Tortilla Point

Tortilla Point likely exists on a map, but it isn't this Tortilla point.  The name is a remnant of a bright spot on an otherwise hike from hell that Amy and I took three years ago.  On that hike we found two great spots on two different and equally beautiful lakes in the Nicolet and knew that it would be a great place to backpack with the kids.  It took some years to get back there, but it did not disappoint. We headed out early on Friday morning and hit the trail before ten.  I dropped Amy and the kids off at the trail head and then took the canoe to the down the forest roads to a remote put in site. When I arrived at camp there was a small turtle there to meet me, it was apparently my totem animal for the pace I had set compared to theirs.   They hiked about three miles in record time and I wasn't even finished putting up the tent before I heard their voices coming down the trail.  They had wove through forest trails between three different lakes to arrive at our rendezvous point.  My pride and amazement wore off in time to hear the stories of their travels, how they only stopped once for a snack and had a "head scratcher" when the trail sign pointed in both directions, with experience and logical consideration the tribe had chosen the correct path for our meet up.  We didn't actually camp at Tortilla point, but rather a great little knob on a hemlock peninsula.  It has a nice breeze to keep the bugs away and the swimming hole was Rockwellian perfection.  The bass were jumping and spawning and two of them were hung out in the swimming hole the whole weekend.  The kids tried to swim to them, noodle them a and net them but in the end it was only Grace that caught one. It was here first fish ever and I had told her she I would give her a dollar if she didn't catch a fish by the end of the weekend.  Later in the day we did add to the mileage by taking about a 3 mile trip over to the actual Tortilla point.  The plan was to hike over, swim there for a while and then come back for dinner.  When we got to Tortilla point there was an empty tent set up, so we swam for just a few minutes and then the kids mostly ran back to our camp through the forest trails and barefooted to get back to 'their' swimming spot.  It was great to see them dripping with lake water and barefoot hiking through the National forest.  The dehydrated food meals that the kids started planning about eight months ago didn't pan out.  Fortunately the snacks and ramen noodles were a hit and after dinner we pretty much planned on just ramen for the kids from here on out.  The kids worked on making flint/steel fires as well as whittled away around the fire ring.   The collectively figured out that getting your eyes close to the water surface but not under it works as well as goggles in the oligiotrophic glaciate lakes of the north and spent some collective hours 'snorkeling' for bass.   The kids swam across the lake and later swam to a nearby island.  They took turns paddling around the lake in the canoe and ran the shoreline fishing.  After a campfire we fell asleep to the sounds of crying loons and lovesick bull frogs.  We slept well past sunrise and nobody was up until about 8 in the morning, a sure sign of the amount of activity we packed into the previous day.  The second day was much a repeat of the first, a recreation of perfection.  Hikers and a few bikers traveled through our little camp and we received news of the weather and pending storm.  The rain was supposed to start about dinner time and last into the next day so with that news we decided to pack up the canoe and paddle out while Amy lead the kids on the trail-less expedition through the woods to the canoe landing and head for home.  The drive out on the forest roads gave most of us the first glimpse of a bear in the woods, as it wander along the dirt road.  Two full days in the humid back country conditions didn't elevate our self awareness to a point that we couldn't hit a little tavern for a quality burger before heading south to prepare for our next adventure.