Camp-kayak-hike Sylvania Wilderness

It’s been almost two months or more, but I need to write it down. There was something that Mary said last week at the book club, she is old and she was continuously jotting down names and taking notes. Also, since I opened a fb account there are all these people whom I can’t place sometimes so I’m realizing this thing about memory, that it’ll fail me. And even though I think that I will remember somethings like they happened yesterday, I know it’s not true, there are and will be slips as time passes and new memories form, letting the fresh ones take precedence. So, I need to write this down now when it’s still fresh because of the singularity and novelty and because it was different in ways I can’t exactly figure out. Here’s an account of Camp-Kayak-Hike Sylvania Wilderness in UP Michigan.

I had RSVP’d for this almost a month before it was due, it was a week after the Scuppernong Trail and I had invited Abhijeet along which I wasn’t sure he’d accept. But it sort of all worked out and we started at around 3pm that Friday. I was apprehensive because I had never camped before, and in all my previous treks in India, someone was always there to organize things. I kept going over my checklist, lest I miss something. The driving part also worried me, this was going to be the first longer drive that I was attempting, it was a four and a half hour drive, and I still hadn’t gotten over my fear of taking the freeways. We started despite all these fears that I kept to myself. I almost wished he’d back out because I was so sure it was going to be a disaster.

The roads were good and there were fewer cars once we entered US 41 and US 45 and from there towards County Hwy M, I was driving a little over speed limit and I was terrified, I was thinking of the mirage that gets created in front of your eyes when you’ve been driving for a while. I was afraid my senses will trick me into making a mistake, but over a period I calmed down. It helped that I had company, that I was listening to songs I hadn’t heard before and I was talking. We stopped once for gas, picked up a cinnamon coffee (why is it important to note this down, I don’t know, maybe nothing is or maybe everything is, who decides anyway whether it’s relevant or not?). The roads were picturesque, and slowly I was beginning to enjoy it. I was also getting the knack of it - of driving - when to overtake, when to let go. I was beginning to figure out how and where I’m comfortable resting my hands, how my car behaves at a certain speed and small things. Our next stop was around 7:30 pm at Watersmeet I guess, it was getting dark with a slow drizzle starting just then. We had dinner, picked up beer, there was a guy who suggested Mangorita, and so we grabbed a can of that too. By the time we took the wheels again it had started pouring.

The rains came from all sides, there was no street lights and I was driving. We were glad when we had a car in front of us whose back lights sort of guided us, and we hated when something came from the opposite side with its front lights blinding. I’ll remember driving this stretch, that it was really frightening, that I wasn’t thinking, that I almost knew then that we were lost. I was still driving at 60 miles/hour with Abhijeet reminding me now and again to slow down. We entered another road, it was clearly a forest road, narrow and even in that dark we could make out those huge towering trees on both sides. I was afraid of animals too as we were crossing this. By the time we made it to Clark Lake Campground, the rain had thankfully slowed down to a drizzle. Kevin wasn’t picking his phone and even though I knew Kevin’s loop and site number the gps had stopped and it was after 9 and we took a few rounds before we came across people. It made me happy, seeing those people out there, realizing we weren’t exactly lost. We asked the way for Kevin’s campsite, made few wrong turns, asked some more people and finally found him. Thankfully he wasn’t asleep, he offered us to stay in his RV that night as it was raining. I was almost going to accept his offer when Abhijeet said, we’ll try pitching the tent and we’ll let him know if we can’t make it. Later he’d tell me he didn’t want to ‘inconvenience’ Kevin and also so that we can be free and we can gossip.

