Jesse and I have made our first summer hiking plans!!!! After our semesters are over, we are going on a 5-day hike! We leave late May5th or early May 6th for one of a couple destinations. We are thinking either a loop near Lewiston, MI, or punching out a few more miles on the North Country Trail. If we do the NCT, we will probably hit the trail near the Grand Rapids area, since it will be warmer, and save the UP for later in the summer.
We also hope to tackle more of the Michigan Shore to Shore trail this summer. We got 8 beautiful miles out of the way along the Au Sable near the Huron Forest while prepping for our AT thru hike, but there's over 200 miles more!
There are a surprising number of trails in Michigan when you sit down and start to plan. I realize they aren't as fun as the Finger Lakes Trail or those found in the ADKs., amd I want to hike more of those regions, too, but Michigan has a lot of gems. And I hope that this summer we can share a few of them with you!
Dec 20, 2014
And so this is Christmas
With the holidays approaching, I decided to play a little hookie from my dissertation and family obligations and do some winter hiking. Winter is a great opportunity to let my new pup run off leash, since he has well trained puppy friends and few stimulating hikers where we chose to go, plus large swatches of land without paved roads to dodge. Admittedly I had some concerns about snowmobile traffic, which ended up being unwarranted.
We went hiking on the north country trail in Michigan around the traverse city area, and it did not disappoint! Our section started a little south of Fife Lake and went north toward Kalkaska. The hiking club maintaining this stretch of trail has been active, so the maps you can purchase through NCT are a bit out of date. The interactive map, however, is spot on. And the sections they added are gorgeous, traversing beautiful stream banks and rolling hills. We began where the trail crosses 131 south of Fife Lake at a roadside park. The park is closed in winter but there is still room in front of the gate to park your car for a day hike. If you plan to overnight, there is a campground about 2 miles trail south that would be more appropriate. The trail here is easy and follows a pretty river. A bench sits at a nice overlook about a mile in for those of you who are just passing thru. About five or six miles in, you hit a lovely dam. In the summer, this stretch is full of swimming spots begging to be used. A state campground about 8.5 miles in is lovely, though primitive, and has privies a plenty. When we went through there was a tree down in a campsite, but there was evidence that someone was already working to remove it.
You cross railroad tracks after the campground, and can make your way into the town of Fife Lake both from Lakeshore Drive (which is a bit of a needless hike) and by following 4th street or a snowmobile trail away from the NCT, which the trail follows briefly before crossing west over 131.
The trail is pretty, but nondescript from this point until you travel north of Mayfield rd. About 2.5 miles north of that road crossing, you enter a portion of the trail (signed at the north end) called "valley of the giants." There is a lovely stretch of stealth camping if I ever saw it. A few miles north of that is Sheck's campground, which looked pretty nice. There were a lot of picnic tables and fire rings, anyway. This stretch is also a little more hilly, and just all around pretty.
The scene maintains its beauty for another 4.5 miles or so, which is where the holiday season got the better of us and ended our long stretch of day hiking. In sum, we walked around 27 miles of the NCT, all of them snowy and most of them quite beautiful. This was a Christmas gift I gave myself, and I loved every minute of it.
Well done, winter wonderland.
Dec 18, 2014
another country heard from
Its been a long time, internet!
Well, not really. But shortly after our last post, my magic phone stopped being magical. It took more battery to connect to the internet and type a blog post than the phone got while charging. So a two hour break was no longer conducive to blogging. Add to that the fact that my phone was already an old, crappy thing that didn't have the right (insert tech phrase) to write to the blog offline and just upload when we had a connection, and that writing in the memo app wasn't able to copy and paste to blogger (I lost a good 10 days worth of blog posts that way), and that was it. Since I had followed so many blogs in the months before my hike, I felt really badly. I remember how much fun I had virtually following people - coming home from a long day of grad school and hopping onto my favorite blogger's pages to see why I was working so hard - I wanted to pay it forward with this blog.
Then you ask, so why didn't you upload when you got back? Did you quit the trail?
Good questions.
