hike in the rain<\/a>, do it on connecting road routes! <\/span><\/p>\nEd said he’d go with the Eckerts to pick up our dropped car at the western edge the McCormick Wilderness. I’d drive my car to the Canyon Falls trailhead and begin hiking the roads back, where Ed would eventually meet me. It seemed like everything would work out fine.<\/span><\/p>\nAnd Then, Disaster![\"Body](\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/6ED72552-165C-4903-A564-AE73ED7299A9_1_201_a-300x225.jpeg\")
<\/h2>\n
The maps showed that I could drive on the roads I\u2019d be hiking on, including one called Old Hwy. 41. I assumed this would be a paved road. When I turned onto it, it was a one-lane gravel road with a stop sign. Not what I thought, but nothing too different than what we\u2019d experienced so far.<\/span><\/p>\nTo make a long story short, the road featured potholes and rocks, then some puddles. Again, most of this was similar to what we’d been experiencing all week. I did bottom out twice, which was unnerving. But then, about a mile from the trailhead, the road got worse. But there was no place or space to turn around. I certainly couldn’t back up on this road for five miles (8 km). So it seemed wisest to keep moving forward..<\/span><\/p>\nThen, I saw a big puddle. I wasn’t sure if I should drive through it. I thought about leaving the car in the middle of the road and hiking out, or measuring the water depth with my trekking pole. But all of the water on this road had been shallow, so I decided this probably wasn’t any different. And so I went for it.<\/span><\/p>\nBad move. It was deeper than I thought, and my car got stuck. Again, to make a long story short, I got out of the car and some water got in, which freaked me out. I grabbed my backpack and keys and phone and tried calling Ed and the Eckerts for help. I also tried calling the couple who owned the Three Lakes Motel, where we were staying. But I had no reliable cell service, so for the first time in my life, I called 911.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"View](\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/F74DFEB5-D375-4950-8A91-6A0C2B4FB4DD_1_201_a-300x225.jpeg\")
Buck the Tow Man<\/h2>\n
The 911 operator hooked me up with Buck, a wonderful younger man from nearby L’Anse who came out to rescue me. But after driving out to where my car was stuck, he realized his truck wasn\u2019t adequate; he needed his flatbed. So he dropped me off at the Canyon Lake trailhead where I\u2019d intended to go, and said he\u2019d get back to me once he got my car to his shop. He was very positive that it would be fine, as it wasn\u2019t too submerged in the water.<\/span><\/p>\nI\u2019m skipping details, but Ed eventually picked me up and drove me to the other end of Old Hwy. 41 to do some road walking. The day turned out sunny and warm \u2013 no more rain \u2013 and I knocked off about 17 miles (27.4 km). Most of the roads were gravel and in decent shape, but I did get my feet\/legs submerged where some beaver dams flooded the roads.<\/span><\/p>\nAvenza Map Wrong<\/h2>\n
Near the end of my day, I was trying to hike to the western gate of Craig Lake State Park. I was following the Avenza maps, which told me to hike on this section marked private property. As I headed in, a man was driving some kind of bulldozer out. He said yes, this was private property, and no, it wasn’t part of the NCT. Later tonight, Bruce said he got some notice about all of the MIchigan NCT Avenza maps being recalled, due to errors.<\/span><\/p>\nSnowshoe<\/span><\/p>\nMI NCT miles today: 17.1 (27.5 km)<\/span>
MI NCT miles to date: 319 (513.4 km)<\/span>
Total NCT miles to date: 1,082.2 (1,741.6 km)<\/span>
Total NCT miles to go: 3,517.8 (5,661.4 km)<\/span><\/p>\nDisclosure: This entry contains affiliate links (among regular links) to products I own and like, or which I think you might like. This means that, at no extra cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.<\/i><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today\u2019s itinerary called for hiking from Craig Lake to the McCormick Wilderness\u2019 western edge, where we\u2019d camp for the night. But oh, the day went so tragically wrong! The bad vibe started with last night\u2019s late entry into camp, which was disheartening, to say the least. Then, as we got up early this morning, it began to thunder and lightning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55,15,72,2],"tags":[4212],"yoast_head":"\n
Michigan NCT Day 18: Canyon Falls to Craig Lake - The Thousand Miler<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today\u2019s itinerary called for hiking from Craig Lake to the McCormick Wilderness\u2019 western edge, where we\u2019d camp for the night.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/michigan-nct-day-18-canyon-falls-to-craig-lake\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Michigan NCT Day 18: Canyon Falls to Craig Lake - The Thousand Miler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Today\u2019s itinerary called for hiking from Craig Lake to the McCormick Wilderness\u2019 western edge, where we\u2019d camp for the night.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/michigan-nct-day-18-canyon-falls-to-craig-lake\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Thousand Miler\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-18T13:25:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-08-05T13:58:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/AC8C416D-5727-4F02-A179-8F784FB37814_1_201_a-300x225.jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Melanie McManus\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Melanie McManus\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/michigan-nct-day-18-canyon-falls-to-craig-lake\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/michigan-nct-day-18-canyon-falls-to-craig-lake\/\",\"name\":\"Michigan NCT Day 18: Canyon Falls to Craig Lake - The Thousand Miler\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/michigan-nct-day-18-canyon-falls-to-craig-lake\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/michigan-nct-day-18-canyon-falls-to-craig-lake\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/AC8C416D-5727-4F02-A179-8F784FB37814_1_201_a-300x225.