We took another campsite not adjacent to, but near Kevin, in the same loop. It was still drizzling a little, and cold. We kept the headlights on the car and we started pitching the tent. It was a first for both of us, Jered had shown me how to do it but on higher level, sort of like this goes here and then pull like this and it’s done. So, we struggled in the dark and in the rain. But like I say we are engineers and it’s our job to figure things out. It was the perfect tent but it was done. We wrapped the rain flap in a haphazard manner, postponing to perfect it the next day. We took our sleeping bags and jackets inside, we took torch, water and that can of Mangorita. We were already feeling that sense of accomplishment at managing to pitch that tent, and that dash of beer was slowly getting into my system. I wasn’t drunk, I was just getting a little tipsy. It was a nice warm feeling on that cold, rainy night, at overcoming the first hurdle sort of. I slept early (he’d complain about it later in another trip that I didn’t talk much, that I slept). I woke up in the middle of night because I had to go to the washroom but I was afraid. And I didn’t want to wake him. I don’t know how long I stayed awake tossing and turning. I was also cold, the sleeping bags weren’t exactly enough. After a while I told myself that I needed to go out, I was going to do it alone. But he woke up and I was grateful because he accompanied me and waited for me. Sometimes I wonder how silly fear is, and what it is exactly that we are afraid of.

We woke up to a sunny day, the temperature was still in lower 50s of Fahrenheit so for me it was still cold but the sun seemed so welcoming. We went around Kevin’s tent who offered us the use of his stove and we made breakfast, bread and cheese for me, bread and scrambled eggs for Abhijeet. And then we made plans, Kevin helped in this. So after breakfast Kevin drove us to the Sylvania Outfitters where we rented a canoe. The tandem kayak wasn’t too comfortable for me, is a nice way of saying I was too fat to get into it and comfortable come out. So, it had to be a canoe. After struggling for a while trying to hitch the canoe in Kevin’s truck, we decided to pay those guys to transport it for us. The drive in Kevin’s pickup was also nice that day, we saw what we drove into last night, and the maple trees were just starting their color change. Kevin also told us about moose and deer and I was just thinking about it all. I was thinking about the time and place and how I ended up being there. For me this will always be the image of North or UP - roads flanked by pine trees, the image first formed during that drive in Kevin’s pickup.

We went to Crooked Lake, where our canoe was waiting for us. Kevin had his red kayak. I had taken a “Canoeing for beginners” class at the Urban Ecology Centre, it had seemed a nice way to spend a Saturday then. I knew some of the basics but this was still a huge lake. So, it was another first for us, but no one was complaining and we got into the lake. It was a beautiful day, with the sun out and wind was almost perfect. We started paddling, making mistakes and then figuring out, learning, enjoying. The blue expanse of the lake, the beginning of Fall, the clouds floating and bluer than the lake the blue sky. The water was clear, we could see the weeds floating below. We went around the lake, there was a small passage which opened into a bigger spread of water. If you ask me I will tell you that I was having the time of my life, it was the surroundings which were weaving that magic. I remember the color “blue”, I remember laughing freely, feeling happy and contented and in harmony with that atmosphere. There’s this clichéd saying that sometimes the forces of universe unite to make something happen, for me that day still looks as if it was woven with wonder, beauty and magic. Nature in one of its most unadulterated state, it reminds me now of that Emily Dickinson’s poem: “I taste a liquor never brewed”.

We reached our campsite after 3 pm, cooked Maggi for lunch. Kevin offered to drop our PFDs at the gear shop as he was heading out for the town. We lingered here and there deciding against a post afternoon nap (argument: shouldn’t be wasting our time sleeping on a camping trip). We thought we can check out the day care area by the beach and take a shower. So, that’s what we did. It took me 15 minutes to figure out how the shower worked, why do they make the showers operate differently every place escapes me. There’s a dialogue in the movie “Once upon a time in the West” where the protagonist says something about a tub of boiling water restoring everything and she had used it in a different context. But it has stuck with me and I remember it now and again, my version is saying to myself, “There’s nothing that a hot tub/shower of water can’t fix”. And as an afterthought maybe it’s trivializing, and it doesn’t always work. But I don’t remember stepping out of a shower and not feeling a tad bit better, or at least till now. I’m not daring you Grief with a hot shower as my weapon. So, the shower did good, felt a lot better and then we walked by the beach. For me beaches are always related to sea, so I stop for a moment when I use the words “shore” or “beach” for these fresh water lakes.

