#3: [30-Jan-22]

#1: [13-Jan-01] (incomplete)

07-Oct-2001 -- Despite an early overnight frost, October 7th turned out to be a perfect fall day. Ron picked me up at nine, and by noon we were having Sunday lunch in Floodwood. From Floodwood we went west on US 2 and took the first right, Savannah Road. At the end of Savannah Road we turned west on County Road 148, which we followed after it turned from a gravel road to a grassy path, thanks to Ron’s four-wheel drive vehicle. A mile farther the road became soft and we pulled into a clearing where an even more overgrown road joined from the south.

We followed the main road west on foot until it ran into a large marsh. Circling back we found a smaller path and continued south. The path ended at a dense pine thicket. We pushed through the thicket and found another path, which also eventually ended. The ground was dry, the forest mixed pine and aspen. Close to the confluence we found an old road which we must have been the one shown on the map, even though it was several hundred feet east of where it should have been.

After pushing through the brush at the end of the road we entered a open sphagnum moss bog studded with scrub pines. The last 1000 feet (300 meters) to the confluence were carpeted with the thick spongy moss. We were happy to discover that the moss was thick enough to stand on, as long as you didn’t stand in the same place too long. It was knee-deep, and we were tired by the time we reached the confluence.

We lay down in the soft moss and enjoyed the smell of pine trees and the complete silence. On the way back we decided to take a different route and follow the road we discovered to see where it came out. It was much quicker than pushing through the undergrowth, and we laughed when it led us right back to the car. The overgrown side road we had ignored was actually the one that led to the confluence. This was a beautiful hike, and I didn’t see any ‘no tresspassing’ signs, but I recommend that any future confluence seekers follow the side road from the start.