About the time I realized there was no hope for my old phone and blogging (see lost blog posts note above), I got some amazing trail magic and some terrible news. We were in New Jersey, sitting at a bar (the name escapes me now, and my ATbook is stored with my gear), and met an amazing couple. They invited us over for dinner, showers, and a comfy couch, and we were more than happy to comply. They also taught us an amazing way to drink whiskey...with a chocolate milk chaser. Honest to goodness, don't knock it till you try it. We hadn't made our miles for the day, but their company was so pleasant, we decided to indulge in their kindness.
And thankful I am we did. The next morning my father called. My grandmother had passed away. The couple lent us their GPS unit, got us to a car rental place, and helped me get back to say goodbye to my beloved gram.
Needless to say, when we got back from the funeral, the trail had lost a lot of its carefree happiness. I sat down to blog a few times, and I just couldn't. I knew I wanted to finish the trail, knew my gram would want that for me, but I no longer had the emotional energy to write it all down for the world to read. I kept a hand-written journal the whole trail (highly recommended weight - a mini composition book goes a long way), and I continued to write in it. But down time was for me. I had to recharge my batteries. There was a lot of crying while walking, a lot of intense contemplation. When we made camp for the night, or found ourselves in a town, I got loud, friendly(ier than usual) with the locals, and drunk.
So, you ask, why are you writing now?
Firstly, I don't know who 'you' might be, or if 'you' exist. But I'm writing now because 1) NASCAR sent me an email, I responded, and never heard from him. If for no one other than Nascar, Bullwinkle, and the few people we grew to love on the trail, I wanted to let them know we finished. There is some grey area there. We skipped a section to hit the Whites when Jesse's brothers came out. They wanted to hike with us in the Whites, not in the foothills. Our plans would have put us there if not for the time off for the funeral.
And we skipped some of Maine. Jesse got hurt, quite a substantial back injury that had him on muscle relaxers for 2 weeks. Sleeping in the woods and not going anywhere was out of the question: anything but a bed hurt his back. So we spent a lot of money on a crappy hotel in the middle of nowhere. Eventually we decided we wanted family and our money more than we wanted to pass every white blaze on the trail. But we both really wanted to hike Katahdin. It had been such a goal for so long, we needed it.
We did hike Katahdin. And at the top, Jesse proposed! It was a beautiful ending to what had been the experience of a lifetime. Though bittersweet with the loss of my gram and the injury, we felt gloriously accomplished. And I hope we go back someday to hike the 100mile wilderness and catch the section we missed. Maybe we'll make up for missing the Shennys - but I doubt it. I loved aquablazing with every fiber of my being, and truly believe we saw those mountains the way they should be seen. From heron hatcheries to the friends we found in Farmer and Chovinard, it was my second favorite part of the trip. Besides, there's too much beautiful land to see in the world to travel the same patch twice. I've got my eyes on the Porcupine Mountains in Michigan, bagging all 46 peaks in the Adirondacks, and maybe the John Muir trail...and that's all in addition to the Carmino del Santiago. Yes please, wine hike! (BTWs, hope you're well, Ironman!)
In the lack of Christmas spirit brought on by the loss of the aforementioned matriarch, we haven't made holiday cards to send in thanks of those who helped us on our way. We will, we promise. But expect them later in the year. Perhaps as a SAD (seasonal affective disorder) pick-me-up in February, on the cusp of another year of promising thru hikers!
I'm also writing because I want to have a record of all of the awesome hikes Jesse and I do. We're starting an adventure together now. One even bigger than the AT. Also because lots of trails in our home state of Michigan have very little information floating around about them on the interwebs. We've been hiking the North Country Trail here in Michigan, and have hiked a section of the Michigan Shore-to-Shore trail. Someone has to encourage people around here to get out of doors!
If you (whoever you are) find yourself in Michigan and want to hike - or grab a beer and talk trail - shoot me an email. Make sure you include your email in the note (as per my sad lack of correspondence with Nascar, I think this thing might randomize your email when you send the note).
And look forward to hearing more adventures from Margarita and the now-less-aptly named TreeBeard. Happy trails!
