Day 0: Travel Day
May 17, 2024
I drive away at 11:20 P.M. Overall the packing stress was far lower this year versus the previous two years, but it felt like a constant battle to stay ahead of the game since January. The energy is high and I snap some goofy photos and scream a long “YEEEEEEE-HAAAAAAAWWWWW!” Into the night as I head down the on-ramp to the interstate. My best friend in Seattle is the first to call to catch up and wish me well. He’s driving to the airport for an all-night run of his own flying to Alaska, and we have the most long, energetic, free-flowing phone call we’ve had in a year. This interaction wouldn’t have happened had it not been for this trip, and provides further validation for continuing to make the time to go on this trip.

This year’s audiobook for the drive is “Outlive” by Dr. Peter Attia, which is very technical but also engaging and practical.

Hey, waitress, pour me another cup of coffee
Pop it down, jack me up, shoot me out, flyin' down the highway
Lookin' for the mornin'
Ooh, I'm drivin' my life away
Lookin' for a better way for me
Ooh, I'm drivin' my life away
Lookin' for a sunny day
Eddie Rabbitt “Drivin’ My Life Away”
The energy is still high when I make my first fuel stop in northern Missouri at 3:45 A.M., but I choose to grab a giant cup of coffee “just in case” I need it later. This turns out to be a good choice because within 30 minutes of continuing my drive, I start to hit a wall. As I pass through Ames, Iowa, the sun is rising and I am feeling pretty lousy. When I drove through the night two years ago, I remember this same struggle from Des Moine to Mason City, which is the halfway point of the drive. Thankfully, another old friend that I haven’t heard from in years calls just before Mason City and we chat all the way to Minneapolis about everything under the sun. He got me through the worst of it today. I say a prayer thanking God for this trip, for making it through the night, and for the friends I am so blessed to have in this life. While it’s rare we can see each other or even talk on the phone anymore due to hectic family lives and demanding careers, the fact that they take the time to reach out to me during this time means more than I can express.

Soon enough I find myself driving through Duluth, where I notice a Great Lakes freighter ship right in downtown that allows tours, the WA Irvin. These ships have always been a fascination for me, and we as a family have been learning about the Edmund Fitzgerald by listening to podcasts in the van. Once I start bringing the kids up, we will have to find a way to stop here for a visit.

Once I start driving up the north shore, I realize I haven’t listened to a single one of my birdsong tracks that I intended to refresh while on this drive. While I’ve been listening to these for months, I still have a long playlist of BWCA birds that specifically challenge me, especially the warblers. I’m able to get through this entire list once on the drive to Grand Marais.

It’s around 1 P.M. when I hit the brakes and pull in to “Sugarloaf Cove” for my longest stop of the drive. This is a geologic point of interest where one can view several areas that have volcanic rocks and lava flows on the shore of Lake Superior that I’d heard about. As it turns out, the highlight of the short walk is the birds I see and hear. I hear an ovenbird and a green throated warbler, and am able to visually identify Blackburnian and Yellow-Rumped Warblers. The Blackburnian Warblers are particularly striking.

After fueling up the car and a quick photo at my favorite road sign in the world, the Gunflint Trail sign near the library in Grand Marais, I head up the trail. The weariness of the day starts to creep up on me again on this final stretch of winding pavement through the woods. I reach site 19 at Trail’s End Campground at 3:55 P.M. with plenty of time to set up before nightfall.

I had wondered for months whether or not the site I chose based on a few photos online would offer a single decent spot to hang my hammock. Fortunately, I find a solid place to hang, near the flowing rapids behind the site, which should provide some outstanding white noise for tonight’s much needed rest! The weather forecast for the week predicts rain showers nearly every day, and right on cue, a steady rain pours down as I make my first hammock set of the trip. While I don’t mind setting up in my rain gear, keeping my down under/top quilts bone dry is trickier in these conditions. But I suppose I’ll get better as the week goes along!

After I have the hammock hung, the sun comes out and I enjoy a lovely evening by driving around evaluating campsites for future stays (18 is right night to the rapid and more spacious with better hammock options. Sites 20, 21, and 25 also look very promising). I filter some water, clean out the car, and prepare a dehydrated meal of scrambled eggs and sausage with hot salsa, then prepare my breakfast and lunch thermoses for tomorrow’s day trip. With all the activity of the drive and getting settled, I allow myself a few extra minutes to relax and read some pages of the Walter Isaacson Elon Musk biography on my phone, which is a very entertaining read.

It’s time for a moment of truth: Will the newly acquired weather radio work? It does! This is great news! The forecast is for a wet week, but at least it will be windy, too. Rain tonight (I don’t think I’ll float away next to the rapids?), windy and chances of severe thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon. I’ll need to blast out of here early to get the earliest jump possible if I want to get that day trip in off of Round Lake. The forecast for entry day is for steady 5-10 mile per hour winds…with 25 mile per hour gusts. I certainly won’t be fishing Frost Lake in gusts of 25!

After organizing the site I finally set up my chair on a rock next to the rapids as the evening light fades to journal and reflect on this day, and all that has led me here. At one point during my drive this morning, I spent four hours in silence, decompressing, praying, and thanking God for all He’s given me in this life. During the course of the year, the path to success seems to be one of ignoring my own needs, quietly accepting the burdens that must be carried in order that others may succeed. But this week is a time each year that I feel God’s love for me, for exactly who I am, more than ever. And in spite of the challenges of this manically beautiful life I lead, each paddle stroke, each mucky portage step, each view of unexplored territory, is my praise and thanks to God for who I am, where I am, for where I’ve been, and for where I’m going. In this wilderness, God’s love and wild spirit is made present to me in a very personal, real way.

Judging by the forecast, this week might be one where I feel the “wild spirit” more than the love! I guess I’ll find out soon enough! Good night.

Stats—>Miles: 939|Google Maps time: 14:32|Total travel time: 16:30 (91 minutes of stops, 54 minutes of which was at Sugarloaf Cove)|Best miles per gallon: 41 (windows up, a/c off)