Ken Pierpont's Blog, page 136
July 23, 2013
North Manitou Journal 2013 (Number 2) Night of Stars
We were determined to get to the dock in time to meet the ferry back to Leland. We were all dreaming of hot coffee, hot food, hot showers, soft beds and flush toilets. None of us wanted to be on the Island another hour. Our adventure had melted down because of an injury. It became a matter of survival. We all knew North Manitou Island would be a good memory, but right now we were ready for civilization.
We spent all day slowly limping around the north end of the island and made camp just before the lightning flashed and the thunder rumbled and the rain came. I lay in the tent praying. I thanked God that He answered my desperate prayer from the night before, that I would be able to get to the dock in time for the ferry. We knew we were within an hour and a half of steady hiking from the dock. We would make it. I prayed that the tent would hold off the rain.
Dan and Wes prayed. Wesley’s prayer was especially memorable. It went like this; “Lord, thank you for this day. I’m glad it’s over.”
The tent was hastily pitched over a fallen tree. To sleep required creativity, but we were weary and the the rhythm of the rain and thunder lulled us all into slumber. Sometime in the night the rain stopped and the wind began to blow. In our haste to make camp we had not secured the rain-fly. It blew off in the night and we were all to weary to replace it until it became too cold to sleep.
Dan and Wes were sharing a sleeping bag because one of the bags was saturated with water (another story for another time). Dan got out of the warmth of the bag to re-attach the rain-fly. I sat up and looked out into the night.
Our tent was on a point jutting out into the lake. Fresh steady wind blew over the site. Around us was the shining lake and above us a universe of stars in the dark sky. Almost everything about the trip had gone wrong but I was surrounded by strong, kind, loyal sons and God was in his heaven. The stars were all in place and I knew I would cherish the memory of this scene for a long time.
Even in a very dark night after a very hard season, God is in His heaven and he has promised one day to make right everything that is wrong in the world. When the walk seems impossible try to surround yourself with a few strong, loving, loyal people and get out to where you can see the night sky and the shining lake.
Some days you just have to lie down and pray, “Lord, thank you for this day. I’m glad it’s over.”
Ken Pierpont
Granville Cottage
Riverview, Michigan
July 23, 2013
North Manitou Journal (Number 2) Night of Stars
We were determined to get to the dock in time to meet the ferry back to Leland. We were all dreaming of hot coffee, hot food, hot showers, soft beds and flush toilets. None of us wanted to be on the Island another hour. Our adventure had melted down because of an injury. It became a matter of survival. We all knew North Manitou Island would be a good memory, but right now we were ready for civilization.
We spent all day slowly limping around the north end of the island and made camp just before the lightning flashed and the thunder rumbled and the rain came. I lay in the tent praying. I thanked God that He answered my desperate prayer from the night before, that I would be able to get to the dock in time for the ferry. We knew we were within an hour and a half of steady hiking from the dock. We would make it. I prayed that the tent would hold off the rain.
Dan and Wes prayed. Wesley’s prayer was especially memorable. It went like this; “Lord, thank you for this day. I’m glad it’s over.”
The tent was hastily pitched over a fallen tree. To sleep required creativity, but we were weary and the the rhythm of the rain and thunder lulled us all into slumber. Sometime in the night the rain stopped and the wind began to blow. In our haste to make camp we had not secured the rain-fly. It blew off in the night and we were all to weary to replace it until it became too cold to sleep.
Dan and Wes were sharing a sleeping bag because one of the bags was saturated with water (another story for another time). Dan got out of the warmth of the bag to re-attach the rain-fly. I sat up and looked out into the night.
Our tent was on a point jutting out into the lake. Fresh steady wind blew over the site. Around us was the shining lake and above us a universe of stars in the dark sky. Almost everything about the trip had gone wrong but I was surrounded by strong, kind, loyal sons and God was in his heaven. The stars were all in place and I knew I would cherish the memory of this scene for a long time.
