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| We left our base-camp set-up and paddled along the East side of the island with our boats unencumbered with camping gear. The royal blue sky and water stood in contrast to the bleached white sandy dunes, which now towered above us. |
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| As we rounded the Southeast corner of the island, we could see a series of fishing boats working their way back and forth along an imaginary line about � mile from shore. As Paul and I studied our navigational charts, we could see that the boats were fishing along a steep drop-off. This spot was probably rich with schools of large lake trout. What a joy a trout dinner would be after several days of eating pasta and rice. |
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| On the East side of the island, we went ashore for lunch. We found an old, abandoned house, which was labeled "Bourniques". The Bourniques had not lived here for many years. The wood siding was weathered silver. The cedar shingle roof had long ago lost its ability to protect the structure from the weather. The roof of the house-long wood porch had collapsed. |
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| We launched our boats and continued our journey. Further down the shore, a clearing was labeled "Rita`s Place". We knew from previous hiking trips to the island that Rita Rusco used to have a summer house in this spot. At 77 years old, Rita was finally evicted from the island by the National Park Service. Her presence did not fit into the park`s wilderness designation for the island; however, those of us who knew her enjoyed the chance to stop by and hear stories of her younger days when the island was a thriving farming civilization. My son Andrew always looked forward to the pop and candy bar that she would never fail to offer. Her house was removed by the park service without even a splinter to be found. |
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| Next, we paddled to the historic Coast Guard station, which is now the island Ranger Station for the Park Service. We went ashore to examine the old boathouse and Coast Guard living quarters. No one was around except for a resident Botanist. His boss had allowed him the entire summer to record each plant and tree species on the island. He explained that the row of poplars had been planted probably 100 years ago to help ancient mariners find the life-saving station. |
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| Eventually, we paddled back to our camp spot on the South side of the island. Now the Northwest wind and waves were at our sterns. As we had paddled that day, someone hiking the beach placed a cross in the beach sand near our camp. This seemed ironic since our camp could not be seen from the beach. The cross was made with 2 small pieces of driftwood tied together with pieces of dune grass. To me, it`s difficult to spend much time among God`s creation and not be overwhelmed by a sense of wonder. Apparently I`m not alone in my feelings. |
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| The weather forecast called for thunderstorms the following day. So, Paul and I decided to break camp and paddle back to the South Manitou island. This would place us in a better position for the eventual crossing back to the mainland. Again, the sun was low when we finally arrived at the South island. The bay was crowded with sailboats returning from the Mackinaw Island race. Paul and I prayed that one of the designated campsites would be free. We were able to lay claim to the last unoccupied campsite. Later, we noticed a small cross tied in the tree directly above where we had pitched our tent. It was carved from 2 small pieces of driftwood tied together with string. |
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| That night, from the beach, we enjoyed the Northern lights until we were too tired to stay up any longer. Isolated from any city lights, the sky took on a three-dimensional appearance. The brilliant larger stars seemed closer than the smaller faint stars. The stars glistened in front of a velvety, black backdrop. |
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| Day 6 (Friday 7/21/00) |
| Today, as the forecast had predicted, we experienced one thunderstorm after another. We hiked, drank coffee, and carved driftwood. We waited and watched the storms from under our tarp. |
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| In the afternoon, we hiked to the island Ranger Station. Two frantic teenagers approached the Station to report that their Dad`s sailboat had gone adrift. They pointed to a tiny boat bobbing around near the horizon. We were surprised to learn that the boat was actually 27ft long and had already drifted several miles out into the Manitou Passage. Ranger Patrick saved the day by piloting the Park Service`s Boston Whaler through the dark, angry seas to the helpless sailboat. We watched through a telescope as the sailboat owner took several minutes go gain the courage to jump from the Boston Whaler onto his tossing vessel. This was a nice day to be on dry land. |
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| Day 7 (Saturday 7/22/00) |
| Today was stormy. We hiked some more, drank more coffee, and carved more driftwood. |
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| Day 8 (Sunday 7/23/00) |
| Today the weather was right for the crossing from the South Manitou island back to Glen Haven. A 10 knot wind was blowing out of the Northwest. The wind, along with the 3 foot waves pushed us all the way home. We completed the pleasant 8.5 mile paddle in less than 2 hours. We were about 3 miles into the crossing when we stopped at the edge of the shipping channel to wait for a northbound freighter. Much like a squirrel crossing the highway, we waited until the freighter had passed our path and we paddled onward. The overcast sky matched our moods as we paddled away from the islands. |
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| Our crossing ended as we landed on the sandy beach in Glen Haven. We sadly unloaded the gear from our boats, and loaded the boats onto my truck. As we drove home, we began to plan next summer`s trip back to North and South Manitou. Next year, maybe we`ll extend the trip to include the North and South Fox islands�. We just have to make it through the winter first. |
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