North Manitou ...

I will be the first to admit that I live a deprived life and have never been camping.  Yes, me - a Northern Michigan native has never been camping.  But, I'm happy to say that has now changed!  Over the weekend the hubs and I, with two of our great friends, went unplugged and backpacking through North Manitou.  

It really was a trip to remember with great guides!  We hiked a little over 5 miles to where we made camp, swam, had deer visit our site, watched a beautiful sunset, got bug bites galore, and endured a wicked storm on Lake Michigan. 

Prepare yourself for picture overload ...

We started off preparing our gear for our trip.  Since we were backpacking we had to carry everything -this meant packing light and only the essentials.  Matt & Annie served as our guides and Matt had figured out our meals, we were slated to have breakfast sandwiches for breakfast so we ended up cracking on the eggs into a little orange juice bottle - a great way to fit them all in! :)  

On the Ferry and ready for our adventure!

Our first stop was South Manitou where we dropped off the first batch of campers.  South has assigned camping sites so it isn't as rugged as North, where we were headed.  We had to hike out and find our own perfect spot to set up camp.

Leaving South and headed to North while enjoying some Cheese Shop - these sandwiches are delish!

And off we go!

Our goal was to find the big barn as we would set up camp near it {you have to be 300 feet away from any buildings are water source}.  Seeing this large barn was a welcomed sign!

Everything inside the barn hadn't been touched in so long - but it all held up so well!  It was pretty amazing to see!

Leaving the barn to find the perfect place to set up camp.

We found water!  A welcomed sight after a long hike!

So beautiful!

One of our amazing guides!

So glad we made it!

Take a dip in Lake Michigan - it was surprisingly SO warm!

Our own private beach :)

Back up at camp making dinner - chicken tacos!

Our home base.

We were just sitting talking when we noticed this guy by us. 

A doe and buck munched around us without a care in the world.  So neat to see!

The boys resting :)

A beautiful spot to watch the sunset.

Up and at 'em!

Looked like a storm coming in!

Ready to hit the trail and head back towards the ferry!

Just after we left our site it started raining - so we took shelter in the big barn and got on our "rain" gear.  Annie and I were very fashionable in our bags :)  Hey, it kept us dry, our gear dry and kept the mosquitoes  away!

Although this sign says Entering - we were officially exciting the wilderness :)

All smiles!

And another storm started to roll in ...

We did stand out in the pouring rain as one storm came rolling through.  We were already wet and it really wasn't that bad - we watched as it blew over South with an amazing lightning show.

Eventually we headed out to the dock because our ferry was due to be in soon.  Then these clouds showed up.  Needless to say - about an hour late the ferry showed up, it was raining hard, winds were picking up and we were told that we had to seek shelter and do it now! We all hunkered down for the walk back down the looooooong dock - the rain felt like pellets being shot at us and I might have thought a time or two I was literally going to be blown off the dock because of how windy it was!  Scary stuff!

After sitting out the storm in the boat house - we were able to board the ferry and go to South to pick up the campers there.  Needless to say it was a very interesting ride with a full ferry and people trying to get on even thought they were scheduled to be on the island for another day.  

We each got a beer on the ride home - because WE MADE IT! According to the Captain on the ferry, we witnessed one of the worst storms he's ever seen on the great lakes.  While we were there we didn't think it was that bad - but in reality it caused a lot of havoc to Northern Michigan ... down trees, major power outages, and just a very scary scene.  We were very thankful to be safe and sound!

And that wraps up my first camping adventure. While the departure wasn't ideal - we were safe the entire time.  There are talks of this becoming a yearly tradition, and of doing for a whole week next time.  I let them know I might be open to two nights, but a week might be pushing it. :)