Last minute advice

We leave very soon for our Isle Royale trip and I am beyond excited!!! We've been planning and looking forward to this trip for a year now! Hubby and I save up and plan one big trip a year thats a week long and we knew Isle Royale was the place to go this summer.  We plan to spend 6 days and 5 nights on the island and then a few days relaxing in Copper Harbor.  This trip coincides with our first wedding anniversary so we wanted to make sure there was time to hike and also time to just unwind and hang out in the U.P (our favorite place).

we had our wedding in the U.P too =)

We learned after the Porkies trip that it's really important to have a hotel or house to visit immediately after getting out of the wilderness because a) you'll need a shower b) you'll want real food and c) you'll want a real bed to sleep in.  I remember we threw our packs into our car, sank into the cushy car seats and just stared at each other because we didn't actually have a solid plan of what to do next.  We decided to just drive west and stopped at the first hotel we found.  We booked a room where we washed our dog, took showers, had pizza for dinner, and went to bed early.  I slept so good that night!  Remembering that experience, I booked a hotel months ago thats right on Lake Superior for this trip and it wasn't really all that expensive, even for it being peak season (i.e about $90 a night).  

last day on the trail in the Porkies, tired much?

Furthermore I won't be able to blog while I'm there (and even if I could get wifi I wouldn't use it, I'm there to enjoy nature, not be online!) but I plan to take pictures and journal.  When I get back, I'll share about our adventure.  I really hope I see a moose, like I've prayed every night for a safe trip and that I can see a moose.  That would be beyond awesome!

Okay, so my last minute advice for packing is to be really thorough and organized packing your pack. I like to lay everything out on the floor and hubby and I sit together to separate and stow things. Here is a great site that explains how to divide your pack into areas and where you should put items depending on weight: Packing your Pack  

I'm seriously addicted to Pinterest and have found some clever backpacking advice on there and I really liked this method of packing clothes so I decided to try it and it actually worked! All our shirts and things rolled up perfectly! I think its especially great for hubby because he can just grab a "sock bundle" and have everything he needs without bugging me.  I still put all our clothes into gallon sized ziplock bags to keep them together and so they don't get wet.

All right guys, thats it for now! If I have time, I'll post tutorials about making a food cozy and alcohol stove tonight but otherwise I'll be gone for a week hiking! Can't wait to tell you all about it once I return! Where's your favorite place to hike in Michigan? I'm already thinking about where to go next summer!