Even in a very dark night after a very hard season, God is in His heaven and he has promised one day to make right everything that is wrong in the world. When the walk seems impossible try to surround yourself with a few strong, loving, loyal people and get out to where you can see the night sky and the shining lake.
Some days you just have to lie down and pray, “Lord, thank you for this day. I’m glad it’s over.”
Ken Pierpont
Granville Cottage
Riverview, Michigan
July 23, 2013
Stories From My Trail Journal; Night of Stars
We were determined to get to the dock in time to meet the ferry back to Leland. We were all dreaming of hot coffee, hot food, hot showers, soft beds and flush toilets. None of us wanted to be on the Island another hour. Our adventure had melted down because of an injury. It became a matter of survival. We all knew North Manitou Island would be a good memory, but right now we were ready for civilization.
We spent all day slowly limping around the north end of the island and made camp just before the lightning flashed and the thunder rumbled and the rain came. I lay in the tent praying. I thanked God that He answered my desperate prayer from the night before, that I would be able to get to the dock in time for the ferry. We knew we were within an hour and a half of steady hiking from the dock. We would make it. I prayed that the tent would hold off the rain.
Dan and Wes prayed. Wesley’s prayer was especially memorable. It went like this; “Lord, thank you for this day. I’m glad it’s over.”
The tent was hastily pitched over a fallen tree. To sleep required creativity, but we were weary and the the rhythm of the rain and thunder lulled us all into slumber. Sometime in the night the rain stopped and the wind began to blow. In our haste to make camp we had not secured the rain-fly. It blew off in the night and we were all to weary to replace it until it became too cold to sleep.
Dan and Wes were sharing a sleeping bag because one of the bags was saturated with water (another story for another time). Dan got out of the warmth of the bag to re-attach the rain-fly. I sat up and looked out into the night.
Our tent was on a point jutting out into the lake. Fresh steady wind blew over the site. Around us was the shining lake and above us a universe of stars in the dark sky. Almost everything about the trip had gone wrong but I was surrounded by strong, kind, loyal sons and God was in his heaven. The stars were all in place and I knew I would cherish the memory of this scene for a long time.
Even in a very dark night after a very hard season, God is in His heaven and he has promised one day to make right everything that is wrong in the world. When the walk seems impossible try to surround yourself with a few strong, loving, loyal people and get out to where you can see the night sky and the shining lake.
Some days you just have to lie down and pray, “Lord, thank you for this day. I’m glad it’s over.”
Ken Pierpont
Granville Cottage
Riverview, Michigan
July 23, 2013
Stories From My Trail Journal 2013; Night of Stars
We were determined to get to the dock in time to meet the ferry back to Leland. We were all dreaming of hot coffee, hot food, hot showers, soft beds and flush toilets. None of us wanted to be on the Island another hour. Our adventure had melted down because of an injury. It became a matter of survival. We all knew North Manitou Island would be a good memory, but right now we were ready for civilization.
We spent all day slowly limping around the north end of the island and made camp just before the lightning flashed and the thunder rumbled and the rain came. I lay in the tent praying. I thanked God that He answered my desperate prayer from the night before, that I would be able to get to the dock in time for the ferry. We knew we were within an hour and a half of steady hiking from the dock. We would make it. I prayed that the tent would hold off the rain.
Dan and Wes prayed. Wesley’s prayer was especially memorable. It went like this; “Lord, thank you for this day. I’m glad it’s over.”
The tent was hastily pitched over a fallen tree. To sleep required creativity, but we were weary and the the rhythm of the rain and thunder lulled us all into slumber. Sometime in the night the rain stopped and the wind began to blow. In our haste to make camp we had not secured the rain-fly. It blew off in the night and we were all to weary to replace it until it became too cold to sleep.
Dan and Wes were sharing a sleeping bag because one of the bags was saturated with water (another story for another time). Dan got out of the warmth of the bag to re-attach the rain-fly. I sat up and looked out into the night.
