Backpacking!

I haven't been backpacking since about 1994.  My first trip was fun, but exhausting.  It was seven miles up a mountain and just one night.  So, I don't have a lot of experience.

I'm about to embark on my second backpacking trip.  This time, I'm going with a friend to South Manitou Island within Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore.

If you want to get an idea of what it's like there, check out this blog post.

I'm super excited to get away and try out some new things.  I'm also way behind on what I should have done by this point in the game.  Joseph helped me set up the tent last night to waterproof it.  This is really saying a lot for Joseph since I have decided that I HATE SETTING UP TENTS and I become something of a witch whenever I do it.  But, that is not all.  He's helping me set it up again tonight to work out the kinks in the process.  It's a different style tent than I'm used to and I'm not at all patient with myself about learning the ropes.

Elijah is lending me a bunch of his equipment for this trip.  It benefits him since my trip with him is in September and I'll be a little more experienced for that one.

I've been walking and strength training for this trip, but we won't actually be backpacking a whole bunch.  We plan to get off the boat, backpack to the camp site (either 1.5 miles or 4.5 miles depending on where we camp), set up camp and stay put.  The island is small, so we can day hike using our camp as a base.

Hopefully, I'll come back with my own pictures and a report.  That's if we don't get eaten up by the micro-bears.