It is amazing what one night can do.

One night away from the calendar. One night away from notifications. One night with nowhere to be except wherever the river takes you.

That was exactly what Jack and I needed.

Like a lot of families, our summers have changed over the years. Baseball. Football. Work. Life. Somewhere along the way, weekends started filling themselves. We still love every minute of watching the boys play, but it has become harder to find time to disappear into northern Michigan the way we used to.

That is one of the reasons I continue building All Day Fire Outfitters.

Not because I want to work more.

Because I want to live more.

I want the freedom to spend more evenings like this with my family. To paddle another stretch of river. To sit around another campfire. To wake up somewhere that birds are louder than alarm clocks.

So we found one night.

And we made it count.

We slipped the canoe into the AuSable River at Alcona Dam in the evening. The current welcomed us immediately, carrying us downstream through one of my favorite places in Michigan. After a few easy miles, we reached the small riverside campsite we would call home for the night.

Getting there was the easy part.

The campsite sat high above the river, and getting everything there meant carrying the canoe and every piece of gear up a steep bank with about a dozen wooden steps. The river was moving quickly, so there was no room for mistakes.

One trip after another, we finally had everything where it belonged.

Watching Jack jump in and help without being asked reminded me that he is growing up.

Camp came together quickly.

A small two person tent. A tarp overhead. A couple of camp chairs. The Jetboil. Just enough.

Jack grabbed his fishing rod almost immediately while I finished organizing camp.

For the next couple of hours he worked every pocket of water he could reach.

The fish never cooperated.

By the end of the trip, not catching a single fish had become our favorite joke.

Building the fire almost became another joke.

My bow saw was sitting safely...back in the truck at Alcona Dam.

Not exactly where it was supposed to be.

After a little improvising and gathering what wood we could, we managed to build a small fire. It was enough to keep the mosquitoes honest and remind us that a fire never has to be perfect to do its job.

Sometimes all it has to do is bring you together.

Before long we cooked a quick snack of oatmeal topped with maple syrup in the Jetboil MiniMo.

Simple food has a funny way of tasting better outside.

By the time dinner rolled around, Jack had reached his limit.

The paddling, the fishing, the fresh air, and the excitement of the day had finally caught up with him. He crawled into the tent before I ever unfolded the foil packets for dinner.

So I enjoyed one of my favorite moments of the entire trip.

The fire crackled quietly.

Lightning bugs drifted through camp.

The moon reflected off the river.

Dinner was nothing more than potatoes, cream of mushroom soup, and Michigan Brand Smoked Turkey cooked together in foil over the coals.

It was one of the best meals I have had in a long time.

Sleep was...interesting.

A two person tent becomes considerably smaller once you add two people and all the gear you want to keep dry. Thankfully, our inflatable sleeping pads made the night comfortable enough.

Morning erased every bit of discomfort.

The birds had already started singing.

Sunlight filtered through the trees.

The AuSable kept moving as if it had somewhere important to be.

There are few better places to wake up.

We packed camp, loaded the canoe, and started toward Loud Dam.

Halfway through the morning we stopped for lunch.

Teriyaki noodles cooked on the Jetboil.

A rock skipping contest.

Jack won that one.

At least somebody caught something.

The current carried us most of the day until we reached Loud Dam Pond.

That is when the river reminded us that every easy paddle eventually comes to an end.

The current disappeared.

The wind picked up.

Jack finally laid the fishing rod down and grabbed his paddle.

Considering he had not caught a fish all trip, it was probably the right call.

There will always be another chance.

Before I finish, I have to thank my mom and dad for helping shuttle my truck from Alcona Dam to Loud Dam. Without them, trips like this become a lot harder to pull off. Sometimes the people behind the scenes make the adventure possible.

We never caught a fish.

But somehow that never felt important.

We shared good food. We laughed. We paddled one of the most beautiful rivers in Michigan. We watched a campfire burn beside the water and ended a summer day exactly where we wanted to be.

Sometimes success is measured in fish.

Sometimes it is measured in memories.

This trip was full of the second kind.

The AuSable has a way of slowing life down. It reminds me that the best moments are usually the simplest ones. A campfire. A canoe. A meal cooked outside. A son sleeping soundly after a full day on the river.

Those are the moments I want more of.

Those are the moments that keep pulling me back to northern Michigan.

Until next time,

Justin