The sun was still up, we spent some time practicing ripple effect. Or he teaching me how to throw flat stones in what angle etc. After a considerable time, I managed to make 2-3 ripples and called it a day. We chased some squirrels and chipmunks, clicked photos, went on a short trail and were back in our camp just by the time the sun was setting. Kevin had put up a fire, so we went to join him. We sat by the fire and exchanged stories, Abhijeet had his first smores. We roasted corn and more marshmallows, and a 6 pack that we shared with Kevin. I had asked him if he had any kids and he said they had a daughter who died very young. I hated myself for asking, and made a mental note in my head to never ask it to anyone again. And I sat there and thought of life and how everybody has to deal with their own issues, with people who come and go, with loneliness. Kevin was saying how one of his ex-girlfriend had got him into canoeing. And about nearby parks and places that we should check out. We stayed till we had used up all the logs, then we said good bye to Kevin and left. It was dark. What I remember now was the expanse of the sky and those countless stars in it. I remember supporting my head on the hood of car and just staring above and not being able to shrug of that feeling of awe at being able to witness it. I would realize it much later that we actually saw a part of Milky Way very clearly that night. We thought we should walk till the lake but it was pitch dark and I got afraid and voiced out loud my fears which probably frightened him so we ended up not going there and now I wish we had seen the reflections of the stars in that lake.

We woke up next morning, Kevin had packed and left. We planned on checking out some waterfall and then head back home. We packed the tent and checked out at the front gate. The ranger there who was kind of cute suggested Bond Falls so that was where we went. The weather was nice and sunny and after an hr or so of drive we reached the Falls. We started at the bottom near the foot of the Falls. I was happy that I could go till the water, I sort of hopped till there. The water was cold but it was fun, and we got good pics. We hiked our way till the top, walking adjacent to the falls, stopping here and there wherever Abhijeet’s “photographer’s perspective” bade him. The water formed sort of silken cascades and there were various viewpoints to take in the ‘flowage’. We reached the top of the Falls and saw a way to the dam. And I’m glad we decided to check it out. After the gushing waterfall our eyes were treated to the still water and there was a strange sense of peace or stillness pervading there. I sat by the rocks to take in the view and we got a panorama shot. And I realize just now while penning this down that the details are already escaping me. Anyways we started from there, it was way past noon. There was some other river that we stopped by, by this time I was asking Abhijeet to drive. Since I had driven I knew that all we had were straight roads and less or no traffic. So, he drove us and we made another adventure out of it.

I reminisced when Titun had taught me how to ride a motorcycle on our way back from Deomali, and I knew that there’s a certain pleasure to be derived from driving and especially in those roads. Also, when I was driving I had to concentrate on the roads and I was glad to have a break. And he had good instincts so it was fun and interesting. We stopped by a pizza hut for a late lunch, and we talked on our careers and this and that. He was narrating incidents from his campus interviews. It was also during that lunch that I would come to know for the first time that he would be leaving for Plymouth in another month or two. And the slightest tinge of sadness that I felt. We started from there, and I guess he still drove another two hrs (we also made a video as a proof) before finally handing me over the wheels. We listened to songs while I drove and reached Milwaukee a little after 6 on Sunday.

It was a lot of ‘firsts’ and that is another reason why this will always hold a special place in my heart for me. I fell in love with UP Michigan because of this trip. I made and I understood that we needed friends at all stages in life. I realized that I could never have done this alone, that it made all the difference in the world because I had company. I also got confident about driving, this trip alone did what three months hadn’t done. I knew my car better. This trip made me feel like we achieved some things, mostly because of the driving but it also felt like we got a lot of things done. Like in some places I leave a part of me, in this case I carried and brought along something back with me – that’s the closest I can explain in terms of words.