The wife and I headed to North Manitou Island this weekend. The island is 12 miles off the coast of Michigan's pinkie and is 8x4 miles in size. I've been there before for a fall deer hunt but never was able to hike the trail around the island. We had a great time hiking the full perimeter this time. We left the mainland on Friday afternoon, hiked the full loop, and returned on the Sunday morning ferry. A week before the trip I proposed to my wife that we may want to bring our smaller packs and therefore both stay in hammocks. She was good to stay in hammocks so I started gathering up my gear. I have used my WBB 1.0 for the past couple years and I am completely outfitted to use that hammock from below freezing in the fall/spring (and one winter hike) to the summer storms. My wife got that one. From all my extra things I was able to create a second hammock kit that I could use (crinkle Dream Hammock with Whoopies and tree straps). I grabbed my fleece UQ I made when I got into this at the last second and I'm very glad I did! The chance of rain was 20% on Friday and 10% on Saturday: we did not expect rain. I brought only my Wilderness Logics Big Daddy tarp for a "just in case" of a sprinkle. Saturday night was a monsoon! The rain and lightning all night long was incredible. Rain coming down so hard it was a drone, not a collection of individual drops. I was able to find 3 trees to rig both hammocks on and get complete coverage under the tarp. My wife stayed perfectly dry all night, I did not have drip lines on my Whoopies and got soaked. By the time I felt the first bit of water (on my back), the hammock had already soaked completely from my feet to my chest. I got up and added some paracord drip lines to allow myself maybe 3 hours of sleep that night. We were then up at 6am and on the trail for the 5 miles back to the dock.
Now for some pictures:
The view from the East shore of Lake Manitou:
One of the vehicles that made it to the island in the early 1900's:
Lake Michigan (with South Manitou in the background):
Pasta with my wife's homemade hiking sauce:
A couple of the many deer we saw:
Look in the center of the photo just above the ridgeline...
Bacon and hashbrowns for breakfast:
A nap:
Both hammocks under the tarp (before the rain came):
Enjoying the last of the sun:
Risotto for dinner:
Hiking back to the dock after the storm:
There was some giant millipede migration going on. These guys were on the trail about every 20 paces the whole trip:
One of many Garter Snakes:
The village area by the dock is very well maintained. All but two of the buildings are government property and the single maintenance worker keeps them all in good shape:
Back at Fish Town for an awesome sandwich at the Cheese Shanty:
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Originally Posted by HamMike
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