Porcupine Mountains - Day 4 (October 6, 2020)

Today was the last full day of Girls' Camp and we wanted to make the most of our time together. We began with the UNION SPRING TRAIL, a 4 mile round trip. We started out on an old logging road, passing by some old logging sites. Of course, Helen had to wash her boots in the Little Union River before we crossed the bridge. Every time Helen found the blue symbol for our trail, she would shout, "I see it!" Thanks to her vigilance, we never got close to getting lost, though this trail was much less traveled than others (that was Daddy's fear for us on our girls' hikes... he must know Mom's sense of direction - he even bought us several emergency supplies, just in case). We only saw two couples on our way in and one on our way out. Both of the first couples warned us about the amount of mud we were going to encounter.

Our destination: Union Spring, the 2nd largest natural spring in Michigan. The water remains 42F, bubbling out at 700 gal/minute. 

The bench by Union Spring was a good place to stop and eat a granola bar.

The first part of our route (the logging road) was flat and easy, but Helen whined a lot about being tired. Once we crossed over the Union River bridge, it became VERY muddy. But Helen LOVED the challenge of trying to get around the mud holes.  There was no way that Mom could make it through the mud with her hiking boots... on this particular hike, they began to come apart at the sole and we could see Mom's toes (Helen took this picture below). It also would have been very easy for Helen's boots to become stuck in the mud. Oh, man, was it an ADVENTURE! We laughed, sang, and tried to spot ways around the giant patches of mud. Helen really enjoyed being the one to lead us on our winding way.  

On the way back from Union Spring, it got comical. BOTH Mom's boots started to split. Helen had to relieve herself (her first time peeing in the woods, which she found hilarious). Thankfully, Mom had just been reading "Adventuring Together" by Greta Eskridge and knew to pack toilet paper and a bag for the used tp. Every time we made it through a challenging mud section (about every 10 yards or so, it seemed), we'd sing out, "Ding, ding!" It felt like we'd crossed a marathon finish line when we got back to this bridge over Union River, knowing we'd made it back through the muddiest sections of the trail.

We paused after the bridge over the Union River to eat a snack on the picnic table on our way back. Helen couldn't believe that tiny, one room cabin was actually a place people could stay. 

On the last bit, after we got back to the old miner road, Mom's boot was really losing it. Or, as Helen said, "Your boots will really rue this day, Mom!" And Helen was loosing steam also. So we made a deal that every time she saw a blue trail marker, she could have 2 or 3 pieces of trail mix. She'd decide as we hiked which kind of pieces she would eat when we spotted the next one - raisins, peanuts, or M&M's (she left the almonds for Mom). 

At the last 100 yards, Mom jumped over a mud pit... and the sole of her left boot stayed behind! So she picked it up and kept walking, amidst quite a bit of laughter. Back at the truck, we ate our sandwiches and planned our next move. We had one more hike we wanted to do, so we decided to check at the Visitor Center if they had any duct tape so the boots could be cobbled together. The two employees working the desk were greatly amused as they watch Mom wrap her toes in packing tape (no duct tape was available, but beggars can't be choosers). 

We headed back out for one last adventure in the Porkies: the NONESUCH MINE TRAIL. This is the site of an abandoned copper mine and the remains of a small ghost town. In 45 years it opened and closed five times under different ownership - never successfully, except briefly in 1879-1881. 

When we arrived and parked it started to rain, so we ate some more snacks in the truck and waited it out. 

The piles of rocks are old foundations.

Halfway along the trail, Helen complained that her baby toe hurt and we worried she might be getting a blister. So we took off her boot and put on a bandaid. She hobbled along after that (we really looked like a gimpy pair with her limping and Mom's taped up boots!). When we got to a part in the trail where the path narrowed and went steeply downhill, Mom asked, "What do you think? Should we turn back? Or should we keep going?" Immediately after Mom suggested we keep going BOOM! Thunder crashed. "Well, I guess God's answering my question!" Mom replied. So we turned around, pausing only a bit to take a separate small path down to the river where we could get a closer view of the river cascades and the stone foundations.

Several "Danger" signs warn not to get close to the crumbling rock foundations of the old buildings in the Nonesuch Mining town. "Momma, if you aren't supposed to go near the rocks, why did they put the path right next to them?"

On our way back through the clearing, we realized this was the old orchard area that the DNR employee had told us about. He said the apple trees had been planted by those who used to live in this small town and we were welcome to eat them. Mom thought it would be so cool to pick them. The trouble was, they were too high to reach. Mom slowly circled the tree, contemplating how she could climb the tree in defective boots, or, possibly, boost Helen up. "What do you think? Should try to climb it?" Mom asked. Immediately there was a second giant BOOM of thunder. "Umm, Momma," Helen quickly replied, "I think God just said no!" So we listened and walked back to the truck!

The day became the end of the line for the 20 year old hiking boots from Brezno, Slovakia. We had wanted to go back to the playground in Wakefield on our way to our cabin. Dad and Uncle Levi were driving to Wakefield also to stop at the store, so they met us at the park and we showed them Mom's boots... which had finally and really died; the sole fell off again until just as we arrived at the playground. Thankfully, we'd learned to bring an extra pair of shoes when we went into the wilderness park after a few mud/water incidents and Mom changed into her tennis shoes for the playground. However, just as we got out to play, the rain hit in earnest. So we decided just to get ice cream for dinner instead. 

Back at our cabin, we packed up, cleaned up, and showered. Mom was so thankful she had been wearing her one thick pair of wool socks when her boots failed... and those were only clean because Mom had washed them with Henry's muddy pants after he had fallen three times in the Lake of the Clouds mud. It would have been tough to hike in normal socks once that boot sole fell off!

That night we opened more glow sticks - cue the unbridled joy of a six year old. We lay in our beds, chatting and giggling for a long time. It felt like a true slumber party. Momma is very grateful to have a relationship like this with this sweet girl. It was at this moment that we decided we will always do something special together when the boys go to hunting camp!