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-18T13:25:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-05T13:58:39+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/40a02f1d7ef2f7200b83dc75cdacc1ea\"},\"description\":\"Today\u2019s itinerary called for hiking from Craig Lake to the McCormick Wilderness\u2019 western edge, where we\u2019d camp for the night.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/michigan-nct-day-18-canyon-falls-to-craig-lake\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/michigan-nct-day-18-canyon-falls-to-craig-lake\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/michigan-nct-day-18-canyon-falls-to-craig-lake\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/AC8C416D-5727-4F02-A179-8F784FB37814_1_201_a-300x225.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/AC8C416D-5727-4F02-A179-8F784FB37814_1_201_a-300x225.jpeg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/michigan-nct-day-18-canyon-falls-to-craig-lake\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Michigan NCT Day 18: Canyon Falls to Craig Lake\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/\",\"name\":\"The Thousand Miler\",\"description\":\"Traveling The Country, One Trail at a Time\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/40a02f1d7ef2f7200b83dc75cdacc1ea\",\"name\":\"Melanie McManus\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcc48e1d27ce775f9a299714a461a9c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcc48e1d27ce775f9a299714a461a9c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Melanie McManus\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/author\/melanie\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Michigan NCT Day 18: Canyon Falls to Craig Lake - The Thousand Miler","description":"Today\u2019s itinerary called for hiking from Craig Lake to the McCormick Wilderness\u2019 western edge, where we\u2019d camp for the night.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/michigan-nct-day-18-canyon-falls-to-craig-lake\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Michigan NCT Day 18: Canyon Falls to Craig Lake - The Thousand Miler","og_description":"Today\u2019s itinerary called for hiking from Craig Lake to the McCormick Wilderness\u2019 western edge, where we\u2019d camp for the night.","og_url":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/michigan-nct-day-18-canyon-falls-to-craig-lake\/","og_site_name":"The Thousand Miler","article_published_time":"2020-07-18T13:25:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-08-05T13:58:39+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/AC8C416D-5727-4F02-A179-8F784FB37814_1_201_a-300x225.jpeg"}],"author":"Melanie McManus","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Melanie McManus","Est. reading time":"6 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/michigan-nct-day-18-canyon-falls-to-craig-lake\/","url":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/michigan-nct-day-18-canyon-falls-to-craig-lake\/","name":"Michigan NCT Day 18: Canyon Falls to Craig Lake - The Thousand Miler","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/michigan-nct-day-18-canyon-falls-to-craig-lake\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/michigan-nct-day-18-canyon-falls-to-craig-lake\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/AC8C416D-5727-4F02-A179-8F784FB37814_1_201_a-300x225.jpeg","datePublished":"2020-07-18T13:25:48+00:00","dateModified":"2020-08-05T13:58:39+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/40a02f1d7ef2f7200b83dc75cdacc1ea"},"description":"Today\u2019s itinerary called for hiking from Craig Lake to the McCormick Wilderness\u2019 western edge, where we\u2019d camp for the night.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/michigan-nct-day-18-canyon-falls-to-craig-lake\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/michigan-nct-day-18-canyon-falls-to-craig-lake\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/michigan-nct-day-18-canyon-falls-to-craig-lake\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/AC8C416D-5727-4F02-A179-8F784FB37814_1_201_a-300x225.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/AC8C416D-5727-4F02-A179-8F784FB37814_1_201_a-300x225.jpeg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/michigan-nct-day-18-canyon-falls-to-craig-lake\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Michigan NCT Day 18: Canyon Falls to Craig Lake"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/","name":"The Thousand Miler","description":"Traveling The Country, One Trail at a Time","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/40a02f1d7ef2f7200b83dc75cdacc1ea","name":"Melanie McManus","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcc48e1d27ce775f9a299714a461a9c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/bcc48e1d27ce775f9a299714a461a9c2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Melanie McManus"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com"],"url":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/author\/melanie\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6921"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6921\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Lake](\"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/AC8C416D-5727-4F02-A179-8F784FB37814_1_201_a-300x225.jpeg\")