Wednesday, September 05, 2018
Medas Lake site, Kekekabic Trail, 6.5 miles (22.5 miles total)

Last night, Colin realized he only had three more dinners. We need four nights and five days to hike the Kekekabic without it being miserable. We almost decided to hike just part of the trail before we realized our extra lunches could become an extra dinner for him. I’m so grateful we didn’t give up. The Kekekabic is already living up to my dreams, but more on that later.

We both woke up numerous times throughout the night because a really strong wind started blowing all night long. After hiking through so much blow down, and seeing the awesome power of the wind, it was hard not to be a little spooked.

I woke before dawn, made coffee, and watched the sun rise, slowly brightening the world through a cloudy sky. We took a long, 2-cups-of-coffee type of morning in camp, knowing we had a pretty short hike planned for the day.

The first mile of the Kek after the junction with Snowbank was beautiful and easy, no sign of blowdown damage. The tread is beautiful and even compared to Snowbank. Soon enough we started hitting major downfall, one which required climbing over a huge birch with branches barring the way like a fence, followed immediately by crawling under a white pine, then pushing through the needle covered branches of a little jack pine, Level 10 hard.

I ate constantly today to keep up my energy. And despite the trail gymnastics, it still felt like we were cruising along.

We stopped for lunch, a long lunch, at Drumstick Lake, then knocked out two miles pretty easily before reaching Lulu’s beaver pond, a treacherous crossing on swampgrass that masks potholes of mud. We’re lucky to hike in a dryer year. There were many crossings of creeks and marshy areas that should’ve been more difficult. Even so, Colin slipped off of a wet log and sank half a foot into sucking mud and lost his shoe, which was so stuck in the mud that he had to get down in his hands and knees and dig it out. Both the Medas and Moiyaka Lake campsites are gorgeous, and the quietest campsites in America, according to Backpacker Magazine. I can confirm. The peace and tranquility are profound and soul-soothing.

A strong breeze kept the mosquitoes off until just now. There is a gorgeous rock porch over the lake here. I went and put my feet in the lake immediately. A blister on the ball of my left foot is making me stride differently and my achilles was giving me trouble today. My feet will be well-taped tomorrow.

Colin and I both went for a swim, then took camp baths away from the water. Clean hair is a gift. We ate 3-cheese macaroni for dinner, so yummy, and now we’re sitting on a rock watching the sun sink behind the pines over a mirror-still lake as the fish catch their dinner and the mosquitoes try to catch us.

Colin at the juncture of the Snowbank and Kekekabic Trails

A beautiful beaver pond on the Kekekabic Trail

Colin swims in Medas Lake