The winds kicked up between 30 and 40 mph that night according to the reports, but our campsite provided good protection. We woke a little stiff, and my ankle reminded me that something was amiss, but we had a lot of miles to cover to get back to the car. We headed down to the portage where we were able to break a hole along the shore of Horseshoe Lake for water. The ridges between Horseshoe and N Wilder provide a lot of steep stretches of trail that acted as sledding hills this day. We moved strategically.

The trail along N Wilder was thick with new Jack Pine and plenty of blowdown (some from the previous evening by the look of it.) We spent plenty of time crawling underneath and overtop the various impediments. This is what we had both envisioned the PowWow would look like (thank you volunteers for making this place possible.) It took what felt like an eternity to cross the portage to Harbor and an exceedingly long time to make Wilder Creek where we took a late lunch. A feeling of dread was starting to set in at this point. We both knew the math wasn’t in our favor. This could be a long night. But with rays of sun on our faces and a good meal alongside Wilder Creek deep in this cherished wilderness, it was difficult to be upset. We hiked to South Wilder and marveled at the clifftop campsite. This was a lake we had always wanted to visit but never had been able to. The most peculiar thing about it was that South Wilder was almost completely ice-free. Every lake we had passed so far (including the sizeable Lake Three) were completely iced over and, except for the northern back bay, South Wilder was clear. How strange.

After the South Wilder campsite, the trail grows exponentially more difficult. Down trees, rock scrambles, steep slopes, and boulder fields brought our pace to a standstill. Most of the afternoon was spent covering the challenging trail near Wilder. By the time we reached the hill overlooking Pose Creek, we had a pretty decent idea of where we were. We also knew that time was not on our side. Crossing Pose Creek confirmed our fears: there would be a long night hike ahead of us again. Our wilderness intuition weighed the options. We knew we could camp the night somewhere near here, but that would jeopardize any chance of making work on Monday morning (worse things though, right?) We remembered the famous missing hiker case which happened very nearby our location, but both of us reasoned that if we could make the old logging road section past Pose, then it would be a straight shot to home. The sun set near Pose, from there it was a long, dark slog back to the car. We were not moving quickly. Sore muscles and nagging injuries weren’t helping our pace. However did we convince ourselves that we were in shape for 30 miles of backpacking in a weekend in the snow? We both agreed though that this was a wonderful time to see the PowWow. The variety of marshes we walked through reminded us that this could be a very wet and buggy trail at certain times of the year. Along one of the major wetland crossings north of the wye, a bright orange glow appeared to our left as a brilliant full moon began to rise above the beaver dam. What a marvelous treat this was as one of those indescribable moments that can only happen in the wilderness sought to reward every step taken. This single moment alone nearly made it all worth the while. We passed the point of truly thinking about our hike around this point as tiredness took its toll. It was just one foot in front of the other until, finally, we saw the wye before us. It would be a while before reaching the car, but at least we had seen every step ahead of us before. We trudged on and on through the shadows cast by the full moon. Though we both love the wilderness dearly, there were big smiles on both of our faces when we saw that permit box and welcome sign come out of the darkness, welcoming us back to the lot. It was also incredible to see a note and information from our trail clearing friends left on the dash. A look at our watches revealed that it took 14.5 hours for us to get from Lake Three to our cars (less than one mile an hour.) We took some sleep there, and I headed out that evening. There were quite a few new trees down on the road, reminders of the wind that had come through the night before. I was sore, tired, but felt fulfilled. We had set out to see the PowWow and did. This was another trip unlike any other, and it was a pleasure to see another side of this incredible place that never ceases to amaze or fill my heart with longing for the next story-filled adventure.