Well, not really. But shortly after our last post, my magic phone stopped being magical. It took more battery to connect to the internet and type a blog post than the phone got while charging. So a two hour break was no longer conducive to blogging. Add to that the fact that my phone was already an old, crappy thing that didn't have the right (insert tech phrase) to write to the blog offline and just upload when we had a connection, and that writing in the memo app wasn't able to copy and paste to blogger (I lost a good 10 days worth of blog posts that way), and that was it. Since I had followed so many blogs in the months before my hike, I felt really badly. I remember how much fun I had virtually following people - coming home from a long day of grad school and hopping onto my favorite blogger's pages to see why I was working so hard - I wanted to pay it forward with this blog.
Then you ask, so why didn't you upload when you got back? Did you quit the trail?
Good questions.
About the time I realized there was no hope for my old phone and blogging (see lost blog posts note above), I got some amazing trail magic and some terrible news. We were in New Jersey, sitting at a bar (the name escapes me now, and my ATbook is stored with my gear), and met an amazing couple. They invited us over for dinner, showers, and a comfy couch, and we were more than happy to comply. They also taught us an amazing way to drink whiskey...with a chocolate milk chaser. Honest to goodness, don't knock it till you try it. We hadn't made our miles for the day, but their company was so pleasant, we decided to indulge in their kindness.
And thankful I am we did. The next morning my father called. My grandmother had passed away. The couple lent us their GPS unit, got us to a car rental place, and helped me get back to say goodbye to my beloved gram.
Needless to say, when we got back from the funeral, the trail had lost a lot of its carefree happiness. I sat down to blog a few times, and I just couldn't. I knew I wanted to finish the trail, knew my gram would want that for me, but I no longer had the emotional energy to write it all down for the world to read. I kept a hand-written journal the whole trail (highly recommended weight - a mini composition book goes a long way), and I continued to write in it. But down time was for me. I had to recharge my batteries. There was a lot of crying while walking, a lot of intense contemplation. When we made camp for the night, or found ourselves in a town, I got loud, friendly(ier than usual) with the locals, and drunk.
So, you ask, why are you writing now?
Firstly, I don't know who 'you' might be, or if 'you' exist. But I'm writing now because 1) NASCAR sent me an email, I responded, and never heard from him. If for no one other than Nascar, Bullwinkle, and the few people we grew to love on the trail, I wanted to let them know we finished. There is some grey area there. We skipped a section to hit the Whites when Jesse's brothers came out. They wanted to hike with us in the Whites, not in the foothills. Our plans would have put us there if not for the time off for the funeral.
And we skipped some of Maine. Jesse got hurt, quite a substantial back injury that had him on muscle relaxers for 2 weeks. Sleeping in the woods and not going anywhere was out of the question: anything but a bed hurt his back. So we spent a lot of money on a crappy hotel in the middle of nowhere. Eventually we decided we wanted family and our money more than we wanted to pass every white blaze on the trail. But we both really wanted to hike Katahdin. It had been such a goal for so long, we needed it.
We did hike Katahdin. And at the top, Jesse proposed! It was a beautiful ending to what had been the experience of a lifetime. Though bittersweet with the loss of my gram and the injury, we felt gloriously accomplished. And I hope we go back someday to hike the 100mile wilderness and catch the section we missed. Maybe we'll make up for missing the Shennys - but I doubt it. I loved aquablazing with every fiber of my being, and truly believe we saw those mountains the way they should be seen. From heron hatcheries to the friends we found in Farmer and Chovinard, it was my second favorite part of the trip. Besides, there's too much beautiful land to see in the world to travel the same patch twice. I've got my eyes on the Porcupine Mountains in Michigan, bagging all 46 peaks in the Adirondacks, and maybe the John Muir trail...and that's all in addition to the Carmino del Santiago. Yes please, wine hike! (BTWs, hope you're well, Ironman!)
In the lack of Christmas spirit brought on by the loss of the aforementioned matriarch, we haven't made holiday cards to send in thanks of those who helped us on our way. We will, we promise. But expect them later in the year. Perhaps as a SAD (seasonal affective disorder) pick-me-up in February, on the cusp of another year of promising thru hikers!
