SPRING EXPEDITION 2009 !!
Well the next trip is coming into light. I said I was returning to the wilderness or the roots of my youth. I just purchased a Kevlar expedition Sea Kayak. My skills in the next few months and over the winter will to become fully knowledgeable in Sea Kayaking. My skills with a canoe are very good but this will be much faster and more relaxed way to travel. I will be circumnavigating the great Lake Superior. It’s back to the North Country and where I feel more comfortable with myself and my world.
Lake Superior, or Gitchagumee as the Indians refer to it, is 2700 hundred miles around. It’s the largest body of fresh water in the world. The average depth is 600 feet, the deepest of the five great lakes. It will take me around four months to complete this, averaging 20 miles or so a day. I’m going to film the trip and make a DVD about the journey this time. I’m excited about the trip. My son lives up around Marquette and he will be joining me on some of the trip with a Sea Kayak we will rent for a couple of weeks. He will get to do this with his DAD before going off to college next fall. My son has lived in the U.P all of his life and loves the North Country as much as I do.
I have been all over Lake Superior by vehicle. I canoed Isle Royal National Park for two weeks two summers ago and have been to Pictured Rocks many times backpacking. I have been to Grand Isle, Mackinaw Isle and The Apostle Islands. I will be going to Pictured Rocks this Labor Day and Kayak Pictured Rocks for some practice. I have posted some pictures of my Kayak on Into the Wild on my Myspace page. I will post my video of the Pictured Rocks trip when I get back after Labor Day. I still have some more gear to purchase this winter, like wet dry bags a primus stove and a mountain light tent. After the trip around Lake Superior I will be heading south for the winter. My plan is to go down to Baja around Cozumel, Mexico this time for the winter.
I have been working as much as I can this summer to put enough money away to be off for the next year doing what it is I love, explore life. I will start in Sault Ste Marie Michigan and go around Michigan and Minnesota then up into Canada and finish back in the Sault where I went to college. The trip will be in conjunction with Earth Peace and the organization to protect and preserve the Great Lakes. I hope maybe I can raise a little money to contribute to there cause. I will have a few papers cover the story; of course the Ludington Daily News is already on board with it. There are so many beautiful places along Lake Superior I can’t wait to witness them by water. Swimming will be out of the question considering Lake Superior never gets above 47 degrees, even in the summer months. I have swum in it like three times and you will become numb in like 5-10 minutes time. Well it’s off to look at some more gear and find a good dry bag for my video and a water-proof housing for my digital camera.
Wanderer Out!!!
