experienced hiker and she was the one with the tent and the water filter. So, although I was concerned that maybe she hadn't made it back to the Buckshot campsite, or that at some point she may get stung by a hornet and need her epi-pen, or get hurt on some rocks, it wasn't what I would consider an emergency at this point.  Heather and I have had to camp off site a couple times when we couldn't make it to our site so if she didn't make it to Buckshot I knew that she would have found a place somewhere else on the trail to camp for the night. Besides, if we got a ride with Adam and Heather was stuck somewhere then we would pass right by her and not even know it. 

So, Adam gave us his cell number and told us to text him to let him know that we were safe when we arrived at our destination and to let him know if we find Heather. We said thank you and good bye and with that the team went off to clear trails and Adam left in the boat.

It was only about 10 minutes after Adam had left when a lone hiker arrived. Her name was Kelly and we got to chatting with her for a bit. We found out that she was going to be staying at Beatty Cove for the night which was the same campground that we would be staying at. She told us that she had been at Ryolite the previous night and that there was another group of young people that had been on the same campground as her and that they were not too far behind her. 

We told her about how difficult the trail was to find up ahead and how we had gotten separated from our sister. She told us that the direction she had come from was even worse than where we were now. So, we were glad that were only going as far as Mermaid Lagoon and now we were heading back. We were in no shape to go through worse than what we had already done. Kelly asked us about how far it was to Bear Mountain. We didn't know what she meant exactly. We didn't realize that any part of the trail was called Bear Mountain because we hadn't seen anywhere marked as such on the map.

While we were still talking, the group of young people, probably in their late teens or early twenties, arrived at our site. They said they were all from a summer camp in the city of Wawa. They too would be staying at Beatty Cove this evening. So, tonight we would have neighbours. 

We warned everyone about how hard it was to find the markers on the trail ahead. Shortly after that Kelly left and then not long after that the group left.  Carsten and I were almost done packing up by this point so we were not far behind them. We left the campsite about 20 minutes later. It was about noon by this point. 

It was easier going for us on the way back than it was on the way here because for most of the way we already knew where we were going. Also, we were doing the toughest parts of the trail at the beginning while we still had energy, not at the end of the day when we were totally wiped out. Not to mention the fact that the sun was not blazing down on us and we had some shade. 

Since we weren't as exhausted, we actually were able to enjoy some of the scenery around us. 

Eventually we came to the dreaded area where the trail markers were difficult to find or non-existent.  We were really hoping that we could remember the way through this. 

It was at about this time that we saw a lone hiker coming towards us. We waved and said a cheery hello, like we do with anyone who passes by. Sometimes we get a hello back and sometimes we end up stopping to chat for a bit. But not this fellow, He did not make eye contact and he did not respond when we greeted him. He just passed us by. Later on, Kelly told us that she had passed him too and that he didn't make eye contact with her or speak to her either. 

After he passed us, I turned to watch him for a moment and noticed that he was going to go up when he should be going down. So I called out to him and said  "It's easier if you go down there first and then go up that way".  He didn't turn around but I did hear a faint "Thank you " from him as he changed course and went down the way I suggested. 

​When we got near the top of the rock face we took a few moments to enjoy the scenery of the lake. 

We could see a lone loon swimming in the water below. 

We were not able to appreciate the view yesterday but today we could. But we couldn't stop for too long because we still had a long way to go and we weren't out of the "bad trail marker area" yet. 

We were doing much better today in terms of finding the trail.  However, there were times when the only reason we found a marker is because we had seen it from a certain angle. For example, one time we sat down to rest and we could see it from where we were sitting, but if you were standing you couldn't see it at all. 

We had just started to believe that we were going to make it through this section of the trail without losing our way, when we came to a spot where we couldn't find the trail again. After looking all over for 2 or 3 minutes, we all of a sudden heard voices up ahead. I thought it was some hikers coming our way. So I said to Carsten, "Let's just stand here a moment and wait until they come. Then wherever they pop up from, that will be the way we need to go".  And so we waited. But the people never popped up. Instead the voices seemed to be going down towards the lake and eventually they faded away all together. 

And so we were left to our own devices.  However, once we realized that no one was going to pop up and show us the way out, we started looking for the trail again. We eventually found it after a couple more minutes of searching. 

But we soon came to realize that this trail was not the trail we had been on the day before. This trail was going up a mountain that we had not climbed before. We didn't recognize any of this part of the trail. 

This hill was a steep and rugged climb. We realized that this must be the Bear Mountain that Kelly had been talking about. We also realized that somehow, we had gone around this yesterday. Not only that but, Heather most likely had climbed this yesterday when she had gone around in a full circle.  No wonder she had been so miserable and determined not to go back or have to do this section again. This mountain was not fun to climb and was quite draining. So I can only imagine how difficult it would have been yesterday after having already hiked all day long and you are already exhausted before you even begin to climb this. 

