Day 9 - Exploring High Island
I’m starting to feel my boat routine kick in. I am waking up before Captain and have my time to do Spanish (if I have any reception) and then type up my log. I’m curious if I will have the space to set up my lap top when the boat is full of sleeping teenagers and if I will be reduced to trying to type this by thumbs on my cell phone. I hope not.
We had a relaxing morning of breakfast tacos, prepping dinner and a quick shore trip for Kona. Another small craft came in mid-morning and beached their aluminum craft on the beach up at the tip of the beach where the bird sanctuary is. A fellow came walking down the beach and we chatted with him a short moment. They are from the DNR out here to count birds and bats and all that. We let him continue on his way.
We walked a little down the beach to the south to find the remains of the small population that used to live here. From the satellite we could tell this was the trail head to the west side of the island. I have read as much as I could on this hike and all I could find was “over grown, full of poison ivy.” That didn’t deter Captain or myself! This island used to have a Mormon colony on it (back when Beaver Island had its Mormon history) but there is very little information. We do know there is a legend that before King James Strang (the only King to ever exist in the USA) was murdered he had laid his treasure on this island, “30 paces from a very prominent tree on the north east side of the island” (where we are right now). The problem is, soon after he buried it, he was killed, the Mormons left and the House of David from Benton Harbor came up here to farm and the island. Both of these populations lived among a small Ottawa fishing tribe here. And for a short time High Island became a lumbering hot spot. The entire island was felled. Big tree….gone! Treasure still to be found! The state has now owned the island for well over 50 years. All that is left are relics, some over grown fields from the House of David days and wildlife protected beaches.
We headed back to Ciara to put on socks and full shoes. My flip flops were not going to suffice today. I hemmed and hawed about putting on my long sleeves and pants that were pre-sprayed with bug repellant. In the end I chose to wear the pre-sprayed socks, pack my long sleeve shirt and grabbed the head nets and “body net” kit I had bought. I grabbed the OFF spray, some homemade beef jerky and water and we headed out.
The hike started pretty innocent enough. It was pretty well defined for the first ¼ of the 1.5 mile hike. We quickly came upon two old DNR huts where were abandoned, I think, in 2008. The last write up I could find on these cabins was they were still being used by hunters and those seeking shelter up to about 2013. But for now, they are in complete ruin. The roofs are caving in. There used to be posted signs of disease carrying rats in and around the huts. We just took pictures and didn’t touch a thing. Kinda creepy to see the huts just abandoned with old “stovetop stuffing” boxes and spices sitting out. Ancient appliances that, had they not been abandoned, would probably still be working! The DNR did have a post in the clearing with a microphone. Our guess is they are listening for the birds?
The trail continued pretty well marked from there. There was a bit of trampling overgrown evergreen ground shrubs, but so far so good. We came to the first and largest clearing. There was again another DNR post there so we knew we were on the right track. I wish I would have liked this part of the hike, but it proved to be the beginning of the end for me. The ground shrubs in the clearing crackled beneath our feet while overgrowth starting scratching my legs. It was here that the bugs would descend on you if you stopped moving for a moment. The trail quickly went from rough to non-existent. Captain, who had brought a good knife (sadly we forgot the machete and will pick that up in a few weeks) and had been hacking away to clear a path already, was now hacking full time as we re-entered the woods on the west side of the field.
I had enough sense to start a tracking app of our hike pretty early and the hike, as far as we could tell, was pretty much due west, straight. About half way across the island when I had already given up but Captain was insistent to make it, I asked for a small break and I quickly donned my long sleeve shirt, my head net and put on the non-flattering net pants. I stopped complaining a lot after that. I was very nervous about all the plant life bushing our legs and the bugs. If we ended up with poison ivy or thousands of bites the next few weeks were going to be miserable. With better protection, my only worry was how hard the return trek was going to be as we were really bushwhacking.
We continued on at a snail pace. We came to mud, small water crossings that were too much so we had to detour though even thicker brush to avoid them. The hike was a relentless mix of “wow, look at this beautiful easy to walk forest.” And “oh my, get me out of here, how on earth will we ever find our way back?”
At one point of the hike, Captain stopped dead in his track about 30 feet ahead of me. He then let out a scream like a little girl. In that short moment all I could think was “We don’t have large animals on this island, or at least I don’t’ think we do!” Then I saw a small brown flash jump out at Captain. I swear by all that is holy, to me….it looked like a Pokémon! Kona’s instinct to catch the ultimate squeaky toy and to protect her Captain took over and she took to the chase. The darn thing ran for a moment and then took off! Too small for a chicken Captain said, so maybe a Cornish hen?? We laughed pretty hard.
Along the way we would find more relics that encouraged us that we were on the right path. Old farm equipment. A frame to an old Model T. Wheel hubs. From the research I had found on this hike we didn’t see all the relics which means we missed them off the trail or they had completely been laid to ruin. We found old foundations and even found more relics on the return that we walked right past the first time that melted into the environment.
Eventually my satellite tracking was telling me I was getting close to the sand dune I had decided had to be the where we were headed. All we knew was there were great views on the west dunes and had one very old, non-detailed map. The forest opened up and I noticed a WALL of nature in front of us. There, overgrown in thick forest was the back side of the Dune. We were a bit devastated. How on earth were we going up that? I had no patience for it at that point. I had no promise that if we scaled it, we would even be in the right place. We walked along the base for awhile but we were really just headed south at that point and decided this would be our turn around. Maybe we can come back and trail blaze up that dune as now I do think it was the right spot. I’d like to head to Beaver Island and talk to the locals first though.
The return trip was much faster. I had hoped Captains hacking away a path would make it easier. The forest was very dense however and that was a no go. Thankfully my gps tracking saved the day. We were able to retrace our steps almost exactly and were back at the beach by 4.
Kona was so happy to see the water again that when she first smelled it from the hike she immediately started to vocalize her excitement.
We were so gross and the boat was so gross that when we got back we picked up the bucket and cleaned off the decks of 80% of the may flies. We headed up deck to the bow and where our solar shower was. Not a soul within 5 miles at least we stripped down and took deck showers. We air dried in the breeze and were thankful for our first clean up in a week.
Dinner was my mothers famous and family favorite Flank Steak. By the time dishes were done (Captain did them as I was very tired) I had to take a quick nap. I asked to be waken at 8:45, but awoke on my own at 9:30. ☹ We took Kona to shore for her night walk. I played Taps, late, and Captain blew his conch shell. The echo of that deep low tone shell went on for nearly 10 seconds. We listened to the tiny car alarms on shore for a bit and enjoyed the May flies taking a short break from engulfing our boat and called it a night around 11:30.
