Saturday, September 19, 2015

Folding Bucket

The 10L Sea to Summit Folding Bucket is a game changer! 

We use the MSR Sweet Water filter on our backpacking trips, which usually means the two of us standing out in Lake Superior with numb legs for however long it takes us to fill up our Nalgene bottles. I'm not sure why it took us so long to buy this, but it's a game changer, and we love it!

It's small (palm size), light (2.8oz), and carries all the water we need to fill up. It's also great for those eco friendly showers on shore. I'm not sure how we survived without it.


Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Lake Superior Provincial Park Coastal Trail

We've been thinking about hiking the Coastal Trail for about 6 years, and this year we finally hiked all 43 miles. Just a few hours north of Sault St. Marie is the beautiful, rugged, and demanding Lake Superior Coastal Trail. This trail is weather permitting! If it's raining or the lake is wavy, we really don't know how this trail is even possible due to slippery rocks. We walked along the coastline, over beaches of boulders, along high cliffs, through the woods, and even some sandy beaches.



Nathan and I decided to hike from North to South, so we were hiking into civilization. We were very happy with Twilight Resort's shuttle service. We dropped our car at the Agawa Visitor Center where we paid for our parking and backcountry permits and were shuttled to Gargantua Rd. to begin our adventure.


Planning Info:
Lake Superior Provincial Park 
Quick View Map
Map with my notes
Purchase Detailed Park Map

BUY the detailed park map, you'll be happy you did.

This is our itinerary. We decided to head north from Gargantua trailhead (for a down and back), but if you need to trim your hike down you could just head south from here. Every single day was spectacularly beautiful but difficult to extremely challenging. We had an idea of what sites we wanted to camp in, but this is where we actually stayed each night.

Day 1: Gargantua Trailhead to Chalfant Cove
Day 2: Chalfant Cove to Gargantua Bay
Day 3: Gargantua Bay to Buckshot Creek (Extremely Challenging)
Day 4: Buckshot Creek to Coldwater River (Site north of Robertson Cove)
Day 5: Coldwater River sites north of Barrett Island
Day 6: Barrett Island to our vehicle at Agawa Bay Visitor Center (Challenging)

(Note: There was a site we wished we had known about prior that had a beautiful sandy beach. It's about 1 mile past Beatty Cove and is shown on the detailed park map)






We try very hard to be mindful of what we're carrying but we really should have left more items at home. If you can live without it, don't bring it. (Note: leave your hammocks at home, there are a few nice hammock spots, especially at Gargantua Bay, but it's not worth the weight)



You will need a good pair of broken in backpacking boots. This terrain is rugged and hard on your feet. You will be very thankful for the short bits of soft terrain through the woods. We each had a hiking pole and thought it was extremely helpful.


There were many areas were we were actually scrambling or bouldering over rocks. It was a lot of fun but a lot of work. We actually didn't feel prepared in some cases and it was a bit scary but extremely exhilarating and rewarding. Unfortunately we don't have any pictures because we were too tired or preoccupied with trying to get through these areas. 

This trail is a maintained trail, however they must use the term "maintained" lightly. There were sections of the trail where there were pine trees on either side of the trail that you basically had to plow through. This is basically our only complaint. Be prepared for some real untouched ruggedness out there.

One last tip. The trail is fairly well marked, however some sections of the rocky areas have cairns that are few and far between. We lost the trail a couple times and ended up in some real difficult situations. If the going gets too tough, you might have missed the cairn leading you back into the woods.









It's Easy Being Cheesy

Recently Nathan and I have been preparing for our Lake Superior Coastal Trail trip. I took a few pictures of the dehydrating food process. 

I have blogged about dehydrating food before, in Dry Food for Thoughtwhere I list some resources, favorite dried items, and what dehydrator we have.

We've started to hone in on some of our favorite meals and snacks which I'll share with you here. We sort of accidentally made this meal and loved it!

Taco Beef Mac (2 hearty servings)

  • 1 cup macaroni noodles (cook and dehydrate)
  • 1/2 cup taco beef (brown lean beef, add taco seasoning, bread crumbs, and dehydrate)
  • 1/4 cup mixed bell peppers (chop and dehydrate)
  • 1/4 tsp M-Salt (salt, pepper, garlic powder)
  • 1/4 cup black beans (rinse and dehydrate)
  • Sprinkle tomatoes (de-seed, chop, and dehydrate)
  • Pinch of JalapeƱos (de-seed, chop, and dehydrate)
  • Keep in separate snack size ziplock bag
    • 3 TBSP dry cheese from a mac & cheese box
    • 1 TBSP taco seasoning
    • 2 TBSP powdered milk
On the trail boil a little over 2 cups of water. Dump dehydrated mix in. Cover and wrap with a towel for insulation and wait 45 minutes. Just before serving, add cheese mix, stir, and enjoy.







Mexican Beans & Rice  (2 hearty servings)
  • 1/2 cup taco beef (brown lean beef, add taco seasoning, bread crumbs, and dehydrate)
  • 1 cup Zatarain's Black Beans & Rice Mix
  • 1/4 tsp M-Salt (salt, pepper, garlic powder)
  • 1/4 cup black beans (rinse and dehydrate)
  • Sprinkle green onions (slice and dehydrate)
  • Sprinkle dried tomatoes (de-seed, chop, and dehydrate)
  • Pinch of JalapeƱos (de-seed, chop, and dehydrate)
  • 1/4 cup mixed bell peppers
  • Keep in separate snack size ziplock bag
    • 3 TBSP dry cheese from a mac & cheese box
    • 1 TBSP taco seasoning
    • 2 TBSP powdered milk
On the trail boil a little over 2 cups of water. Dump dehydrated mix in. Cover and wrap with a towel for insulation and wait 45 minutes. Just before serving, add cheese mix, stir, and enjoy.



Tortellini
  • 2 cup cheese tortellini (cooked and dehydrated)
  • 1/2 jar of spaghetti sauce (dehydrated like fruit leather)
  • 1/2 cup beef (brown lean beef, add bread crumbs or Italian croutons, and dehydrate)
  • Sprinkle dried tomatoes (de-seed, chop, and dehydrate)
On the trail boil a little over 2 cups of water. Dump tortellini and sauce leather in. Cover and wrap with a towel for insulation and wait 45 minutes.  Stir, and enjoy.




Chili Mac
  • 1 cup macaroni noodles (cook and dehydrate)
  • 1 cup chili (make your favorite chili recipe and dehydrate, use lean beef)
  • 1/4 cup mixed bell peppers (chop and dehydrate)
  • Pinch jalapenos (de-seed, chop, and dehydrate)
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1/4 tsp salt/pepper or M-Salt (salt, pepper, garlic powder)
On the trail boil a little over 2 cups of water. Dump dehydrated chili mix in. Cover and wrap with a towel for insulation and wait 45 minutes. We think this meal might be awesome with a cheese packet too... we will try it next time.










Tuesday, March 3, 2015

Up North Trails

A flyer from IMAGIN just came across my desk with an article about an interactive map for trails in Michigan. "The Up North Trails Collaborative has a common goal of promoting all trail systems together for all trail users in a 21-county area."

They have been aggregating trail data from multiple sources along with points of interest. Check it out!
http://www.upnorthtrails.org/