GO BACKPACKING MORE

Three of my girlfriends and I ended up taking the trek to South Manitou Island… it was the best trip ever! We did however make the planning phase a whole lot harder then it needed to be (out packs were heavier then they needed to be anyway).

We took the ferry out to the island, and stayed 2 nights/3 days. At one point we got lost with no GPS, only one cantean, and one bag of trail mix. Our 3 mile planned hike ended up being an 8 mile serious trek through an old growth cedar forest, up and down sand dunes (which included a 350ft drop-awesome), and around the outskirts of the island. I’m glad this little unplanned adventure happened though… we got to see parts of the island that very few people get to experience. However, the next day we were more prepared.

Great trip overall. After our camping trek, we headed over to my friends cabin and really treated ourselves. We took nice loooooong hot showers, slept in comfy beds, and had a few night caps on the boat on the lake.

Oh how I love the outdoors!

I just purchased my first official pack (not a makeshift day pack) yesterday!! YAY! My friend and I decided to check out REI for a water purifier. I always get SOOO excited when I walk into that store that I start shaking. No, seriously. Shaking. Anyway, so I decided that I finally had enough money to buy a pack that would actually last a few years. So I am now the proud owner of a Kelty Coyote 4500! I am also proud to say that the pack is the ONLY thing that I walked out of the store with. Usually it’s a different story.

We are hoping to do weekend trip to Up-North Michigan, South Manitou Island. Should be a good trip, but I really need to start planning. EEEK.