Lost in the silence of the great north woods. Part 3 & end.

Read parts 2 & 3 first.
With each step to the right I took I imagined the ice felt thicker and stronger and I started to relax. In time I could see the shore line so I swung left in order to stay on the lake and southbound. In about fifteen minutes I reached the south shore of the lake. I was very happy. I was on solid land and had had enough of lakes.
The next truck sound drew me towards the highway that was getting much closer.

I swung to my left where the snow cover was packed and easier going. I was getting tired and moving slower but kept moving along the south shore of the lake. Out of the white mist ahead of me I thought I saw something much darker. As I moved forward cautiously I found I was looking at a small water filled creek.
That stopped me cold, as if someone threw water in my face. The first shock was the fact I could not go further in that direction because there was open water. The creek current was keeping the water from freezing even though it was at least twenty below Fahrenheit.

Then I realized the warmer creek water flowing into the lake had thinned the ice for some distance out into the lake. I had been walking across the lake and heading directly towards the location of the creek and the thin ice. I would not have gone much further before the ice would have broken and I would have ended up in the lake in snowshoes with a pack on my back and a rifle in my hand.

I stood stock still playing the recent course of events through my head. From the way I was dressed in heavy winter clothing the water would greatly increased my weight. In addition the thin ice would not have supported my weight. It would be almost impossible to drag myself back up on the ice. The backpack and snowshoes would have guaranteed my end. I might have slipped off the backpack but the snowshoes were another matter. If some miracle had allowed me to get out of the water, I would have died from the cold, long before I could reach help.

I shook my head and got back to the business on hand. I turned away from the creek and moved off to the southwest towards the sound of the last truck. After another exhausting hour I reached the highway and knew where I was. I had to turn left to go east down the highway to where my car sat.

During the walk down the side of the road, snowshoes over my shoulder, I did not see or hear another vehicle. Not another car or truck went by. The flow of traffic had ended for the night. If I had not reached the highway when I did I could have walked in circles without the aid of the truck noise.

Later I determined I came out on the highway about two miles west of where I parked the car. I went in the woods at about 10 A.M. and came out onto the road at 7 pm. I walked at least seven miles in, seven miles back out then two to the car for a minimum of sixteen miles. Because I was in motion at least eight hours I feel I walked somewhere between twenty to twenty five miles in total.

It was not the mileage that was important but the fact that some sixth sense gave me warning to stop before I walked into thin ice and open water. In the days that followed it snowed a great deal more and became even colder. All my tracks would have been covered and the open water would have frozen over. There would not have been a scrap of evidence of my passing and my remains would have never been found.

Another person would have just disappeared into the silent trackless wilderness.

I have lived the rest of my life with appreciation of the gift of another chance.