Story Part 3

Sorry this has taken so incredibly LONG!

As I had mentioned...we had found our camp for the night. We took a few minutes to snap some pictures...take some video...and enjoy the scenery that the upper cabin provided. You could see forever from the top of that hill we just climbed. You can see pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/dallerding.

After sitting around a resting for a few minutes I decided it would probably be in our best interest to setup the tent and get ready for the evening. I again picked up my ridiculously heavy pack and hauled it up a small hill to where a decent tent spot appeared to be. The wife grabbed hers and followed me up. I unpacked the tent and had it pitched in near record time. We were ready for the night!

Shortly after the tent was put up and the gear was all shoved inside...we heard voices. Not the kind inside our heads...but real voices. Soon after a rather toothless couple and their child came strolling into our camp. They politely asked if we were staying in the cabin...my friend spoke up since he and his friend were going to sleep there rather than in a tent. There was a momentary look of disappointment on their faces...but they soon got over it and made other plans...to make it down to the lower cabin. That is where we had seen all the gear hanging over an hour ago. This couple seemed very confident when they told us that all that gear had been there all winter and that they had stayed there while all of it was in there. I am not one to get incredibly angry...but if that gear had been there all winter...and I hiked to the top of that demon hill for nothing..."I cannot believe I just walked an extra mile and climbed this hill for absolutely NOTHING!!!!!" I said to myself. While talking to myself my friend asked where they had hiked up from. "There is a parking lot about 10 minutes from here...we came up that way." the man said. I swallowed the lump of anger in my throat and decided to start whittling on a chunk of wood. The couple wanted their child to see the view from the cabin...and the interior of the cabin. They walked to the wrap around porch and seemed like they were next going to ask if they could stay there too. Luckily after about half an hour of talking with my friend they decided to take off...but not before their little girl could ask me what I was doing. "Whittling...I might turn this into a fork if I can figure out how to do it." I got a glazed look in return. It dawned on me at that point what kind of people we might encounter up on this hill. They left and we again were alone on the top of the hill.

I made a few toothpicks out of the stick I was whittling. The fork never did pan out. (I figured they would not steal my toothpicks.... ;) ) I think it was primarily lack of patience at that point. I snagged the wife and walked up onto the porch of the cabin to take some more picture. We hung out there for quite some time just sitting around listening to the radio and occasionally talking about random things. We again heard some voices. My wife alerted us of them on her way back from the tent. The next thing we knew...five people were standing on the porch of the cabin. Five very strange people. Three guys...two girls. One older guy...two younger guys...and two younger girls. It did not take much time at all for all of us to come up with the same conclusion...but we kept it to ourselves. They explained that they were staying in the lower cabin (atleast there was an explanation for all of the gear left there...though it made me VERY happy we did not tent camp down there!) and they had been out there for a week or so already. My guess is the truancy officer was after them...so they just went missing. Their plans included staying for another week and check out the remainder of the area. The big dumb looking guy had about an eighth of a fifth of Kessler in his hand...and was stumbling around asking if anyone wanted any. The last thing any of us wanted was hippie backwash in our mouths...so all of us respectfully declined. There was one in the group that loved to talk. He was the guy that kills porcupines and raccoons for entertainment. With a shovel. About half of their stay revolved around him talking about his experiences killing animals with shovels. They left after a while and I just sat there thinking about what had just happened. I guess people would possibly consider me a city boy since I have never killed an animal with a shovel. Call me crazy too...but that just is not my idea of a good time. Unfortunately my wife heard every bit of his conversation and got scared to death. Her fear started crawling toward me...but I kicked it away. Afterall, I had my 9mm and my friend had his pistol. We waited for about five minutes before the shooting started. He racked off a few rounds...so I joined in with my Ruger 9mm P95DC. I bet the hippies ran for the cabin REALLY quick. I shot off a couple clips...and put my gun away.

Suddenly my wife jerked and brushed something off of her arm. She said, "It's a TICK!" I have lived in Northern Michigan for all but three years of my life...I have never seen a tick before. Leave it to her to find one crawling on her arm. Sure enough...it was a tick. They burned it and threw it into the woods. She decided it was time to go sit in the tent and talk on her cell phone. She was in there until dinner time came rolling around...about three hours.

I had made pasties for us to eat...the wife was not a big fan. More for me. :) I gave one to my buddies friend since they had not brought a lot of food along. Shortly after eating a group of three people showed up. They had some beers but never offered any...so I did not take kindly to them hanging out with us. I was a bit weirded out by the number of people that had chosen to stop by that day...but this last group seemed "normal" compared to the rest. They were our age...two girls and a guy. They had come up to take pictures of the sunset and pour back a few brews. They drank their beers...very slowly...and made themselves right at home. We all talked for a bit...about the area particularly...and their past experiences with the cabin. They apparently were frequenters of the place. They had quite a few good stories to share! One of them, the oldest girl in the group, is a part time photographer for a studio in Petoskey apparently...she was the most outgoing of the three. We started to discuss the hippies that had dropped by earlier and our experiences with the guns. She seemed very interested in them. So my friend let her shoot his gun...and reluctantly I let her fire off a shell in the 9mm. From that point forward that was pretty much what the conversion was about. :P They were a fairly cool group and left shortly after dark.

Once they left we migrated indoors and hung out by the fire for a bit. It was getting close to bed time...but there was still some good times to be had. Unfortunately the good times were not enough to keep everyone awake. I took the wife up toward the tent...the other two got their gear rolled out and were ready to sleep. We decided on the way to the tent...that with all of the people that had come by...we should probably be closer to the cabin. We dragged it along the ground closer to the cabin and decided that better than close to the cabin...we'd put it on the porch of the cabin. ;) That seems weak I know...but geez...with those drunk hippies down the hill I really did not feel like getting clubbed like one of the raccoons. We setup the tent on the porch and got ready for bed. We both got into our sleeping bags...when suddently I heard a loud "PFFFFFFTTTTT". It was loud. Very loud. I honestly could not help but to laugh...so I shouted "I love you too!!!" and my friend said "I was just blowing you a kiss goodnight!" I did not think much of it after that...and everyone got quiet. I was whispering "Goodnight" to my wife...and we heard a noise underneath us...like something scraping the underside of the porch. "I did not hear a thing....I did not hear a thing..." I kept telling myself. Then I thought "If I don't say anything...maybe she didn't hear it..." I rolled over trying to ignore it and I heard a faint voice "Did you hear that?" Silently I swore...but slowly turned to her and acknowledged that I had heard the noise. I gave in to my manly side and asked my friends if we could come into the cabin and sleep. A few moments later we were laying on the floor next to the fire.

Sleep did not come quickly that night...

This is about double what I had typed for the third entry of the story...I should finish it up in the fourth. I will REALLY try to have it done by Wednesday. That way I can start blogging about things that are not related. :P

Stay tuned for more this week! Please leave comments if you have read the story...or leave comments if you have not. Let me know what you think of my blog. :)

Anyway...goodnight from Northern Michigan!

-Derek