And sure enough, we came to the spot where we are pretty sure that Heather had taken a different path than us yesterday. We recognized a hand carved trail marker we had passed.  At this spot there was a 3 way junction and you could take multiple paths.  Carsten and I hadn't seen any blue markers yesterday, however, coming from the other direction today, we could now see some blue markers. We had only seen this wooden arrow yesterday. We thought it meant to go straight ahead and by doing so we had encountered  the part of the trail where we had to take our packs off and climb under a log to get down.  Now we realize that this wooden marker probably means to go up the mountain trail which was more to the right.  

We were happy to discover that not only did we avoid the mountain yesterday but we also avoided the spot where we threw our packs down and climbed under the log today. We had not been looking forward to having to get our packs back up that hill and under the log. We had envisioned having to get some rope to tow our packs back up. But now we didn't have to because we had gone right around that spot. 

So, to save other people from getting frustrated and lost like we had, I took out my sharpie and wrote a message on the wooden arrow. It said "Go Right And Up".  Hopefully that would prevent people from going down the wrong way.   It will probably fade away with the weather eventually, but at least for awhile it will help people out. 

Now we had passed all the dreaded spots on the trail. As we went the trail got easier. We made sure to take many short breaks along the way. 

We saw a family of Spruce Grouse again. This time I was able to get a picture of one of the babies (albeit not a very good one) and none of the mother.  I don't know if it was the same family or not. 

We started to recognize places we had passed the day before; like the field of boulders. 

We stopped along the shore to refill our water bottles. We had an empty, red, drybag that we filled with lake water. Then we took the Life Straw and sucked the water through it and spit it into our water bottles. This was so much quicker and easier than boiling water. We had done this before leaving camp in the morning too.  Life Straws are the greatest! 

While we were getting water I saw another garter snake. There seems to be quite a number of snakes on this trail. I suppose it makes sense with so many rocks and being close to water where they can easily get frogs and other prey. 

We arrived at Buckshot site # 1 at about 4 pm. Heather was not there. We looked for signs that she may have been there over night. We saw some things that could indicate she was there such as cigarette butts in the fire pit and a piece of mosquito pic and some candy wrappers.  But these could belong to anyone really so the signs were conclusive.  I tried to reach Heather on the walkie talkie but there was no answer. 

We stayed here for lunch and rested. I took the opportunity to text Adam to let him know that we had arrived at Buckshot and that Heather wasn't here but we suspected she may be at one of the Beatty Cove sites. 

Just as we finished our lunch and were getting our packs on to leave, the group arrived. We were surprised by this considering they had left before we did and we did not pass them on the trail.  It was then that it dawned on us that they had gotten lost and that it was them who we had heard when we had lost our way earlier and were hoping for someone to pop up to show us the way out. The trail had claimed more victims to it's secrets of how to get out of there. 

The group stayed at Buckshot #1 for a rest and bathroom breaks while Carsten and I continued on. It was now 4:30 pm. 

We came to the bridge and took a moment to watch the water run under it.  

​Soon we would be at Buckshot # 2.  That was where we had stopped to talk to the mother and daughter the day before.  It was also where I suspected that I may have dropped my pedometer. 

When we arrived at Buckshot # 2 I took a quick look around for the pedometer. We didn't find it. I really didn't expect to but I figured that it was worth a try. 

We had missed out on checking out site #2 the first time around so we stopped for a moment just to see what it was like.  It had a nice big fire pit. 

And it had plenty of space for tents. 

We didn't stay for more than a minute or two before we continued on our way.  We saw the first chipmunk of the trip, but it didn't sit still long enough for me to take a picture. I wondered why the squirrels and chipmunks were so scarce in this area. Then I thought... maybe they aren't. Maybe they are just over populated in all the other areas that we normally see them.  I had no way of knowing which it was. 

As I traveled along, I picked up a hitchhiker. It was a little Shield Bug.  At the time I thought it was a stink bug, but once I got home and looked it up, I found out that it wasn't. 

Near the shore there were some rocky areas that had tidal pools. The water there was deep enough that it wasn't going to evaporate. At least not anytime soon. These made perfect spots for frogs and other creatures to lay eggs and hatch their young. In one tidal pool I found what I believe to be the tadpole of a salamander. 

We arrived, once again at the creek that I liked. The one where we had to jump across it. It was easier to jump across it coming from the other direction. We had found that the dry piles of rocks had become smaller and it was now a bit more wet. If I didn't have Carsten's help here, I probably would have ended up falling in. But we made it across without getting too wet again. 

There were some areas on the rocks that were wet enough to allow for some Sundew plants to grow. 

We crossed rocky cove after rocky cove. 

Until finally we came to the sandy shores of Beatty Cove. 