Our tent was on a point jutting out into the lake. Fresh steady wind blew over the site. Around us was the shining lake and above us a universe of stars in the dark sky. Almost everything about the trip had gone wrong but I was surrounded by strong, kind, loyal sons and God was in his heaven. The stars were all in place and I knew I would cherish the memory of this scene for a long time.
Even in a very dark night after a very hard season, God is in His heaven and he has promised one day to make right everything that is wrong in the world. When the walk seems impossible try to surround yourself with a few strong, loving, loyal people and get out to where you can see the night sky and the shining lake.
Some days you just have to lie down and pray, “Lord, thank you for this day. I’m glad it’s over.”
Ken Pierpont
Granville Cottage
Riverview, Michigan
July 23, 2013
July 22, 2013
North Manitou Journal 2013 (Number 1) Pretty Clouds Make Ugly Weather
Early in July Kyle, Little Kyle Kenneth, Chuck, Dan, Wes, and I ventured out to North Manitou Island for a backpacking trip. North Manitou Island is a 11 miles out into Lake Michigan off the Lelanau Peninsula. The Lelanau Peninsula is the pinky of Michigan.
Monday was a difficult day but that’s a story for another time. Tuesday we spent the day making our way around the north end of the island. We hiked from Crescent City around to the eastern shore by dark. It was a difficult day. It started in fog and ended in rain. It included comedy tragedy and quicksand. It was hard slow going. The north shore is not good hiking. It’s almost all rocks and stones–tough hiking in good conditions and conditions were not good.
The evening was beautiful. It was cool with stunning cloud formations out over Lake Michigan in the west. The beautiful clouds would bring a bit of ugly weather a little after nightfall. It took us ten hours to get from just north of the site of Crescent City to the northeast corner of the Island. My foot was injured and I hobbled almost every step of the way. The other guys took turns with my pack.
About a half hour before dark I told the guys to go ahead without me and make camp. I didn’t eat the first night. all of us had worked up a pretty good appetite by now. I imagined the luxury of a warm meal and the comfort of my sleeping bag and kept moving forward as the guys went around the bend of the island out of sight.
I made my way step-by-step forward on the stones careful not to turn my ankle. The birds called. The waves lapped rhythmically on the shore. The blue lake lay out to my left. A high sandy bluff toward up on my right. There were a few places where stones gave way to short stretches of sandy beach. I loved those spots where, for a minute or two I could walk along on the hard sand where the water met the shore, but there weren’t many of them. The sun set behind me. In the afterglow I walked on. A nice breeze was now at my back.
I had strapped a bright yellow umbrella chair to my backpack. Sitting out on a point ahead well after dusk I could see the yellow chair waiting for me. The boys had left it behind for me there with a nalgene bottle of water. I stopped to rest just for a minute and drank some water and then poured the water out and made my way along the beach south toward camp. I could tell the rain was coming and didn’t want to get soaked so I kept moving. A few minutes later in the darkness ahead I saw a light coming up along the shore. It was Daniel with a headlamp running to meet me. When he reached me he told me they had made camp. It wasn’t a good camp but it was camp and we should hurry to get there before the rain came. We hurried along the shore as much as I could hurry and I arrived just before the the rain began to fall hard.
We set our tents up close together. There would be no dinner but we hoped we would have a dry place to sleep. We prayed and tried to make a comfortable “nest” in order to sleep, but I think our tent was pitched in the darkness over a fallen tree. Dan, Wes and I shared a tent. In the next tent were Kyle, Kyle Kenneth, and Chuk.
Kyle said; “Do you guys have any water?”
I had ignorantly poured out the last of the water so I could strap an empty bottle to my waist and use my free hand to use a walking staff.
“Don’t worry about it Kyle. We don’t need any water. We’re good. If you go out and purify water now you will get soaked and you will be cold all night.”
“I’m going to get water,” He said.
