I picked up Jeff at 8am. It was raining the entire drive. The forecast was favorable for the rest of the trip except for during the night. As we approached the pull-off parking area a large group was assembling. It was a boy scout troop getting some instructions from their scoutmaster. we gathered up our gear and headed down the trail. At the register, all the pages were full so I went back to my car to get an an extra page to put in it. All signed in, we headed west towards the lake, following more or less the outlet stream. There was a slight misty rain but not enough to warrant rain gear. Jeff mentioned how he liked to hike in this type of weather. The trail was well marked and quite level with the minor ups and downs. It took very little time to get to the lake. We crossed the outlet on the breached beaver dam to the first campsite. I had heard of others on the northern shore, so we proceeded to follow the trail, now an unmarked foot path, around the lake. We arrived to a large campsite about a half mile further and made it camp. We set up and took a short walk continuing on the path. It petered out at a swampy section which appears on the map to be the best way to approach iron Lake. This was an option, but since I didn't bring any gear for this short walk we would have to come back. Approaching our campsite, we could see visitors on the rocks by the lake. It was the scouts taking a hike around the lake and eventually to Iron. The more senior scout was in front followed by about a dozen younger scouts and lastly two adults in the rear. I asked the boy in front if he was the Patrol leader and we said he was and asked if we were fellow scouts. We chatted a bit and they were on their way. They came back through about 4 hours later, the younger scouts in front this time. By all appearances it seemed they enjoyed themselves. Jeff commented about how polite the boy leaders were. He and I didn't do much, just sat on the rock ledge overlooking the lake and talking. Reminiscing about college, life, etc...
We had some beer and dinner and soon the sun began to set. While the sun could not be seen at the horizon from our vantage point, the color int he sky was great. It started by giving the entire woods a pinkish hue in the air. Soon this spread to a brighter pink and orange in the sky over the lake. After the darkness came, the stars came out a little. This would be tempered by an almost full moon. Like usual, it doesn't take long to get tired int he woods after dark. We had collected quite a bit of firewood and would not even burn half of it. I had a little dry stashed under my tarp for the morning anticipating the rains overnight. I do not remember being in the hammock long before I was asleep. I awoke to the winds and rains, and then went back to sleep. The woods began to lighten, yet I procrastinated getting up. eventually my bladder won the battle. As the sun began to rise I took the only photo of this trip, that of the fog burning off the fire colored woods across the lake. I made the fire, cooked some breakfast and we packed up. We passed by the scouts who were camped right by the outlet and were back at our car around 10 am. Jeff seemed to enjoy himself and is already talking about getting some more gear. I have one more Wild Forest to complete my quest, and more importantly will begin others with Jeff coming along.
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