Date: 2008-07-21
From: Spruce Lake Lean-to #3

To: Cedar Lake lean-to #2 or tenting nearby
Miles today: 11.5

Woke up this morning at Spruce Lake, eager to check out South and West Lakes as they are reportedly very beautiful. We were very torn about our itinerary this morning. It made sense to stick with our original plan and lunch at South or West Lake and camp at Cedar Lakes¢¦.however, it seemed like this would be one of the most remote parts of the trip and we also wanted to be able to swim and linger and enjoy these lakes. We spent a good deal of time yesterday discussing the possibilities and playing with possible itineraries. Ironically South and West Lakes sadly were not places we wanted to camp once we got to them! They were beautiful, indeed, however, there was all matter of junk and food and debris at each of the lean-tos that we visited and we had no desire to camp amidst the moldy potatoes or fruit cup! WHAT ARE PEOPLE THINKING!? I don¢t want their leftover oatmeal packets, and certainly not some of the other crap they leave behind. Not to mention that the animals who figure out that people are leaving food will love it and learn to associate the lean tos with food! Argh!Also, not the greatest weather today. Started out the day with serious rain pouring down on us ¢ we got lucky because we packed up camp during a rain reprieve but then it poured. Luckily, we had made iced coffee and decided to eat bars for brekkie in case we had a high mileage day so we got up at 6:00 a.m. and made it out of camp pretty early. We covered the miles slowly this morning, being careful not to slip or fall. Cleared up a bit at lunch on beautiful South Lake (moldy potatoes nearby) but the sun was consistently fighting with the clouds it seemed, with sprinkles of rain here and there. So, we pushed on¢¦.headed to Cedar Lakes. As for our day¢s hiking: Thankfully Sampson Bog, which often apparently has a washed out bridge, had a brand spanking new bridge waiting for us! The hiking was beautiful if long and rainy. The lean-tos at Cedar lake ¢ at least the first one, ¢beaver pond lean to¢ also did not pass our garbage and food test so we camped at the tent site (mentioned in the guide book) off to the left just as you cross the wood bridge (where you have Cedar lake on one side and Beaver Pond on the other, after the first lean to). What a gorgeous spot! We spent most of our time cooking and filtering water down by the bridge, rather then by the tent. We saw no one and simply enjoyed the gorgeous views to our right and to our left. As I cooked and Turtle filtered the most miraculous thing happened! A baby dear swam and swam and swam, right by us and then under the bridge (and over the beaver dam) where I was cooking¢¦just its little head peering out from the water, except when it crossed the dam. Was it okay? We were worried about it? Where is its mom? It left the pond and walked up near what seemed to be our tent site and we never saw it again. Hope you are okay little deer....hope you have some family or friends nearby. Dinner: almost had a fiasco tonight! I added way to much water to our burrito foods, which we wanted to turn into a replay of ¢Taco Bell-Bowl¢. I was devastated. I sat there as it hydrated, watching the sunset, wondering how on earth we would dispose of the nasty soup I had just made. Turned out: IT WAS DELICIOUS! We added pieces of tortilla and it became one of our favorite meals! YUM! It is also ironic that we tried so hard to plan how to stay at South or West Lake and then didn¢t even want to! I think there is a lesson in there somewhere...something about planning versus being in the present or being spontaneous, I think...Not shockingly (at this point) it rained all night¢¦.