Monday, June 12, 2023 Scenic State Park: Two Lakes and One Bad Attitude

After the hike at Schoolcraft SP, we made our way to Scenic State Park where we’d camp overnight and tackle the 2.9-mile hike in the morning.

With our cots, mattresses and sleeping bags, it’s quite a comfortable experience usually – home away from home.

We had a nice spot, not too far from the bathroom (very important consideration!), but right in the thick of Mosquito Metropolis. Have you ever seen the Star Trek movie “The Wrath of Khan?” This is relevant, trust me. There’s a point at which Khan is full of frustration about Captain Kirk and says, wrathfully, “He tasks me. He TASKS me!” Oh, those mosquitos – they TASK ME!

In spite of that we had a lovely meal of ribeye steak, sour cream and chive mashed potatoes, and green beans. Can God set a table in the wilderness? Why yes, He can.

As we drifted off to sleep that night, we were aware of the constant and rhythmic chorus of frogs, surprising loud, but nice music for sleeping. We both woke up in the night to hear the haunting songs of loons on the lake. It’s a stirring experience. Back in the day, I wrote a short poem about it:

When evening comes to call,
The wind begins to fall.
The tent gives an invitation,
The loons cry in elation.

We got started the next morning bright and not too early by 8:30 a.m. after breakfast. It was 64 degrees, cool enough, but with a clinging humidity. Thoughts of Lord of the Rings are never far from my husband as we do these hikes, evidenced by his getting us off to a festive start by chanting, “They’re taking the hobbits to Isengard, they’re taking the hobbits to Isengard!” I really love this man.

We were in the same conditions as yesterday in the sense that it was dangerous to stop too long to take photos, but as we went through a boggy area, Kris began identifying a few plants and flowers using Picture This, so I took some photos, too: purple alder and yellow marsh marigold.

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I took a photo of my reflection in the water and thought about the Robert Louis Stevenson poem “Looking-Glass River,” one stanza of which reads:

We can see our colored faces
Floating on the shaken pool
Down in cool places,
Dim and very cool;

We started on the second leg of the trail, a largely uphill trek on a peninsula between the two lakes Coon and Sandwick.

Friends, let me be honest: I had a bad attitude about the humidity, the ascent, the difficult effort, my labored breathing and most of all, the mosquitos. “In everything give thanks, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus,” came to my mind and I felt convicted. I’ve often been inspired by Corrie Ten Boom’s story about when she and her sister were in a concentration camp during WWII. Their crowded building was overrun with lice, which she complained about (she didn’t say, “They TASK me!” but it was probably something very similar). Her sister Bessie, reminded her that they were to give thanks to God in everything, even the lice. Corrie had a hard time joining Bessie in this prayer, but soon they discovered that the guards avoided their barracks because of the lice, giving them the freedom to have Bible studies and sing God’s praises.

Can I be thankful for mosquitos? Why yes, I can. It takes some imagination, though. I began contemplating the idea that mosquitos are a reminder that the enemy wants our blood, our souls, our lives. He prowls about as a roaring lion, (whining mosquito) seeking whom to devour. But death where is thy sting? Little insect, where is thy sting? Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Christ bore the suffering of the cross to redeem my soul – can I not bear up under the small suffering of mosquitos?

Feeling somewhat fortified in soul, though still weary in body, I turned my mind toward a favorite hymn, “This is My Father’s World.”

This is my Father’s world,
And to my list’ning ears
All nature sings, and round me rings
The music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world;
I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas –
His hand the wonders wrought.

It was time to get out of my head and look at the wonders around me. Thank you, Lord, for majestic cedar trees, for a corridor of towering red pines, for higher elevations where the mosquitos don’t go, for quiet lakes, for a kayak slicing through the water, for a wooden stairway in the wilderness, for legs that can still walk, for a heart that still beats, for lungs that still breathe, for my handsome and faithful hiking companion… Good theology is very cheering and encouraging.

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We headed back from our place at the point of the peninsula and I took a few more photos. There’s a lot of posters and cute photos of animal babies, but I think plant babies are really neglected. I submit to you that flora babies are just as sweet and adorable as fauna babies. Maybe not as cuddly, though.

When we got back to the campsite, I sat in the car with the AC on for about 10 minutes. It was heavenly.

The name “Scenic State Park” sets up some expectations and I think for the most part, the park delivered.

Knee Score: 7 out of 10.

Can I delete this in the morning? Why, yes, I can! But maybe won’t.

Next hike: McCarthy Beach State Park