Triple Crown of Michigan: Day 2, Manistee River Loop

 Woke up thankful not to hear rain, but a little stiff from the day before. Having learned from the Jordan Valley loop, I opted for pants to traverse the Manistee River Loop. Also, I was more familiar with this loop having hiked a small portion of it the year before and knowing my husband had ran the whole loop trying to beat the fastest known time the year before. I was ready and excited.

With the rain the day before, things were wet, and the clouds were still lifting as I headed out for the day. This lead to some pretty sunrise photos. As I started out, there was a small path from the parking lot to the main loop and linked to a nearby picnic and fishing area. It was a pleasant warm up for my semi-stiff legs. Also, I enjoyed the encouraging smiley face drawn in the trail.

From there, I was on the loop and traversing a sketchy trail along the hillside, but with beautiful views of the river on which I grew up canoeing. So many memories flooding my brain as I hiked through this area.

As I dropped from the ridge to a stream valley, I saw something that looked like maybe a black fox or a wolf or a cat. I was sad I missed getting a photo. I did get some footprints in the mud, but I'm not certain it was the animal that had eluded me. 

                            

I crossed streams/creeks/brooks, roads, and trail junctures. At each sign, I took a photograph to prove to the organizers of the Triple Crown that I had indeed done the full loop. The views continued to amaze me, as I went from valley to ridgeline and back. 

As I wandered through the woods, peeking out at the river every so often and passing wildflowers, I would occasionally find fungi in a variety of colors. These would cause me to wonder about fairies and gnomes, smurfs and snorks. Yes! I am a child of the 80s. My backpacking travel companions joined me to pose on road crossing signs and continue my joy of being out in the woods that were my playground as a child. I saw deer frolicking in an abandoned campsite and took a small detour to see the waterfall. 

Some highlights of the trip were when I crossed the bridge that my mom and I had met my husband on the year before. Unfortunately, right after that is where I got a little lost on the NCT as the signs made it seem like I was to go closer to the paved road vs following the dirt road. Eventually, I figured it out and made it on to the NCT portion of the loop, but not without getting frustrated first. I was not excited by the NCT portion of the loop as it rarely neared the Manistee River, nor did it give views of the river like the other side of the loop did. So, I just put my head down, and finished the loop exhausted but proud and happy to be done with day 2.

Triple Crown of Michigan: Day 1, Jordan Valley loop

 

Somewhere in the middle of the night, the rain begins. Thunder and lightening decide to join. I listen to the sounds snuggled inside my mom's camper as I wrestle with how much I want to do this challenge. My "why" still unknown, I force myself out of bed that morning, and head out into the rain to drive from Cadillac to the Jordan River Valley, a place I don't ever remember exploring before. Kalkaska, MI was always the place you passed through on your way to the Mackinac bridge. It was the place with the fish fountain!

The night before, I had figured out at what trailhead I was going to start. Then, I got there and a tree had fallen over the road. I'm driving my mother's Buick sedan, which she commented during our adventure home from PA she does not like to take on dirt roads. The roads to the trailheads were all dirt, AND it was raining. Between worrying whether my mom would be mad and realizing I was heading into unknown woods of Michigan by myself with no cellphone signal in the rain, I again questioned my "why." 

When I finally got to a trailhead parking lot, I noticed there was only 1 other car. It was raining, I figured, nobody in their right mind would be out hiking in this. I had grown up in this place, I know the people. I'll be fine. My mom's car would be safe, right? If it was gone when I got back, then I could call her and my step-dad to get me. My step-dad would basically be passing close to this area on his way back from Traverse City, right?

So, off I went into the dark unknown...down...down...down!? Uh, I am going to have to go back up that at some point, right? The trail was muddy, the trees dripped water, and any leaves or grass I brushed against soaked my skin. I opted for a running skort that day because my legs are mostly waterproof. 

Once in the valley, the hike was relatively easy and pleasant. The raindrops breaking through occasionally, but otherwise just keeping temperatures cool. The clouds and mist adding to the intrigue and mystery of this place. 

As I traversed the 20 miles of this loop, I passed many benches, which I hold true to the idea that every bench should be sat on to see the view someone wanted me to see. Sometimes the benches were just good for holding my gear as I took a break from the weight. 

When I was looking into the triple crown facebook group, there was discussion about whether a person needed to carry their pack fully loaded as if they were truly backpacking the loops or not. There was no clear cut idea, so I decided to go with a fully loaded backpack as though I would be out for the 3 days it would take me to finish this challenge. Also, I wanted to check in with my body and see what was up and whether it would be ready to traverse the Upper Peninsula of Michigan the end of the month. I didn't puke, and despite the rain, I did not cry.

Part way through this loop, the trail crosses the 45th parallel. It is a unique aspect of the NCT as this is the only place the trail crosses it. So, of course, I made sure to take a photo. The rest of the trail wound around, over, and through the Jordan Valley providing amazing views and taking me through a couple of decent camping spots only accessible by ORV/ATV or by foot. I was impressed that such a neat area existed so close to where I grew up. I guess Kalkaska has more to offer than just the fish fountain. 

When all was said and done, my tracker said I had gone a little over 18 miles, I believe. So, I hoped that the next couple loops would pick up the extra and make it average out to 20miles per loop. Overall, the day was a success, and I felt pretty proud. No puking. My feet didn't hurt. My thighs hurt from rubbing because the skort rolled up and exposed my thighs to each other. The moisture sure didn't help either. So, on the way back into town I stopped for some pants at the local Meijer's Thrifty Acres and met my mom and step-dad at the Elk's Lodge for a celebratory drink and to recount my day. Then, it was back to the camper to sleep and prepare for the next day.

