Final Day on Tri-County Challenge

    The feet hurt as soon as they touched the floor this morning. I hobbled to my clothes for the day and got ready. The more my feet moved, the better they felt, and the more hope I acquired for getting through the day. I was exhausted after not getting in until late, but excited for it to be my last day on the trail. 

    My husband dropped me off at the same spot he picked me up. For the last time, I was starting in the dark with headlamp ablaze. As I entered the woods, I thought about the conversation I had the night before with my father about hunting season and my potential for being shot. Luckily, it was only bow season and water fowl rifle season. I figured the bow hunters had to have precision aim, and I wasn't going to be near water fowl without being near a roadway as well. So, I felt pretty safe, but I was still in orange. 

    Again, my trail media was once again mixed between trails, boardwalks, roads, and highways. I enjoyed walking through the woods where I found lines attached to trees as part of tapping for maple syrup. It reminded me of collecting sap when I was younger to help my grandpa's sister's husband make syrup, and growing up with the homemade syrup. I had received a jar in July while staying at my mom's because we ran into the son, who continues to make small batches for friends and family. I miss homemade syrup.

    Anyway, I eventually made it to Middleville, MI, where I had made plans with my in-laws the night before to meet for lunch. I made it in before anyone else, found myself a pavilion with picnic tables, and proceeded to take off my socks and shoes before laying on the bench to rest a bit. Eventually, my family arrived, we got take out from a nearby location, and enjoyed our food under the pavilion. With everyone present, we wandered along the cement path about a mile before my husband and his dad returned to the car, while my mother-in-law (the Awesome MIL from the AT) continued on for about 6-7miles. 

    It is always fun hiking with MIL as she absorbs nature, and reminds me to take it all in. We didn't chat as much as we did on the AT, but I still enjoyed her company. It helped me make it through the middle part of the day, and keep going to the finish line. The men met up with us to whisk MIL away, but we planned on meeting up at the finish line and then meeting friends of mine at a brewery. 

    So, alone I took off to finish what 3 days prior I had taken on as a challenge. I wandered through backroads along swamps, reminding me of my childhood joy of walking through those swamps. For the last 4-5 miles, I had to force my brain not to think about the pain that was ever increasing in my feet. I had just completed 115 miles after all. The pain did cause me to look at my watch more often and made the end feel extra long. As I turned the last corner on the map before my end, I gave a little cheer. I was going to make it, and what an adventure it had been. 

    Nearing the next county, I found my husband and his parents navigating the terminus and trying to find a safe place to park the car while I completed my walk. My husband walked the last 100 steps or so, as his parents welcomed me in to the finish. I was ready to collapse, but happy to be done. What an accomplishment. 

    I got in the car after switching into my sandals, and we headed off to Thornapple Brewing Company for dinner. My friends, who used to grow hops in southern Michigan met us there. It was a great celebration of my accomplishment. 

    Once home at my in-laws' place, I pulled out my certificates and patches, and made sure to take a photo commemorating the accomplishment. My feet looked solid, but also had red blotches that made me a little concerned. They hurt, but that was purely from exhaustion after the 4 days and 120 miles. I rubbed them down and asked them to take care of me in a day or 2 as I had signed up for the 5k at Kalamazoo College's Homecoming weekend. They did carry me the distance, although not very fast as my leg muscles also had been overworked, and I forgot to ask them for extra support. 

    With this completed, I had no other plans for the trail this year. So, I packed away my stuff and readied myself for the winter months and trying to figure out what has been causing my nausea/vomiting and emotional variations, as I had not had either during the past few days nor while doing the triple crown of Michigan. Maybe anxiety has a part in both? Doing day hikes with a safe place to stay and lots of support made doing incredible things easier. This lead me to thinking maybe I need to adventure with the safety of an automobile vs camping out in the woods alone. So, I started looking at road trip adventures for 2022, especially after the trip home from Michigan where we were able to cross off 2-3 more states for my mom.  

Day 3 Tri-County Challenge

    Woke up a little earlier this morning to pack up the car before heading out on the trail. Over the past few days, I had not had to worry too much about hunting season and wearing orange as I walked along a lot of roadways. Today, I was going to be in many wooded areas that had potential for hunting. So, I made sure to wear orange. 

    My husband dropped me off at that picnic table, and I headed up the bald hill in the dark uncertain where exactly I was going. Today, I would cover Kalamazoo County in its entirety. Trail markers were sparse and the grass was covered in sparkly dew that reflected my headlamp making trail finding sketchy. As I reached the top of the hill, I heard in the distance the sound of a horn, which I eventually made out to be revelry at the nearby National Cemetery, or so I assumed. It was beautiful to stand there with my headlamp turned off and listen. 

    Once the morning was started right with revelry, I headed down the other side of the hill, reaching the edge of the woods as the sun was coming up, giving me just enough light to see where the trail disappeared into the dark woods. I pulled up my big girl panties and headed in, once again wondering who or what I would find in the darkness. 

