May 2007 trip - EP 16 to Crown Land and High Falls
by Beemer01
We left Chicago at 6:00 AM for a trip with a few question marks hanging over our heads. The drive up across Wisconsin was however uneventful - no construction and we made excellent time, stopping at Betty's Pies for a bite and into Ely before 5:00.
Permits and licenses were secured, We were again warned that there could be no campfires and lodging at VNO confirmed - we pulled our packs out and hoisted them up the stairs for a last minute gear check and rebalancing. I realized with a sinking assuredness that I'd forgotton the Gor-tex jacket I'd purloined from one of my sons in my bedroom this dawn. A cursory check of my wife's "Barbie" SUV confirmed this. We wandered over to the Wintergreen 1/2 price rack and I picked up a nice pull over wind/rain jacket. Nice stuff, and really about the same price as the Northface stuff made by labor in China.
A quick dinner at Cranberries - a tour of Piragis to pick up maps for the July trip and it was time to hit the VNO bunkbeds.