Isle Royale: A moment and a reflection

Video taken from the trail between Daisy Farm and Three Mile on Isle Royale - August 2013

8.23.13  Morning Reflection

For a first time backpacking trip, I couldn't have planned a better experience.  The place, pace, and weather have all been perfect.  Eight miles/day feels productive but still enjoyable.  I'm not crazy about having 40 lbs on my back, but I do have an appreciation for the places and feelings you can only get to by removing yourself from "real life" and the "modern world" by food for more than a day...which is to say, even though I'm covered in bug bites, sore everywhere, and a stinky dirtball, I'd be open, given the right company and destination, to backpacking again.

I love that I'm never very far from a lake here and that pumping water with hiking pals, a moose presentation, or watching dragonflies is the main social event of the evening.  I like the familiar feeling of the "trail community" and that no one has anything better to do than look at the land and be friendly.  It's interesting that in less than a week away, flush toilets, electricity, and showers seem like luxuries - novel and a little excessive - and that handpicked thimbleberries throughout the day and planning a day around a sunrise have become normal.  It's beautiful when everyone, together, moves slow enough to notice what's around them.  I wonder what it would be like if the whole world could see and move and be this way.