In five minutes I heard him zipping himself back into his tent then I overheard a tender conversation with little Kyle. He is five and he trudged along without complaining hour after hour wearing his “man week hat” and playing with his knife. He was spent and had fallen asleep.
“Kyle, Kyle, wake up little buddie. Hey son, I have your water for you. There you go. I love you.”
North Manitou Journal (Number 1) Pretty Clouds Make Ugly Weather
Early in July Kyle, Little Kyle Kenneth, Chuck, Dan, Wes, and I ventured out to North Manitou Island for a backpacking trip. North Manitou Island is a 11 miles out into Lake Michigan off the Lelanau Peninsula. The Lelanau Peninsula is the pinky of Michigan.
Monday was a difficult day but that’s a story for another time. Tuesday we spent the day making our way around the north end of the island. We hiked from Crescent City around to the eastern shore by dark. It was a difficult day. It started in fog and ended in rain. It included comedy tragedy and quicksand. It was hard slow going. The north shore is not good hiking. It’s almost all rocks and stones–tough hiking in good conditions and conditions were not good.
The evening was beautiful. It was cool with stunning cloud formations out over Lake Michigan in the west. The beautiful clouds would bring a bit of ugly weather a little after nightfall. It took us ten hours to get from just north of the site of Crescent City to the northeast corner of the Island. My foot was injured and I hobbled almost every step of the way. The other guys took turns with my pack.
About a half hour before dark I told the guys to go ahead without me and make camp. I didn’t eat the first night. all of us had worked up a pretty good appetite by now. I imagined the luxury of a warm meal and the comfort of my sleeping bag and kept moving forward as the guys went around the bend of the island out of sight.
I made my way step-by-step forward on the stones careful not to turn my ankle. The birds called. The waves lapped rhythmically on the shore. The blue lake lay out to my left. A high sandy bluff toward up on my right. There were a few places where stones gave way to short stretches of sandy beach. I loved those spots where, for a minute or two I could walk along on the hard sand where the water met the shore, but there weren’t many of them. The sun set behind me. In the afterglow I walked on. A nice breeze was now at my back.
I had strapped a bright yellow umbrella chair to my backpack. Sitting out on a point ahead well after dusk I could see the yellow chair waiting for me. The boys had left it behind for me there with a nalgene bottle of water. I stopped to rest just for a minute and drank some water and then poured the water out and made my way along the beach south toward camp. I could tell the rain was coming and didn’t want to get soaked so I kept moving. A few minutes later in the darkness ahead I saw a light coming up along the shore. It was Daniel with a headlamp running to meet me. When he reached me he told me they had made camp. It wasn’t a good camp but it was camp and we should hurry to get there before the rain came. We hurried along the shore as much as I could hurry and I arrived just before the the rain began to fall hard.
We set our tents up close together. There would be no dinner but we hoped we would have a dry place to sleep. We prayed and tried to make a comfortable “nest” in order to sleep, but I think our tent was pitched in the darkness over a fallen tree. Dan, Wes and I shared a tent. In the next tent were Kyle, Kyle Kenneth, and Chuk.
Kyle said; “Do you guys have any water?”
I had ignorantly poured out the last of the water so I could strap an empty bottle to my waist and use my free hand to use a walking staff.
“Don’t worry about it Kyle. We don’t need any water. We’re good. If you go out and purify water now you will get soaked and you will be cold all night.”
“I’m going to get water,” He said.
In five minutes I heard him zipping himself back into his tent then I overheard a tender conversation with little Kyle. He is five and he trudged along without complaining hour after hour wearing his “man week hat” and playing with his knife. He was spent and had fallen asleep.
“Kyle, Kyle, wake up little buddie. Hey son, I have your water for you. There you go. I love you.”
Stories From My Trail Journal; Pretty Clouds Make Ugly Weather
Early in July Kyle, Little Kyle Kenneth, Chuck, Dan, Wes, and I ventured out to North Manitou Island for a backpacking trip. North Manitou Island is a 11 miles out into Lake Michigan off the Lelanau Peninsula. The Lelanau Peninsula is the pinky of Michigan.