We arrived at our destination, Beatty Cove site # 3, at about 6:15pm.  What had taken us about 11 hours to hike yesterday had only taken us 6 hours today. Granted we didn't have to go quite as far today, but it was still pretty telling in terms of just how bad it had been yesterday for us. 

And it was here that we finally found Heather.  She was sitting on the shore painting a picture of the horizon. She had clearly met Kelly because Kelly was lying on the beach beside her and the two of them were talking.

I was extremely curious and I just had to know so I went up to Heather and asked her "So where did you end up staying last night?"  She responded sourly with "Well, you know! You followed me! "  I was confused. 
I said "What do you mean?"  Clearly she had a bit of residual anger because she repeated in a gruff tone "You know where I was. You followed me there. I saw you!"  I told her straight up "No I didn't. We didn't make it to Mermaid Lagoon until 8:15 pm last night. I was too tired to go anywhere.

The colour drained from Heather's face and she had a look of shock and alarm . "Then who was that at my campsite last night?" she cried out.  "It was you. I know it was you!"   Now I was going to need to know more because I definitely had not followed her. She went on to explain that she had made it to the nearest Buckshot site last night and set up camp there. She got there probably about the same time (roughly) as we got to Mermaid Lagoon. She had gone down to the lake to get water and not too far down the beach there was a large rocky area that I was standing behind. She could see me looking at her from behind the rocks. When I realized that Heather had noticed me I just waved at her. But since Heather was still mad at us she didn't wave back. She noticed that I didn't have my backpack on and figured that I had reached Mermaid Lagoon, taken it off and then came back looking for her. She thought we were foolish to do so and so without waving she turned around and went back up to the campsite cursing and muttering " You guys are stupid". 

I told her how we had passed a guy on the way over here and maybe it was him. She said "No. it was a girl. It was you!  I know what you look like! It was you! They were  wearing the same hat and the same clothes as you. It was you!" 

It was at this point that I was wondering something. I asked her if she had said something about being "miserable". She said that yes, she had said out loud under her breath many times over that she was "miserable" and that we were "miserable %$#&'s" .   Then I told her how I had hear her say that while Carsten and I had been taking a break along the way to Mermaid Lagoon. 

So, Heather had seen me and I had heard her even though we were kilometers away from each other.  Truth be told though, Heather was not the first family member to have told me that they saw me when I wasn't actually there. 

All of this was freaking Heather out a bit.  She told me how after she had seen me wave to her she went back to the lake to see where I had gone and I was no longer there. She figured I had gone back to Mermaid Lagoon. She thought I was just plain crazy.  She considered the idea of getting on the walkie talkie and radioing Carsten to see if I made it back to Mermaid Lagoon all right. But she was too mad, so she didn't.  
Now in hind sight, she was glad that she didn't because if she had gotten through and found out that I was there and had never left then she would have been too freaked out to have to stay alone in the woods with some stranger or doppelganger out there watching  her. 

Heather told us how she had woken up early in the morning and since she had no phone or watch, she had no idea what time it was. She was chilly and figured the best way to get warm was to hike. So she left Buckshot fairly early in the morning and got here to Beatty Cove and set up camp. She was able to relax and paint and take a nap. She had a pretty good day here so far. 

And it was a nice site. Carsten and I were happy to be able to put our packs down near the fire pit and enjoy the site for awhile too. 

Heather had set up the tent off to one side. There was so much room here that we could have put up a couple of tents here if we wanted too. 

We sat and talked to Kelly for awhile and got to know her a little bit. I can only imagine how crazy we must have seemed to her with our doppelganger incident. But she must not have let that bother her because she stuck around.  

About an hour after we arrived at Beatty Cove, the group also arrived.  They were staying further down the beach at one of the other Beatty Cove sites.  They looked tired and they were all pretty quiet that evening.  A little later one of them came to ask us where the bear bin was and we showed them. That was pretty much the only time we heard from them that night. 

Heather, Carsten, Kelly, and I  all hung out at the beach for awhile and watched a pair of Merganser ducks swim around and fish for their supper.   I made a quick text to Adam to let him know that we had found Heather and that we made it to Beatty Cove safely. 

I did a bit of exploring around the site and came across a massive ant hill. This thing was huge! I know in other countries ant hills can get much bigger than this one, but for our standards, this one was far bigger than any I have seen before. 

Eventually the sun started to go down. There wasn't much of a sunset but the sky on the horizon was still pretty. 

We made a fire and had our supper. It was nice not to have to spend the evening boiling water. We could actually enjoy the evening tonight.  Kelly had  her own campsite to go to so she said good night and left. She was going to be staying at Baldhead North tomorrow like we were, so we would be neighbours again tomorrow. 

After supper we put our food away in the bear bin. We sat around for a little while longer until the fire started to die down. It started to get chilly and we were tired. So at about 11:30 we put the fire out and went to bed. 

There was no sound of creeks or running water to lull us to sleep at this site. However, we slept soundly knowing that we were all safe and all together once again.