Backpacker – August 2019

JULY/AUGUST 2019

BACKPACKER.COM 99

Camp Lulu Key

TEN THOUSAND ISLANDS

NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE,

FLORIDA

Here’s what tropical stargazing looks

like: a private beach, bathtub-warm

water, wildlife galore, the soothing

sound of gentle surf, and soft sand on

which to lie on your back and watch

the stars spread out overhead.

To set up in this slice of paradise,

start paddling from the Everglades

Gulf Coast Visitor Center in

Chokoloskee Bay, avoiding the boat

lanes to Indian Key and opting instead

to follow the west end of the bay for 9

miles out to the key. Strong naviga-

tion skills are a must, as it’s easy to

make a wrong turn among the area’s

mangrove islands. Keep an eye out for

dolphins and manatees beneath the

surface and more than 200 species of

birds above. On landing at Camp Lulu,

pitch your tent (anywhere; first come,

first serve; BYO water) on the wind-

ward side to keep the bugs at bay—if

that happens to be the south side, you

can set up your tent perfectly to watch

sunrise, starshine, and sunset from

you r door.

Tra i l h e a d Gulf Coast Visitor Center

Season October to April Permit None

Contact http://www.fws.gov/refuge/ten_

thousand_islands/

INFINITY SKY

Eight Lakes

Loop

BIG ISLAND LAKE

WILDERNESS, MICHIGAN

With the heavens above a nd

ref lected below, pushing onto

a still lake at near perfect

darkness feels like f loating

through space. Begin a two-

night, 12-mile trip across eight

lakes by portaging your gear .2

mile to the put-in at Big Island

Lake (actually home to three

islands), where birch and maple

fringe the shore. Then link Mid,

Coattail, and McInnes Lakes

(via short portages) to a small,

evergreen-enclosed campsite

on the southern shore. Once the

sun goes down on a calm eve-

ning, paddle out onto McInnes

to get your spacewalk ref lected

off the lake’s mirrorlike waters.

On day two, paddle and portage

to Klondike Lake to check out

pitcher plants and bladderwort

in the bogs, then continue to

a campsite on the southwest

shore. As daylight and energ y

levels allow, take the .3-mile

portage over to 24-acre Vance

Lake, then head to Byers Lake

via Twilight Lake, where open-

water vistas replace the for-

est-fringed views you’ve been

seeing on the pocket-size lakes

so far. Return to your camp on

Klondike Lake. Close the trip

by way of Mid and Big Island

Lakes.

Tra i l h e a d Big Island Lake

Season June to September

Permit None Contact www

.fs.usda.gov/hiawatha

Salt, sand, and

stars on Camp

Lulu Key

2

5

3

DARK

VOYAGE

smack in the middle of the Milky
Way, the nebula, which is about
5,000 light years away, appears as
a faint grayish cloud in the sum-
mer sky.

4. Eagle Nebula
   The Eagle Nebula is a 5.5 million-
   year-old furnace where new stars
   are forged. To the naked eye, the
   450-star cluster has a slightly
   reddish light and sits between
   the constellations Scutum and
   Serpens.


5. The Great Rift
   The Great Rift refers to a series
   of gas and dust clouds that block
   light from stars and give the
   Milky Way its distinctive shape.