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.
- 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. - 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.