Day 6- Lesson Learned

It rained hard last night, causing my tent to rock back and forth and preventing me from getting more then a half hour of sleep at any given time.  When I finally got up it was 7am, a little later then I had intended, so I hurried to collect firewood to make breakfast (soup- a hot meal to start a cold day).  As you can imagine it was a challenge making a fire with wet wood, but I had birch bark and pine needles so it only took a few tries.

Once I had cleaned up my campsite and packed up I headed out to pick up my permit for the Highlands Trail.  Once I had that I headed out on a 4km walk- I decided to take it really easy for the beginning of the trip since I was unfamiliar with the terrain and the pack was so heavy.  Still, the trek was hard (but managable) and I had a lot of fun...

...until frustration set in.  I knew I had walked more then 4km and yet I hadn't seen any sites.  Something had gone wrong.  I checked my map and compass and sure enough I had missed my site by several kilometers- what had started as a 4km hike had turned into 8. 

What had happened was this.  The map advises you to follow the colored trail markers if you want to find your site.  Eventually you come to a fork in the road.  One direction says "side trail" and the other shows the colored trail indicator.  So, wishing to eventually find a site to set up in you follow the colored marker.  Wrong.  The side trail takes you to your site.  Unfortunately no where is that indicated so I had simply passed by it.  I only realized my mistake once I decided to explore one of those side trails.  Lesson learned.

Pretty sweet set-up eh?  A massive kitchen, a beautiful 'pool' and a place to sleep.  What else could a man ask for?

Eventually I made it to a site and set up camp.  I read a little of Dostoevsky's "Crime and Punishment" then took a little nap. When I awoke it was around 7:30 pm and I started making dinner: spaghetti and tomato sauce.  It's true what they say- everything tastes better up here.  Around 9pm, as the sun set, I headed to bed; full, tired, and content.  I can't wait for tomorrow.