I'm also writing because I want to have a record of all of the awesome hikes Jesse and I do. We're starting an adventure together now. One even bigger than the AT. Also because lots of trails in our home state of Michigan have very little information floating around about them on the interwebs. We've been hiking the North Country Trail here in Michigan, and have hiked a section of the Michigan Shore-to-Shore trail. Someone has to encourage people around here to get out of doors!
If you (whoever you are) find yourself in Michigan and want to hike - or grab a beer and talk trail - shoot me an email. Make sure you include your email in the note (as per my sad lack of correspondence with Nascar, I think this thing might randomize your email when you send the note).
And look forward to hearing more adventures from Margarita and the now-less-aptly named TreeBeard. Happy trails!
Apr 29, 2014
Getting to waynesboro, mile 857 and day 63
Getting to Waynesboro, VA, by April 23 has been a goal of ours all month. I really wanted to aquablaze and got Jesse on board somewhere around mile 300. Aquablazing is canoeing the Shenandoah River that parallels the ridgeline the Appalachian Trail follows. We had to get to waynesboro, the town in which you start, by April 23 in order to have enough time to complete the aquablaze before Jesse's parents came out to visit us.
Believe it or not, pushing yourself to get to a place by a certain deadline on the AT is really difficult. It requires you to make a certain number of miles each day, but with the added pressure of knowing that each mile you don't make must be completed the following day or you don't get where you're going, regardless of the weather or if you tweaked your ankle or if you've got a headache, makes it very stressful.But we did it!
Day 57, Apr 16- 28.2 miles, mile 752.2
We slack packed today from Troutville to the Middle creek campground. I can't say enough kind things about the campground, even if it was an extra 1.3 miles after our 28 mile day. The people were very kind, gave us a ride back to the trailhead, and even met us with a lost package a few days later. It was a really long day, our first and hopefully only marathon, but we survived. And at the end, we ran into our slack packing friends NASCAR and Bullwinkle, who had a couple of cold bud lights for us.
Day 58, Apr 17- 15.4, 767.6
NASCAR and Bullwinkle gave us some slack magic and drove our packs ten miles down trail. We picked them up and hiked further north, where we ran into them again. They told us they were camping by the Blue Ridge Parkway about a mile north of where we met them, so we decided we would have a shorter day and hang out with them for the evening. They regaled us with some tales of their past hiking and what we might expect further north on the trail. NASCAR gave us some sound advice about the windows in the Doyle hotel, and Bullwinkle shared a story about boy scouts hiking a particularly rough patch of trail in Maine, and we didn't stop laughing all night.
Day 59, April 18, 14.9, 782.5
We received another slack magic adventure from NASCAR and Bullwinkle today to the James river near Glasgow,VA. The hike was almost entirely downhill, a big down, which does a number on knees and ankles. It was a great reprieve. I spent a lot of time observing the wildflowers that have finally started to emerge. I saw pink ladyslippers, a wild iris, a bunch of flowers whose names I don't know but whose appearance on the trail I've become so thankful for, and even a few trillium! Once we picked up our packs, we had every intention of hiking another 6-8 miles to get to an 18-20 mile day finishing on another ridgeline on the other side of the river. Let me just say, every thru hiker looks forward to VA because were told it's supposed to be flat. That statement is a bold faced lie. We went thru a 3-4 day stretch where we traversed perpendicular across the ridgelines and have done nothing but 2000 foot climbs and descents. Yuck. Anyway, we wanted to get back up on the ridgeline today so we didn't have 2 2000 foot climbs tomorrow. But when we showed up at the shelter for a privy stop and to get water, we couldn't leave. There was a pile of firewood, a creek running just left of the shelter, beautiful flowers. We made camp. What can I say, the flesh was willing but the mind was weak. I picked wild scallions and fiddleheads to add to our dinner and we sat in the shelter and read.
