Chapter 5
As I walked to the front of my truck I told him he had startled me a little when he knocked on the door of my truck. I asked him what he needed, all the while watching out for anything suspicious about him. He told me he was just wondering if I could give him a jump and that his car battery was dead. “Oh”, I said. “I had thought something was wrong with my truck because you were pointing at the front of it.” He said , “No. I was just pointing to your hood just gesturing if you could jump my car.” He asked if I had cables because he didn't have any. I smiled and told him I sure did and could give him a jump no problem. Being brought up a country kid we knew never to go too far without jumper cables, a gallon of gas, and some water. But then again maybe that's just the necessity needed to drive an old truck. Anyway, I pulled up to his car and hooked up the cables, then told him to maybe just let it charge a little while before trying it. As we waited, I started small talk with him asking if he was from around here and that it was a nice day, you know all the things you ask in those awkward moments. The man told me he was from a small town about eighty miles north of here and he had just been coming back from his brother's place over in North Dakota. Curious, I asked what town his brother lived in. He said the name, but I didn't recognize it. I asked him about his town and if it was along Highway 61. He nodded and said yes. He said he lived near French town and had been there for around twenty years. I knew about this area from things I had read when I was looking up hiking trails. I asked him if he knew of any old trails that were used back in the days when they were looking for gold. He nodded and said yes, there was one that ran up north along the French river and that though he never had gone on it all the older local people said it was a great hike. After a few more minutes of small talk, he started his car. I unhooked my cables, shut my hood, and told him good luck. He started to pull out his billfold to offer me money. I told him no but thank you and that I appreciated the information about the trail. We shook hands and then I climbed back into my truck and headed back on the highway. I was only about ten miles from highway sixty-one and the day was slipping away faster than I had wanted. I figured I better keep moving. I wanted to get to Beaver Bay by I noon and possibly get my gear packed up and on the trail by one or maybe two. That way I could get hiked inland five or six miles before I would need to set up camp for the night. I was getting really excited now and couldn't wait for this experience or maybe more of a desire or destiny feeling inside of me. I drove to where highway sixty-one was and headed north. After about thirty miles or so I started thinking about what that man said about the trail that ran north along the French river. I kept seeing myself walking there, visualizing all kinds if amazing sites. It wasn't long before I saw a sign saying French town. I slowed down and before I knew it, I was parked along another sign that had a picture of a stick man with a backpack and a walking stick. The sign was pointing toward a trail leading along what I was sure was the French river. I sat there for a few minutes then I pulled out the trail map I had bought earlier and started looking for the trail. It wasn't long before I found it. It didn't look like a hard trail to hike and it really wasn't that long of a trail, maybe twelve miles give or take so I shrugged my shoulders and said to myself what the heck I might as well check it out. I figured I could hike in today, stay somewhere along the trail and be back out tomorrow about this same time, then head up to the Beaver bay trail. No sooner did that cross my mind I started packing up my gear. I checked everything out to make sure I had everything I needed for a quick hike then threw on my pack and headed out. I made it a few steps and then went back to the truck just to do a double check that I hadn’t forgotten anything. I looked around the truck and noticed the satchel laying there. Not sure why I quickly took my pack off and stuffed it inside then headed back to the trail. I hiked in about two miles when I started feeling…….
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