    Over the past few days, I had been in communication with the Chief Noonday Chapter of the NCT, and had learned of an individual out on the trail raising money for suicide and attempting to do a county a day, more or less. As I wandered along during the day, I would periodically reach out to the head of the Chapter to find out where he and this gentleman would be and hopefully get to walk with him for a little bit. It ended up being the end of Kalamazoo County, where they met me, and I had the privilege of walking with this gentleman for about 6miles. He was not going to make his full hike of the counties due to having feet issues. This powered me to make sure I completed then. 

    At the end of Kalamazoo County, we met back up with the head of the Noonday chapter, and my walking companion left me. The chapter head was pretty certain I was going to make the entire challenge, so he gave me my completion patches and certificates at that time. I tucked them into my pack for safe keeping and continued on alone into Barry County. 

    It was a day of mixed media for walking, from trails to back country roads to 2 lane highway. There were lots of cranes along the way, and other birds to enjoy and worry whether they were going to poop on my head. They were very vocal and entertained me greatly. Besides live birds, there were lots of skeletons, once again making me wonder what had taken them. Eventually, I ended in a local park area, where there is a summer camp on one side with goats and cabins, abandoned at this time as it was no longer summer. It gave a nice erie completion to an erie start on the day.

    The night before, I had made plans with a college friend from the class below mine to meet up for a beer. He lives in the area of where I finished for the day, and brews his own beer. So, I finished off the day with enjoying his home brews and seeing his set up. It was really nice catching up. As he needed to get prepared for work the next day, and we still needed to drive 1.5 hours to my inlaws' house, we wrapped it up and headed out, hoping to see him at Kalamazoo College's homecoming that coming weekend. 

Day 2 Tri-county Challenge

    Another morning up in the dark and out to the trail. From the Red Roof Inn in Battle Creek we drove to Marshall, MI, where I started my day; still in Calhoun County. 

    After the short stint along the creek/river in Marshall, I wandered out along a somewhat busy road at the height of the morning work commute. The day before had been slow due to it being Sunday, and so I did not think about all the people driving to work. With my headlamp on, I walked along the non-existent shoulder of the road, hopping into a dewy grassed yard every so often to keep from getting hit. I laughed and got frustrated traversing the roadway having to watch for semi-trucks turning in front of me. 

    Eventually, I made it to the bridge park where my mom & I walked on our trip back from Pennsylvania. With it being October, many places along this walk were decorated for Halloween. The Bridge park was no different, as I encountered small pumpkins decorating stairwells or other parts of the park. Again, as I passed through the park, I lost the NCT and did a loop or 2 around the park before just heading across the street, where I knew it continued towards Battle Creek, MI. 

    I entered Ott Preserve, and enjoyed the tree cover and more nature trail feel compared to the way the day started. There were boardwalks and ponds to watch birds and simply enjoy the quiet. The Fall colors were working on being spent, but still gave some color to the views. On the other side of the park, my husband greeted me with some sugary drinks and to say hey! We made plans to meet in Battle Creek for lunch.

    Considering there were still many miles to go, I drank some quick sips of the beverages and headed back out again. I came out of the preserve and the woods back on to the roadways and the POW memorial bridge going into Battle Creek. Once across the bridge, the trail followed along a cement path for bikes, walkers, and anyone else recreating. It followed the river and entered downtown Battle Creek, where I eventually met up with my husband for lunch. We sat along the river enjoying the break and the view.

    With lunch complete and still many more miles to go, I put my shoes back on and headed out on the trail again. The cement trail passed by some open fields into the sketchy part of time, through a rundown part of the trail, and out to the industrial side of town. There were times where I was waiting for someone to crawl out of the woods. Other times, the moss covered bridges had me wondering whether I was going to slip and fall and ruin my adventure. Luckily none of that happened. 

    Most of this day, my husband kept finding little spots to meet up with me off and on. He met up with me on the far side of the cement path once I ended up back on the side of the road. We chatted for a bit before I continued on. The small breaks to see him and the dog were very welcomed.

    Eventually, I made it to the Fort Custer National Cemetery and VA hospital. Lots of security stuff that the road walk takes me just outside of. As I took photos, I kept waiting for someone to come talk to me about security aspect. Once again, my husband met me alongside of the road. I got more water from him and continued to take the trail around the National Cemetery to another road walk, which took me to a park in Augusta, MI and the line between Calhoun County and Kalamazoo County. There was a picnic table where I sat and waited for my husband to pick me up. 

    The day was complete and we headed back to the hotel. I was hurting a little, but still excited for the adventure. After showering off the dirt and grime of the day, I prepared for the next day. With everything packed and ready to go because we were planning on moving from the hotel to my in-laws' house for the night, I headed off to bed.