Day 60, Apr 19, 20.1 miles, 802.6
During our hike today we learned that Buena Vista, a town about 20 miles away from where we started today, had a catholic church, so we pushed all day so I could hit up Easter mass the following morning. The last 7 miles leading into town were my absolute favorite on the trail so far. We ran into Bullwinkle and NASCAR at a suspension bridge and chatted for a few minutes. We found out they'd be parked at the gap where we stopped, so we had another bud light to look forward to before went into town. We got to the gap at around 7 and chatted for a bit as we tried to get whole of the hostel owner in Buena vista. Having no luck, we left a message saying our friends were there and we'd probably just stay and try to settle up with the hostel, the bluedogart cafe, in the a.m. We showed up at the hostel to find Chovinard, his cousin, and Uffda hanging out and drinking beer. Chovinard kindly shared his case of yuengling since he nearest place to get beer was a few miles away. We hit up an Italian place around the corner and finally heard back from the hostel owner around 10:30. She was at Easter vigil mass, so understood my plight and said she would do what she could to get me the additional 9 miles to the church, although she was going to be gone and how this would be arranged was entirely unclear. The hostel was, by far, the shittiest place I have ever stayed at, but the people were kind, so it was an okay experience.
Day61, Easter Sunday- 12.1, 814.7
I tried to get to the 8am mass so we could get back on trail at a reasonable time, but had no luck hitch-hiking to the church. The hostel owners husband randomly showed up at 10, though, and said I'm here to take someone to church, so I got to the 10:30 mass. He also drove me back after, and we chatted about hunting in Michigan and in the hills of VA. We got back on trail around 2 pm and still managed 12 miles. Perhaps we were aided by Easter candy from our slack magicians. I kept wondering where Chovinards cousin was, as he was supposed to hike in a few miles and then hike back out to get back to base after his visit. He was really into the trail when we were all talking the night before, and excited to experience it. When we got to a nice camping spot around 8 and found chovinard there, we learned that his cousin had turned around after a mile. Remember the giant climbs I mentioned above? Well, hiking today started with one of those. And military man went from mocking our hiking poles to wishing for them. I felt pretty bad ass. We camped with farmer and chovinard and told them about our aquablaze plans.
Day 62, Apr 21, 19.4, 836
Spent the day flip flopping with chovinard and farmer, they'd get ahead and then enjoy a vista, and we'd get ahead. Then farmer and chovinard started asking us about the details of canoeing...were getting them excited about it. Maybe they will come with us. Then we took a break to soak our feet before the next up, and they jumped in the water. We also got our last slack magic from Bullwinkle, grape fantas. So. Cold. We got to just a mile or so away from the shelter and pitched camp by a pretty creek.
Day 63, Apr 22,
Pushed hard to make it into the outfitter before day close, since we knew we would need a full day to prep for aquablazing. Meant a bit of walking on the blue ridge parkway, but we made it to the outfitters with 25 minutes to spare. Got to the YMCA to take a free shower. They provided towels, shampoo, and soap. I felt like a queen! And we stayed in the town pavilion, also free. Waynesboro is a very hiker friendly place.
We took a zero here to prep for the journey, and were delighted to learn that we'd have company on the river!
Apr 15, 2014
Keep on keeping on, thru day 56
We're taking a much needed zero today, April 15th. It wasn't our original plan, but we are really excited about it. I broke one of my hiking poles just south of Pearisburg and we sent the replacement (free, thanks, Black Diamond) to a campground 26 miles from Troutville, where we are today. It was either 2 13 mile days or we could slack pack 26 miles and take a zero day. We are excited to slack pack our first time (it means someone takes our pack to the destination and we hike with only what we need for the day. It has been really nice to take a break today, and it is Crunchy, one of the Brits, birthday, so 12 of us are going out to dinner to celebrate.
Day 49, Apr 8- 17.6, mile 631.3
Day 50, Apr 9- 14.5, mile 645.8
Day 51, Apr 10- 663.3
Day 52, Apr 11, 18.2, mile 681.5
Day 53, Apr 12- 16.8, mile 698
On this day we tackled a rocky ridgeline that had very little water. It was hot, near 80, and sunny. A beautiful day, by all accounts, but it forced us to carry more water than we usually do. Water weighs 2lbs a liter, and extra weight and rocks kills my knees pretty rapidly. Anyway, we got 2.5 miles beyond the dragons tooth, which was crawling-literally- with over a hundred undergrads from Virginia tech, and headed toward our reward, a hostel with a shower. We hadn't showered since April 2nd and I was so excited!
