Imp Lake–now even better!

After stopping for a night at a commercial campground in Eagle River to dump tanks and refill water, Millie and I headed north 30 miles into the central U.P. to my all-time favorite campground, Imp Lake, discovered during my 2010 trip up north.
Arriving on an early Friday morning, I thought I might have a good chance of getting one of the prime lakefront sites at this no-reservation USFS campground.   My 2010 site (site 19) was occupied, but as luck would have it, the bigger (and even better) site right next to it was available, site 20!  This one had a nice shady spot for the View, a nice big grassy lawn for Millie, and pretty pine trees framing a gorgeous view of the lake.  I promptly pulled out my lawn chair and enjoyed the sunny day!


One of my dear T@B camping friends, Judi, had given me a cute camping flag over the winter, and this site seemed just perfect for it’s saying “Just another day in paradise”!  Thanks again Judi!


I originally only planned to stay at Imp Lake for the weekend, as I remembered the last time here, cell coverage was faint to non-existent.  Well, not so this time-- I now got a strong Verizon 3G signal!  So, I extended my stay an extra 2 nights.
I thought about driving around the U.P. to tour some of the area waterfalls,or going over to nearby Sylvania Wilderness Area to paddle their lakes, but in the end, I just couldn’t seem to leave my wonderful spot! 
Millie went swimming and I went paddling every day.  One evening, I unwisely decided to let Millie swim before going paddling—what a mess that made in the boat!  Another night, the water was as still and smooth as mirrored glass—to top it off, the loons were out fishing and calling as well.

The Imp Lake Trail was just as delightful a hike as it had been in 2010.  Lots of interesting mushrooms and lichen to photograph.  I enjoyed it so much, that I decided to do the trail the next day after the afternoon thunderstorms had gone through…well, at least, I thought the last of them had gone through!!!
I wore my quick-dry cargo pants and waterproof windbreaker jacket, so at least I wasn’t totally unprepared.  But, the quick little bursts of rain from the afternoon were nothing like the monsoon that now opened up on us!  All I could do was find a spot on the trail that looked the most densely-covered, and just wait it out.  Poor Millie was soaked and miserable!  But the rains did make for some excellent photos afterwards!  Here are a few things we found in the forest--


The rest of the time was spend just simply lounging.  Millie spent most of her time sleeping out in the cool green grass


While I spent hours just looking and listening to the lake—ah, sweet Imp Lake!