Monday was a difficult day but that’s a story for another time. Tuesday we spent the day making our way around the north end of the island. We hiked from Crescent City around to the eastern shore by dark. It was a difficult day. It started in fog and ended in rain. It included comedy tragedy and quicksand. It was hard slow going. The north shore is not good hiking. It’s almost all rocks and stones–tough hiking in good conditions and conditions were not good.
The evening was beautiful. It was cool with stunning cloud formations out over Lake Michigan in the west. The beautiful clouds would bring a bit of ugly weather a little after nightfall. It took us ten hours to get from just north of the site of Crescent City to the northeast corner of the Island. My foot was injured and I hobbled almost every step of the way. The other guys took turns with my pack.
About a half hour before dark I told the guys to go ahead without me and make camp. I didn’t eat the first night. all of us had worked up a pretty good appetite by now. I imagined the luxury of a warm meal and the comfort of my sleeping bag and kept moving forward as the guys went around the bend of the island out of sight.
I made my way step-by-step forward on the stones careful not to turn my ankle. The birds called. The waves lapped rhythmically on the shore. The blue lake lay out to my left. A high sandy bluff toward up on my right. There were a few places where stones gave way to short stretches of sandy beach. I loved those spots where, for a minute or two I could walk along on the hard sand where the water met the shore, but there weren’t many of them. The sun set behind me. In the afterglow I walked on. A nice breeze was now at my back.
I had strapped a bright yellow umbrella chair to my backpack. Sitting out on a point ahead well after dusk I could see the yellow chair waiting for me. The boys had left it behind for me there with a nalgene bottle of water. I stopped to rest just for a minute and drank some water and then poured the water out and made my way along the beach south toward camp. I could tell the rain was coming and didn’t want to get soaked so I kept moving. A few minutes later in the darkness ahead I saw a light coming up along the shore. It was Daniel with a headlamp running to meet me. When he reached me he told me they had made camp. It wasn’t a good camp but it was camp and we should hurry to get there before the rain came. We hurried along the shore as much as I could hurry and I arrived just before the the rain began to fall hard.
We set our tents up close together. There would be no dinner but we hoped we would have a dry place to sleep. We prayed and tried to make a comfortable “nest” in order to sleep, but I think our tent was pitched in the darkness over a fallen tree. Dan, Wes and I shared a tent. In the next tent were Kyle, Kyle Kenneth, and Chuk.
Kyle said; “Do you guys have any water?”
I had ignorantly poured out the last of the water so I could strap an empty bottle to my waist and use my free hand to use a walking staff.
“Don’t worry about it Kyle. We don’t need any water. We’re good. If you go out and purify water now you will get soaked and you will be cold all night.”
“I’m going to get water,” He said.
In five minutes I heard him zipping himself back into his tent then I overheard a tender conversation with little Kyle. He is five and he trudged along without complaining hour after hour wearing his “man week hat” and playing with his knife. He was spent and had fallen asleep.
“Kyle, Kyle, wake up little buddie. Hey son, I have your water for you. There you go. I love you.”
July 11, 2013
Goose Attack!
A Classic Re-post from 2004
I have always loved Canada Geese. I think they are beautiful birds. I love to stand outside on a cool autumn evening and listen to them honk by low overhead. I love to see their silhouette pass before an autumn moon. I’m not sure geese feel the same way about me.
A few weeks ago we were in the Upper Pennensula at our Northwoods Conference Center. Every morning I ran the four-mile route around the lake. I always kept alert for wildlife while I ran through the woods. One morning I saw some Canadian Geese ahead of me on a land bridge. I thought they would retreat as I approached. There were three or four of them. All but one of them made way for me, but one circled around beside me and began to hiss.