The hostel, 4 pines, was in a guy named Joe's garage. It had couches, a bed, a couple cots, some lawn chairs (like those people lay out and tan on) with pads, and a stove, microwave, and hiker fridge. It also had the guys tools, fishing supplies and other sundries. I felt at home instantly. He also had tons of hiker type resupply foods- for free- and eggs for us from his chickens. It was amazing. His is a donation hostel, and I'd go there again in a heartbeat. He also gave us a ride to the Homeplace restaurant, an all you can eat homesyle restaurant where they keep bringing out plates of fried chicken, potatoes, gravy, green beans, etc, etc, until you can't eat anymore. Then they bring out cobbler! I probably wouldn't love it as a restaurant in real life, but in trail life it was phenomenal.
Day 54 Apr 13- 714.9, 16.9 miles
Day 55, Apr 14-724, 9.1 miles
Back on trail in the morning. Text me or leave us a comment here if you'd like. I want to formally thank a couple friends, Dean, Udu, and Joshua, for sending packages our way. And, of course, Tom and Brenda for sending out some summer gear and being our home base. It helps our budgets and our morale so much. Some days, the trail takes more than it gives, and kind notes on the web or my phone really brighten our moods.
Here's a pretty pic of the sky today. The clouds were eerie. Cheers!
Apr 8, 2014
Days 37 to 48
Mar 27, day 37: 461, 20 miles- we acquired a team name today, team morning glory, because of our fairly regular early morning bowel movements. I know, but that's the main topic of conversation out here, after food and how much our feet hurt. Were looking forward to Damascus, va tomorrow and our 4th state.
Mar28, day 38, 5.9, 467.1: I'm labeling the date for my uncle ( hi uncle al). We neroed into Damascus and I finally got a call out to family. Then we got laundry done and checked in to Dave's place across from the outfitters. I highly recommend mt rogers outfitters and Dave's. The place is the heart of town,and in just a few hours you know everything and everyone in town.
Day 39, mar 29, 0 miles
Family stuff stuck us in Damascus another day, but I love this town. The Damascus vortex held us briefly, and we felt very welcome.
Day 40, mar 30, 16.1, 483.2 total
At the suggestion of numerous locals, we took the creeper trail for the first few miles of our day. Its not the actual AT, but they join up about 12 miles away from town. It followed a lovely river and was a great change of pace from repetitive woods. I was pretty emotionally drained, but we stayed in the shelter with friends who brightened my day.
Day 41, mar 31, 500.5, 17.3 today
And I would walk 500 miles and I would walk 500 more.... shit! 500 miles. And we went thru a state park with ponies! I pet and fed the first one, before the signs told me not to.
Day 42, Apr 1,18 miles today, 518 total
We walked. A lot. All of my journal musings talk about personal life reflections. I was tired and emotionally exhausted. Its really hard to hike in that state. Lucky for me, Jesse kept me smiling despite myself. Another thing to be thankful for on the trail.
Day 43, my birthday! 13.2, 531 total
Hiked into Marion for birthday celebrations. I'll try to attach a picture, but check out facebook if I can't.
Day 44, apr3, 547.9, 16.7 today. This is the 25% mark! It was rainy all morning but cleared in the afternoon to be a not so terrible day.
Day 45, 560.1, 12.2 miles
I had a good time hiking today for the first time in a while. Its been so cold that the nice day made it glorious. We stopped short of our daily mileage to camp by a gorgeous stream, and I was glad to just enjoy for a day.
Day 46, Apr.5, 575.7, 15.6 today
Hiked a lot over a hellish ridgeline today and engaged in some trail drama and gossip about Warren Doyle, a man who really likes the AT. A lot.
Day 47, Apr 6, as u know, we went to a DQ in bland va and I did a quick update. We got to 592, 17 miles that day.
Day 48, Apr 7, 613.7, 21.7
Long day of hiking.
Day 49, today, Apr 8. Met a guy who played a judge in an upcoming blockbuster, illusions of red and white. We hiked 17 long miles to get in, and plan on hiking another one or 2 before we make camp outside of pearisburg va. Gotta run!
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