My parents and family,.. people... strangers... almost everyone I talk to about it are concerned about me hiking alone. To temper their worries, I wanted to give Mom and Dad a taste of what it would be like for me on the trail. Plus, I needed to do a test run of all the gear. After minimal digging I discovered there is a fantastic loop trail in northern Michigan around the Mannistee River. Did I mention it was 23 miles over 2 days. Day 1 followed the Mannistee River Trail on the east bank of the Manistee over relatively flat terrain. Beautiful views of the winding river and through magical fern and lodge pole pine forest. Still 11 miles is 11 miles and when we rounded the bottom of the loop and found no campsites, the next mile, till we found a suitable spot, was a quiet one. 
I successfully pitched my shelter system on the first try while my parents pitched their ancient but sweet tent. I would not call it ancient! Just because Mike used it after her gradated from high school on a trip to the boundary waters with 2 of his buddies, it was still light enough to pack between us!
It was a little unnerving at first feeling more exposed than if I were sleeping in a tent, and less protection than a lean-to. But I slept fine. No bugs got in, but I could hear them trying, so many misquitos. I chose this system for a couple reasons. One, it is really light and secondly, I could sleep in the bug bivy inside the lean-tos (sans tarp) that are on the trail and keep the bugs out. I hung by boots on my trekking poles that held up the tarp in the middle specifically to keep the slugs out. No such luck. One had made it’s way into the heel of my boot and gave me quite a surprise. It was also fun flicking the slugs off the outside from inside of the tent. They became so indignant! They were literally on everything!
We boiled water in the Jet Boil and tried out some of own dehydrated meal creations; chili with mashed potatoes, cous cous with chick pea curry and black beans with rice and vegetables.
We were all so tired, but it seemed to light to go to bed, until we checked the time and it was 10 pm! It took a while to settle down enough to sleep. There was lots reminiscing, giggling and laughter over where slugs were found. It was great to get horizontal! We were awoken at 6 am by loud clapping and cheering. I rolled over in my sleeping bag and saw heads bobbing past the field of ferns that surrounded us. Apparently there was a running club conducting a marathon run around the loop.
Dad loved the trekking poles and felt they really helped him on the trail, taking some of the weight off the legs and help keep the body more erect. They also help with balance up and down the steep heels.
Day 2 at Mannistee started a little slower, that’s for sure. We ran a little low on water, but the weather was cool and pleasant so not much of an issue. The trail on the west side of the river follows the North Country Trail, over more hilly terrain, before descending back down to the river. We found water at mile 8, near a bridge that crossed a little stream. Since most of my water on the Long Trail will come from streams, it was important to find a purification system. After much research, I settled on the Aquamura Drops. It’s lighter, easy to use and kills bacteria, protozoa and viruses. It takes about an hour to do it’s magic, but the water tastes good. It’s advertising claims it can actually improve the taste of water, and it does.
We had a little bit of rain that lingered from the torrential rains the night before, which pushed our trip back a day to avoid the worst of it. No problem though, that is what a rain cover for the back pack is used for! They are easy to put on, much like an old timey shower cap.
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