Sioux-Hustler Trail 2007 – Day 4
Synopsis: Agawato Lake to trailhead. 10 miles. Tuesday, July 24.
We started out a little later today, even though this would be our longest day. Wendy was feeling pretty tired, but that inspired her to lead us at a fast pace in hopes of finishing sooner.
![[rp/img_1175.jpg]](rp/img_1175.jpg.medium)
|
This giant spider (it was about the size of a quarter) built a huge web that spanned the whole trail. We caught a live deer fly and placed it on the web. It wiggled around for a while and the spider did nothing; we wondered if it would do anything at all when suddenly it leapt across the web and wrapped the fly in silk in a blur. It was extremely fast. Quite fascinating, but it made us glad we weren’t flies!
Photo by Reid Priedhorsky. |
![[rp/img_1178.jpg]](rp/img_1178.jpg.medium)
|
Shell Lake.
Photo by Reid Priedhorsky. |
We stopped for a break and snack at the portage between Shell Lake and Little Shell Lake. It was incredibly hot and very humid. Sweat poured off us like we were faucets.
![[rp/img_1179.jpg]](rp/img_1179.jpg.medium)
|
Crossing the stream between Shell Lake and Heritage Lake.
Photo by Reid Priedhorsky. |
![[et/img_0050.jpg]](et/img_0050.jpg.medium)
|
Blueberries. |
![[et/img_0052.jpg]](et/img_0052.jpg.medium)
|
Reid looking at the map during lunch.
Photo by Erin Tatge. |
![[et/img_0054.jpg]](et/img_0054.jpg.medium)
|
A thistle. |
By mid-afternoon, we’d completed the loop and were back to the section we’d covered on the first day. It was amazing how much clearer the trail was, like a super-highway compared to the last few days.
It was still hot (have we mentioned that this trip was hot? because you might be surprised to hear that it was hot) and we were all running low on water. When we got to the river, where we had eaten lunch on the first day, Mike and Wendy literally plunged in, clothes and all. We pumped more water and drank it down enthusiastically.
This all made the whole situation seem much better.
![[et/img_0055.jpg]](et/img_0055.jpg)
|
Frog on a rock at our afternoon break.
Photo by Reid Priedhorsky. |
![[et/img_0056.jpg]](et/img_0056.jpg.medium)
|
Giant disgusting leech at our afternoon break (6" long in this photo, stretching to way more...). |
The last three miles went pretty quickly.
![[rp/img_1184.jpg]](rp/img_1184.jpg.medium)
|
Erin and a sign in the woods that reads “TRAIL”. (This sign marks where the Sioux-Hustler leaves the jeep trail.)
Photo by Reid Priedhorsky. |
Reid and Erin got back to the car before Mike and Wendy and did some cleaning up for civilization. Erin changed and discovered a live horse fly in her undies, a potentially exciting situation. Reid wandered off to get some water for a sponge bath that ended up including hair washing. Erin thought that was a little excessive for a sponge bath.
We headed back to town, and after an emergency stop for some delicious cherries, went to a pizza place where we all tried to eat a ridiculous amount.
Back to the Jeep and on our way. Wendy required a stop-over at a Dairy Queen in Virginia, which sounded like a pretty good idea. It was midnight again before we arrived at our house. The cat was glad to see us, and Mike and Wendy continued on home to prepare for their early mornings the next day.
Data for today:
- Deadfall: 17
- Ticks removed: None!
The End.
Return to the Main Index.