Day 221 - Part 2 - Wolf Trail

The last post left off in the middle of the tale of the Wolf Trail.  John dinghy'd us over to the bay where we thought the trailhead was.  The tide was still low enough that the entire bay was high and dry and at least a quarter mile long.  As we approached the bay, a family of four was walking toward us and flagged us down.  They had just been hiking for the previous 2 hours, and either couldn't find the trail that led back to where they had started or realized that the hike would be much further than they wanted to go.  They asked for a ride back to their dinghy.  John took the Dad while UJ and I hopped into the knee high water to quiz the rest of them about the trails.  They were able to tell us how to locate the trailhead, but the mom warned us that she had heard that there were agressive wolves on the trail.  UJ and I decided to find the trailhead while we waited for John, so we trudged, across the mud, soon we were sinking rather than walking and muck would be a better way to describe what we were attepting to walk through, it was pretty gross!  When found the below sign at the trailhead, I was instantly way less excited about the trail, while UJ was beyond ecstatic at the thought that we could see some wildlife.  We both thought the mom had been over reating when warning us about "agressive wolves".  We felt this was just a general sign that is likely posted in many places on the island and didn't indicate any recent wolf activity.  I still didn't like it.  We decided to come back after the tide had risen so we could get closer to the trailhead with the dinghy. At this point we still assumed John was coming with us.

John could not be convinced to come with us, but he did row us back over to the trailhead later in the afternoon.  This time, there was ample water in the bay (too much!).  There was not a good landing spot for the dinghy so we had to wade in.  This was NOT a good start to our adventure.

wading to the trailhead

Prepared with pepper spray, sticks and a radio

To get to the shore we had to balance on bobbing, rotting, logs and once we started off, there was no turning back.  This was not a well established trail.  This was a narrow path.  The vegetation was ample, tall and we were constantly brushing past it.  There would be absolutely no warning if anything untoward was on the path.  I cannot ever remember being so worried as I hiked along.  My heart was beating a mile a minute.  UJ was of course leading the charge.   We did a radio check, and John was able to hear us and respond.  After a while, the path widened and I could tell we were now at the high point of the island.  OK, so far so good, maybe this isn't so bad after all.  A few more minutes down the path, I could see glimpses of the bay on the other side of the island.  We had made it to the other side of the island - halfway!  And then hanging from a string on a tree . . .

The note reads, "Aggressive Wolves on this trail 8/05/10"

Yikes! This note was dated 2 days previous.  All those feelings of dread came rushing back and I was feeling super vulnerable again.  Now even UJ was freaking out.  Umm, now I see why the woman had used the phrase, "agressive wolves".  As we were hightailing it back in the other direction, we wondered what exactly the note meant.  Who wrote it? What does "agressive" mean? It didn't say "attacked" - was that good? Are the wolves still here?  For the rest of the hike, we talked . . . very loudly!  I swung my sticks onto a tree trunk every few steps. If there were wolves there, I was going to make sure they heard us.  We tried to radio John to come get us and got no answer, not a comforting feeling.  We finally made contact with him when we were nearly back to the trailhead.  I had never been so happy to be done with a hike.  UJ said that just seeing the note made the whole trip worth it  - good, because I am not doing that trail again - no thanks!  We were anxious to tell the story of our little adventure. The girls and John loved the story, our Dad, however, was Mr Skeptical.  He figures it was written by someone who just didn't want boaters on the island.  Was the note real? We'll never know, but my fear, I'm afraid was real enough for me.