Unfortunately I was unable to communicate my admiration for him. At first he hissed and charged at me with his head low. Then flapped his large wings and flew at me about face-high. His wing span was at least four of five feet. I was a little to busy fleeing for my life to get and accurate measurement.
It was a little scary. Up close he was a very big bird and even though I am at least a hundred and sixty pounds heaver I don’t have the advantage of flight. I went through a series of threatening gyrations and guttural noises calculated to intimidate the bird back into the wild. Certain I was safely past the bird I ran on– my adrenalin spiking my pace. Then I saw movement in my peripheral vision and heard the hissing noise again. I turned and the angry goose was flying at me again about face-high. By the time I was a safe distance away my heart was racing from the encounter.
Running is a wonderfully solitary thing. You are alone with your thoughts and mine were troubled. I respect and admire geese. I consider them beautiful creatures of God. But in one of my only encounters up close I was attacked like an enemy. I was not sure why.
When I came home I did some research to understand what my goose friend was so angry about. That’s when I realized that he didn’t understand me and I didn’t understand him. I was harmless but he saw me as a threat. They say the males stand guard over the nest. He was protecting his family. If he knew me he would have realized that is a quality I admire. Geese mate for life, another admirable quality. He had no way of knowing that I was no threat. I was a friend who was excited to see them.
It reminded me of the angry people I have known. We all have angry people in our lives. We always will. They are often people to who will have a profound influence in our lives. Sometimes they are in our own family. They are people who’s influence upon us will still be felt long after they are gone. The twist is that angry people are often people that we like and admire. But for whatever reason, fear or misunderstanding, they wouldn’t let people get close to them.
I try not to let that discourage me from seeing the admirable qualities in people or their potential when God is at work in them. They say people who hurt others are hurting people. I don’t intend to change my mind about geese or angry people even if they are hard to get close to.
If you are interested here is an informative site on Canadian Geese
I guess I’m not the first to be attacked by an angry goose. The folk from the Buckeye state have put together a very helpful pdf on the subject. I read it and realized that I did absolutely everything wrong.
This is fun, too.
Ken Pierpont
Riverfront Character Inn
Flint, Michigan
July 19, 2004
July 10, 2013
Pulling off An Adventure
A Classic Re-post from 2002
If all has gone well we will be completing our 2013 North Manitou Manly Man Revival by the time you read this and we will be heading back downstate with stories to tell.
A few weeks ago I noticed that half of my son’ summer college break was over. Sitting on the floor of his room one night I said, “Let’s plan a trip this summer to hike and camp on North Manitou Island.” His eyes lit up. “Mike Oatis has done the trip a couple times and maybe he would guide us,” I said.
Kyle said; “I’ll call him.”
Mike agreed to take us to the island and be our guide. His wife and boys agreed to share him over the long July fourth weekend and the plans came together.
When I was a boy I read a lot about backpacking and hiking and camping. I had a Boy Scout Handbook and I wore it out reading about first aid on the trail, how to tie knots that would be useful in the wild and other outdoor skills. I knew how and were to pitch a tent, how to tend a fire. I read all about it. I talked about it. But I never really did it.
Sometimes I would go to the school library and read copies of Outdoor Life and Field and Stream and fanaticize about outdoor adventures. I read about men braving wind, rain, cold and other elements. I read about pristine mountain lakes and trails through pine forests. I would imagine myself with others around a campfire, sitting on a log, eating some hearty stew and telling stories. I would dream about lying in my tent at night listening to the owls and crickets.
Once I read a wonderful book about a boy who lived in a hollow tree for a whole year. He caught his own food and foraged for berries and nuts. He trained a falcon and made his own clothes from the skins of animals. I thought that would be neat, maybe someday I could do something like that.
I read a lot of books and magazine articles about outdoor adventures but I really didn’t ever plan them and carry out my plans. I was a victim of dead-end good intentions.
