Backpacking Michigan

Scout and I are here in the Huron National Forest in Michigan. We're trying to find this Hoist Lake campground. We're going to go backpacking overnight. We just stopped at this scenic lookout. There's the Osawatomie River behind me. It's a nice, chilly day. It's supposed to be up to about high 60, 67, and then at night, tonight's going to be about 45. It's perfect weather. It's just really, really nice out here. Scout's going to go take a dip in the river. We've got to get going, head off and find the trailhead to start backpacking. 11 kilometers today, so got to get a move on. Okay, well, we finally got here to the trailhead. It's about 10 after 10 in the morning. This will be our planned route. Start here at number 7, just go up, around, back up to about No Name Lake. We're going to refuel water there because there's only a couple lakes on the trip we're doing. So we're going to come back down to 12, up around to Byron Lake. We'll camp near Byron Lake, again, for water purposes. and then tomorrow morning we'll have like a two two or three kilometer finish to the truck should be good well scout's gone he must have saw a deer he freaking took off like a bolt of lightning there he comes come on it's so quiet out there over here there's no one over here it's really nice come on buddy you catch him well somehow in my preparation and and packing i forgot to uh pack any tea for tonight it's gonna be kind of chilly just gonna pick this wintergreen while i see it here and uh i'll be able to make a tea up with it later on just really big and there's chaga sticking out of it and then uh on the other side of it there's a bunch of chaga as well i have no use for that uh it's 12 o'clock and i've been hiking for about two hours finally came across this lake it's called no name lake we're gonna stop here and have a bite to eat i'm sure Scott's gonna go swimming and uh try and purify some water it looks like it's real mucky all around at the the edges of the of the lake so i had to figure out a way to get in there i wasn't lying when i said it was all muck so i just got almost got stuck in it it's like and probably up to my hips so getting to that water is not going to happen here or it means we're going to have to conserve our water and wait till we get to the next lake to get water with i think we found some clean water by clean i mean not mud that's pretty mucky stirring it up there you can see is that better buddy drink your fill that's relatively fresh big old coon something ate him up all sorts of bugs in there so intestines right there too let me get out of here i'm just taking a break here i did the most difficult part of the trail just now and a little beat from it just rest for five ten minutes and head on back on the trail i'm not too far away from the campsite a couple miles or something like that uneven so we'll get there and set up camp get some firewood and relax with the doggy. Well we found Byron Lake. I came up and all these big fish started jumping. I don't have a pole and Scott wouldn't let me fish anyways but looks like it'd be good fishing in here. It's a nice lake. I'm gonna camp right around here. It's almost two o'clock in the afternoon and I don't mind setting up right now and just relaxing the rest of the day. It's beautiful out here. See there's just another fish just jumped right there. There's a ton and it's midday. It'd be great fish in here. Man, I don't know what it is. It keeps jumping right there. Unless it's a carp, I wouldn't care about that, but probably bass. I've been here like 20 minutes and the scout hasn't gone over the water once. There's fish jumping around him and I think he thinks it's things to go play with, so he's chasing them. I really wish I knew what kind of snake this guy was. I'm kind of worried that he's venomous. His head's got like this arrow shape to it that tells me that he'd be poisonous. No rattle on the tail, but that It could just be because he's too small. They do have massasaugas around here. I'm really not sure what to do. I'm sleeping on the ground and Scout's with me. So I'm kind of worried to be honest. There's a bald eagle flying up there. There he is. It's hard to see. I only have the 50 mil lens on, but bald eagle, pretty cool. Ah, this camp is just about perfect in my opinion. The lake is right there, just down some little set of wooden stairs. And if you look around, there's some logs to sit on. There's an old pit they dug for a fire. There's a bunch of trees and it's shaded a little bit. I was kind of worried with that snake on the sand. I could be just playing it out of proportion like crazy, but I don't have any experience with that stuff and I'm not risking it out here with me and the dog. So we're up off the sand. That's a good thing anyway. And I'm gonna sand in my crack, sleep in there and it's nice, it's shaded. So probably about 10 degrees cooler in here. Good campsite. Okay, real quick. I just wanted to do a rundown of my gear. Everything weighed in about 27 pounds 27 28 pounds including my pack. My pack is EverlyStock Little Brother good pack Okay, so food wise got algae, got a 10 centimeter Billy can, watch out Scout, got a folded cup and a fold a cup and a spork, Scout go on bud, fold a cup and a spork Food wise got trail mix cheese lunch meat oatmeal with some chocolate chips in it Backpackers pantry Shepherds pie with beef my first time trying it. It's gluten free. I hope I don't get sick from it We'll see, I can't imagine that it tastes too good, but we'll see For Scout I got a sample of his dog food Bowl for Scout to drink out of when we're on the trail or to eat out of I have my MSR water filter I'm not sure the exact Brand of it, but it works good for filtering water obviously MSR MiniWorks pocket rocket or micro rocket one of the two it's smaller than the normal pocket rocket and a canister for it, sleeping wise I have a down pillow I like my little pillow my thing, I got a warp on it so nylon tarp real good piece of kit ThermoRest NeoAir emergency blanket for Scout to lay on, down sleeping bag goes down to positive 3 Celsius toilet paper and baby wipes baby wipes are the the jam. I'm telling you, man, your butthole feels fantastic after those things. And some alcohol swabs. I know you guys wanted to know that. Some paracord for my line kit, headlamp, compass, first aid kit. Clothes-wise, I got big thick wool socks to sleep in. I got a toque. The Under Armour sweater that I actually wore in. I have a long-sleeved shirt and long johns. And I have this sweet down jacket. Packs down to nothing and it is awesome. I I also got, I can't forget, one of the most important things, well, a couple of most important things. Got my Adventure Sworn Bushcraft USA knife, and I got a little bottle of Cap'n Morgan's for myself to sleep better. So, that's a rundown of my gear. Like I said, oh, and a silky saw to cut my wood with. Packs down to about 28 pounds. I'm doing pretty good on the trail, making time good. I think I found what looks to be some pretty good fatwood. It was in a stump, and I just sawed it off. smells really, really piney. There's these stumps all over the place, so if it is the case, I've got an abundant supply of fatwood here. That's fatwood. It's got the ribbony look to it. I decided to not use an A-frame like I normally do. Have it like a front porch kind of deal on it. It's going to be good tonight. There's no rain, little wind, so it'll be good. I really need to get myself a second battery because this thing's almost dead. All right, that backpacker's meal thing said two and three-quarter cups of water so that's what I got on there that foldable cup has a measuring thing in it so that's good let's turn up this stove but stuff ain't that bad Scott wants it but I could eat it for one or two nights that's for sure