“If a man is talking in the woods and there is no woman to hear him, is he still wrong?”
Two sisters found safe after spending 13 days in Upper Michigan wilderness in April. Remember this story from 2015?
In April, Mother Nature is still doing battle with Old Man Winter as Lake Superior coaxes them both on. There are no referees for this yearly boxing match. Yooper natives understand this, but these poor dears were from down south. They were drawn into the wilderness by the soul renewal magic of this place like a bird to a reflective patio door. Their story is an example for the history books that could have had a tragic ending. How wonderful that the ending had a prince in a helicopter come to their rescue. See link above.
On Labor day of this year a whopping 35,000 people showed up for the annual Mackinac Bridge walk. The most since 2016.
The Mackinac Bridge Walk has traditionally included the Michigan governor which has been an annual event since 1958 and this year’s walk marks the 65th event. Between 20,000 and 30,000 people have participated in the walk in recent years.
The Mackinac Bridge opened to traffic in 1957 to connect Michigan’s Upper and Lower peninsulas. In 1923, the State Highway Department started a ferry service in response to demand for transportation between the two peninsulas. After their launch, the ferries became popular and eventually could not keep up with demand. The Mackinac Bridge Authority was appointed in 1950 to explore methods of constructing a bridge. At nearly 5 miles long, the Mighty Mac is the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere and the fifth longest suspension bridge in the world.
I remember my grandmother telling me the ferry line became so long in the later years that you had to plan ahead to cross. Wait times could be as long as 8 hours up to overnight to load your car and ferry you across. In bad weather,the ferry boat may not even run that day.
Driving from St. Ignace, west to Ironwood,(from one end to the other end) roughly a little over 5 hours not including stop for potty and eats. Most rest stops are only open between May 1 until October 31. In the winter, when traveling across U.S. 2, finding a place to “go” becomes a lot more difficult.
Which brings us to another fascinating hunting season here in the U.P. Where local TV news and Michigan’s own Discovery show air how hunters are doing and who shot the biggest buck. Yawn. But it seems every year some poor guy gets lost and has to spend a cold night huddled into the fetal position trying to keep warm before they find their way back or are rescued.
One year, a couple not familiar with the area spent two nights in the wilderness not far from my house. They began their adventure by taking that proverbial shortcut through the backwoods logging trails to save a few miles. Hahaha, riiight! Hundreds of miles of two tracks like raised purple spider veins on a fat womans leg slithering off into many directions. Cell signals are spotty at best or non-existent in most places out there. They were lost and ran out of gas. Eventually,they caught a fleeting cell signal and called for help.
A young DNR officer learned a valuable lesson once while out scouring the forest looking for poachers. Mr. DNR officer failed to show up for work the next morning and was subsequently reported missing. By the time a search team was organized the lost DNR officer managed to find his way back to where he had left his vehicle and was then able to contact the DNR station. His face and arms were peppered with mosquito bites and he was a bit dehydrated and hungry from walking in what was later determined as circles trying to find his way back but the young officer was otherwise ok. He must have had a guarding angel because there are lots of bear, wolves and cougar where he spent the night.
Heck, there have been prison inmates out on work detail just walk away and hide in the wilderness only to come back to the prison and beg to be let in. They much preferred incarceration and any escapee punishment to the bugs, bears and bad weather of Michigans Upper Peninsula.
Sitting in a doctors office waiting room, I needed a physical for my upcoming wilderness survival class up in Big Bay north of Marquette. I picked up an old Field and Stream outdoor magazine because on the cover was a hunter who had survived an ordeal in the woods while hunting. Intrigued by the caption I dove into the article while I waited, the good doctor was behind schedule.
In this wilderness class I was about to take, after some instruction, the instructor was to blindfold each student, spin them around and lead them off into the wilderness and leave us there for an alone time experience in the woods. Remember this is bear and cougar country. The next morning we were expected to find our own way back to base camp. It was going to be excitedly scary for sure.
The lost hunter in the magazine had been interviewed by an outdoor journalist on how he survived a full week alone in the wilderness with nothing but the knife he had with him. Ha, we were about to do it on purpose, but I read on.
The lost hunter described the events of his week, what he ate and what he did to keep warm. All these accounts were very educational and interesting but what I remember the most, that one take away that has stuck with me forever, is what he said last.
“The more you know the less you need.”
The more you know the less you need.
The more you know the less you need.