This year's annual camping trip turned out to be a huge bust, unfortunately. In the past, my brother and sister and I have gone up to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to camp, fish, ride quads, etc. This year we decided not to go up there because of the burn ban that was in effect for the UP. (Camping isn't much fun if you can't have a campfire.) Instead, we went up to the northeastern portion of Michigan to the Huron National Forest area. While the area up there is still very pretty and much like the UP in many ways, its weather wasn't quite as welcoming. The first full day we were there (which was Sunday, September 9th), was the brightest warmest day we had. From there, it went downhill.
Sunday night, my brother and his wife arrived right around dark. The temperatures had already begun to drop. After getting them settled in, we went to bed.
Monday wasn't too bad a day if my memory serves me right. It's all a blur now. We went into town, did some mild shopping for supplies and hung around the site. That afternoon and through the night it rained. We woke up Tuesday morning soaking wet and cold in the tent. A short time later, we warmed ourselves by the fire, drank coffee, and grabbed a shower. That afternoon, my brother and I sent the women to the laundromat to dry our sleeping bags and towels, while we gathered firewood and tried to dry out the tent and everything else. Later that evening, two severe storms rolled in from the north. The first one had hail, bad lightning, and a wicked wind. The second wasn't quite as gnarly as the first, but still annoying to say the least. The storms stopped just in time for dusk and skies began to clear. The clouds disappeared and the stars grew clearer as the night's temperatures dropped into the lower 40's. By Wednesday morning, we'd had enough. They were forecasting more rain for the week ahead, and we decided we didn't want to endure any more sopping wet days. Thus, our camping excursion for 2007 came to an abrupt end as we packed up and headed for home.
This will be the end of my camping days for now. I won't continue to be at the mercy of mother nature from here on out. It's too un-relaxing. We put too much work and forethought into the trip as a whole to have it ruined by bad weather. My brother told me that it sounded like the end of an era, and to an extent, he's probably right. Ever since the early nineties we'd been camping in the UP, with only a few years off here and there. My brother and I have personally and consecutively been going up there for nearly 8 years. So, in a way, I am ending an era. I just can't do it any more. Not to say we won't go up there again, but it certainly won't be in a tent.
My sister managed to snap a few pictures from the trip. I'll upload those probably tomorrow.
~Jonathon
