Friday, January 6, 2017

100 miles on The North Country Trail

   Ever heard of The Appalachian Trail, also known as the AT?  (Check out my book review of Becoming Odyssa, a auto-biography about a young girl's first time through-hiking the AT.)

   Well, The North Country Trail -NCT- is about 4,600 miles from New York to North Dakota (the AT is about 2,190 miles from Georgia to Maine). This year was the 100th anniversary of the NCT and they put out a challenge for people to hike 100 miles of the trail this year.  Any kind of miles.  100 different miles, a 1 mile section 100 times, one through-hike, different days, whatever. Just put 100 miles under your feet on the NCT.  I found out about this challenge in April, but.......

I did it!!!!!!!!!!!

   My biggest challenge was finding a NCT trail that was wooded, not roadway or rails-to-trails style, and close enough to home so I could actually get the miles in.  My idea of "hiking" is in the woods; "walking" is what's done on cement, and most of the trail near me is on cement.  I knew of sections in the Manistee National Forest, but those are at least five hours away.
  At first, the closest section I found was the Lost Nations area, and required a three hour round trip.  Not great.  Little Princess does not walk very fast, which came out to a lot of time for a little miles. Enjoyable, beautiful, full of wildlife, yes, but not very efficient for the goal.  So I kept looking, and around the time school started, I found another section only one hour away in a Toledo city park.  A city park did not look promising, but I could do a lot of miles after kids got on the bus and before I went to work.
   Well, it turns out it was a Metropark, and it was great! It has oak stands, pine groves, prairies, and 4 different NCT starting points I could take.  I parked, hiked for half my time, turned around, went back, and went home.  My dog got a lot of trail training, too, because he always came with.  I even talked a friend into going with me one time.
   I thought I'd finish at the end of November, completing the last few miles with the family Thanksgiving weekend.  Then came some sickness, and the Thanksgiving bookcase project to finish.  I did not finish that weekend, though the family did go hike.  Honestly, once December came, I was a little worried I wouldn't finish.
   But I did! And I am so glad I did. I'm ecstatic to complete the goal, and I enjoyed all of it, even the soreness and cold.  Hiking in the woods relaxes and refreshes me.  It allows my brain wander and my stress to wander off.  The day I did over 10 miles in one day I was so elated to hit that mini-goal, I skipped all the way back to my car singing "I did 10 mi-les, I did 10 mi-les".  The last day I even borrowed Hubby's snowshoes and went in 18 degree weather and snow.  I do not do well in the cold at all. Snowshoes and anything less than 40 degrees were not options on the table even two months ago, but I was so determined to finish!
   The whole thing proved to me again that I can do things which seem big, overwhelming, and difficult if I just get up and do it.  All the other challenges I will face, whether it's gardening, animals, house projects, etc., I will be able to do too.
   This year I will have a new hiking goal, which I will start in another week or two.  Until then, I am going to bask in my own glow for a bit.

Very Joyfully yours,
K

Here's my hiking breakdown:
05-15   3.52mi  3hr21min  H, with kids
05-22   3.27mi  1hr54min  H, with kids
06-25   4.57mi  2hr42min  H, with kids
07-04   3.94mi  2hr25min  M, with kids
07-21  13.25mi  10hr47min  M, whole day trip, with kids
09-03   8.6mi    3hr55min  T
09-24   8.61mi   2hr37min  T
10-07   8.71mi   2hr26min  T
10-13   7.79mi   2hr5min  T
10-18   6.22mi   1hr42min  T, with a friend
10-31   10.27mi  2hr44min  T, Over 10 mile day!
11-26   3.36mi   1hr16min  T, with kids
12-08   9.16mi   2hr23min  T
12-20   9.83mi   3hr36min  T, Snowshoe Day!
Total: 101.1 Miles!! :)

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