Reading is a really good idea. Information is vital. Planning is very important especially if you are going to do something that puts your very life at risk, but you can spend all your time bent over a map or curled up with a book and never get around to actually doing anything. You can let the whole world pass by and never get out of the chair. It is a trap to spend a lot of time talking about doing something, reading about doing something, planning to do something, absurdly enough, even singing about doing something, all the while really never actually doing anything.
Well, we planned our trip to North Manitou Island, and we pulled it off. I kept a careful trip journal through the whole wonderful experience. I’ll save those stories for another time. But we arrived home Saturday evening with the memory of an adventure tucked in our hearts forever.
God has unforgettable adventures for each of us but we have to be careful to do more than just read about them, dream about them, and sing about them. James was the brother of Jesus and the finest of pastors. He knew the traps that rob people of the joyful adventures of faith. He said, “Be doers of the word not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” Sometimes we can fool ourselves into feeling like we really did something when all we really did was read about it, talk about it, think about it, or sing about it.
When God has spoken, the adventure does not begin when you read about it but when you pack your gear and hike into the wild with Him. Take it from a guy who knows, on your adventure with the Lord Jesus you will want to keep a journal. You will have your own stories to tell.
(From Stonebridge Newsletter Number 93)
July 9, 2013
Packing for An Adventure
Classic Re-post from 2002
Last summer we went on an adventure. On the evening of July 3rd headed north along the west coast of Michigan to the Lelanau Peninsula. Our destination was the quaint little village of Leland. On the morning on July 4th we would take the ferry to North Manitou Island for a three day hiking and primitive camping adventure.
I was joined by our two oldest sons, Kyle and Chuck and an experienced backpacker, athlete and outdoorsman from our church, a fellow by the name of Mike Oatis. We drove north as night fell out over the lake enjoying fellowship and unbroken conversation about the things of the Lord.
Our hearts were all primed for the adventure and looking forward to being together with each other, enjoying the cold waters of Lake Michigan and the views from the western bluffs of North Manitou Island. Mike promised to hike in and show us Lake Manitou, a large interior lake on the Island. It was pristine blue, worth hiking in to see.
I had read a couple books on the history and natural beauty of the island. But we were all especially eager to spend some time with the Lord and enjoy fellowship with Him in nature. That was the primary purpose of our adventure.
We had everything we needed in our packs and a little more. The only thing we had not done was make reservations at a campground ahead of time. When we arrived in Glen Harbor and Leland all the campgrounds were full. I considered driving to Lake Ann to camp out on the grounds of a camp where I speak, but it was getting late. We could not find a single legal place to pitch our tent for the night.
Just past midnight someone suggested we check at the Sheriff’s Department. The deputies were courteous and eventually gave us permission to discreetly sleep over on the Court House lawn. We unrolled our sleeping bags on the sidewalk and went to sleep under the stars. I was so tired I went immediately to sleep and didn’t wake up until six-thirty in the morning.
I set up in my bag, pulled my knees to my chest and for just a moment enjoyed the quiet of early morning. Then I heard a hearty; “Good morning men,” and looked up to see Jason Hewlett, the deputy who we met the night before, making his way toward us with four cups of steaming coffee. “You men have a big day ahead of you. Thought this might get you off to a good start. Keep the cups, guys.”
We thanked him, downed the hot coffee, tossed our gear in the trunk, and headed for breakfast. Within an hour we were on the ferry growling out into Lake Michigan toward North Manitou.
We could have allowed our predicament to ruin the weekend but no one uttered a cross word. There was not a hint of complaint the entire adventure, even though there were hardships to endure. Hardships were expected. We all saw them as a part of the program.
There is a lot of talk about what to pack for an adventure and what to leave home to keep the pack light. I’m of the opinion the most important thing to pack when you are going on an adventure is a good attitude, a spirit of rejoicing. In the letter to the Philippians Paul said; “Do all things without complaining.” Later he said, “Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say rejoice.!”
Out in the wild a good attitude is the most important thing in your pack.
