Leaving the School House

The stubborn,willful me or the too embarrassed to call my wife me, won out. I am going to leave the "School House" and head to Benton Lake National Forest campground.

Breakfast consisted of Terriyaki Rice and coffee. I also scrounged up a fruit cup from the cabin refrigerator. I wrote a thank-you note and left a $20.00 bill. When you are on the trail any help is much appreciated.

It was misty and cold so I packed carefully and put on my rain gear again. Everything was pretty well dry so I was reasonably comfortable. On the down side I could still feel the ill effects of the bone deep cold from yesterday's trek.

Part of me did not want to tackle the trail today. I am tired, it is cold and it is wet again. Once I made up my mind I new I would eventually have to start the day so around 11:00 a.m. I left the warmth of the cabin and headed out.

The NCTA had helped with a connector trail called the White Birch trail. The trailhead was only just down the road and it looked interesting as it would pass through a designated nature area on its way to hooking up with the NCT.

On the trail again. The damp cold started to bother me almost as soon as I started. Residual effect from yesterday. I kept moving and even though the rest stops allowed the cold to seep into the core of my body I knew they were mandatory if I was going to make it the 12 plus miles to the campground.

The nature center area, even though I knew it would be in full bloom in a couple of weeks, was rather barren and uninteresting. The plants were in their early stages. Typically I am very interested in this type of nature area as local vegetation was marked and identified. Too cold and wet to appreciate what little was there now.

I did meet a nice couple who were just starting to hike as a form of exercise and entertainment. They might of picked the wrong day to start this new interest. I talked to them for a few minutes and headed back down the trail toward the NCT.

Assuming I would make it to the campground, my plan was to buy some firewood at the campground store so that I could get a hot fire going. Once the fire was hot I knew that the dead fall and branches I would find would keep it going, wet or not.

I was running out of supplies so my new plan was to spend the night at Benton lake and than head back to M-37 and find a store and perhaps a motel for tomorrow night. I knew where a store should be and they would know where the closest motel would be. If there were no motels within 7 miles I would then have to hike all the way to Nichols Lake National Campground. It would be another 12-14 miles tomorrow depending on the proximity of a motel.

Wet and very cold I continued to push to reach Benton Lake. This is no fun. Tonight, even with a fire, I won't be able to fully dry out my gear and the extreme cold would be an unwelcome friend to tomorrow's start.