Walked with a group organized by Joan Young from Croton Dam to 40th St. I added a few more miles by continuing on to 28th St. where I left off yesterday. Joan is the first person to hike the North Country Trail, the Fingerlakes Trail, and the Buckeye Trail. She also was the first female to finish the North Country Trail. Plus she knows like every tree and plant you could possibly see while walking around here. 

I finished the day by seeing the amazing porcupine trees and a barred owl in a tree 30 ft away at just 10ft above the ground. Perfect sighting and end to a great walking weekend. 

Over 55 miles for the weekend. I CAN do this. Let’s go CDT it’s almost time. 

Whooped my legs. Didn’t have the GPS so I’m not sure how far it was. Old maps are not accurate with mileage. Just guessing 28 to 30 based on time. Maps would put it around 24. 

Day opened beautifully with a meteor flashing across the southron sky seconds after I opened my eyes. I’m taking it as a sign that all is as it should be because it went east to west in the south. After that loons calling and sand hill cranes sounding.  Some little creature chewed the end of my shoelace off and put three small holes in my sock during the night. Taped up the end and rolled on. 

I figured out I do need a strap for my quilt. My inflatable pad is high enough that a gap can occur during a roll over. I need a belt too. Otherwise gear all checked out fine.  

Finished the walk in a beautiful stretch of Michigan wetlands. 

No miles today. I had dinner with the new superintendent/principal who is taking over my position. Quite a relief today to have a chance to talk to him. 

I went to the supermarket to pick up supplies for a Newaygo County North Country Trail hike I’m starting tomorrow. 45 miles or so. A nice 30oz blend of nuts and dark chocolate was on sale for $8.69. I bought 6 bags. Honey mustard pretzel pieces were 2 for $4. Eight of those went in the cart. 

I spent the rest of the evening prepping my pack for the launch tomorrow afternoon. 

Althea and I humped a quick 9.1 miles in 2:45. Work ran late, so I didn’t get us to the trail until just after 6pm. 

First time with the Cascadia 11s. They felt good with no heel pain at all. Much better the the Merril Moabs I’ve been wearing. Almost good enough to order a second pair to be ready to ship. I’m wondering about replacement insoles though. The 11s are last year’s model, so they’re “relatively” inexpensive. I’m planning on putting close to 50 miles in this weekend in a solid test run of my gear. I’ll know if I want to line up a second pair by Sunday afternoon along with a little insole research.