My State's Triple Crown

 So, I headed back to Michigan via train, as I mentioned; however, I was so late leaving Denver that I missed the connection to Grand Rapids. This started to worry me and I got in touch with my in-laws, who offered to pick me up. At first, I clung to my pride and said no. Then, I started to soften and told them that would be wonderful. I really do have a hard time asking for help, and they have always been great at offering and supporting me in all my craziness. 

When I arrived to Grand Rapids about midnight, my in-laws were there waiting. My poor father-in-law had been soaking in the hot tub and was ready for bed, but he came and rescued me along with my mother-in-law. We returned to their house, about a mile from the train station, and I settled in for the night with the watchful eye of their cat. The plan being to meet my mother halfway between the 2 houses the next day for lunch. No greyhound trip for me. 

We met at Jamesport Brewing Company for lunch and to dump me off on my mother for another month or so. The food was amazing and the beer was good. My mom had brought the convertible for the ride back to her place. So, we headed out like Thelma & Louise for Cadillac, MI. My mom took me to a couple cemeteries on the way to her place to show me where other members of our family were buried. 

Once at my mom's, we discussed what my plans were for the next few months. I explained to her about this Triple Crown of Michigan that I had learned about on Facebook. It is 3 days doing 20miles each day on parts of the NCT. The first 20mile loop I planned to do was the Jordan Valley Loop, followed by the Manistee River Loop, and finished off with the Fife Lake loop. All of these loops were near the area where I grew up and contained sections I had either floated the river or had camped with family. The only less familiar one was the Jordan Valley. 

During this stay, I decided to sleep in the camper as my aunt and cousin were coming to town, and I figured they could have the comfy indoor beds. This actually worked out as I simply got up each morning before the sun and headed for my hikes. My mom was letting me use her car for these trips, so I all I had to do was go into her garage and leave. It worked out very well. The following posts will be each of the 3 days I took to do this adventure.

Searching for the WHY - Lessons learned while Couch Surfing the Parents' houses

 It has been just over a month since I decided to leave the NCT for the second time. I spent Memorial Day Weekend with my college roommate and her family helping them make their new home prettier and learning how to play video games with the kids. It was great to get to spend time with my Dana! She suggested a friend tour might be what I need, and I stewed on the idea.

Tuesday after Memorial Day, my mom drove to Pittsburgh, PA to pick me up and take me to Michigan. We drove north to the Lake Erie coastline and took that west towards Michigan. Because it was about a 7 hour drive, we stopped for the night in Huron, OH, and got to take in the sunset over Lake Erie with Cedar Point Amusement Park in the foreground. We then walked around the small town before heading to bed.

The next morning we got up, grabbed our free bag of breakfast, which included a frozen breakfast sandwich, and headed out on the road continuing to follow the Lake Erie Shoreline. We took the coast all the way to Toledo, and then I put us onto I-94 towards Kalamazoo, MI. As we travelled across lower Michigan, I realized we were basically paralleling the NCT, so I had my mom get off the highway, and I showed her what it was like to hike roads/follow the NCT. We followed the blue blazes from just outside Albion, MI through Marshall, MI into Historic Bridge Park just outside of Battle Creek, MI. Since Historic Bridge Park is a small slice of the NCT, I got my mom to join me as we explored the NCT through there. It was a nice little park next to the Kalamazoo River. Another mile or so added to my collection of NCT miles this year, so far. I think I was at 135 miles (23 miles in VT + 13 miles in NY + 99 miles in OH).

All this touring I think gave my mom a good idea of the NCT, and we headed towards home. Along the route, we stopped to visit a friend, whom I haven't seen in probably 10 years. Again, I thought of the friend tour idea. 

At my mom's house, we kept very busy. Jazzercise (yes! That's still a thing despite it not being the 80s anymore), planting flowers, watering plants, visiting cemeteries and planting flowers there as well as watering daily, attending church, buying groceries, pub crawling, and then I took a few side trips to help my aunt clean my grandma's house as a step to selling it. I did get a day to set up my tent and make sure it was dry as well as laying out my sleeping bag and pillow to dry as they smelled like ammonia. This may also have been the day I spent simply reading. I definitely kept busy and free from thinking about my recent NCT failures. 

After about 2 weeks at my mom's house, I moved on to staying with my in-laws as I prepared to meet up with my husband in Ohio for his 100 mile race. Life with my in-laws is a lot more relaxed than the busy-ness of my mom's, and I had a lot more time to think about my why. The first night there, I had dinner with my mother-in-law's mom, sister, her husband, my father-in-law's sister, and her husband. I don't even remember what my mother-in-law's mom said to me, but it instilled in me what I have always felt in the presence of my in-laws...support. Being in a slower paced atmosphere with walks along the beach and being surrounded by people who support me no matter how crazy I am, makes me think that I should give this trail one more chance. 

During my time at my in-laws', I took a day to visit with my father and his wife. My dad and I have never been real big talkers, so I guess it's good that his wife was there. The down side is that she has worked with the state of Michigan in the realm of mental health. So, of course, she knows the right questions to ask to get my mind thinking even more. She brings up the idea of my mind and body not being on the same train of thought right now, thus the problems I'm having with backpacking the NCT. I take this and use it to ponder my why as well. 

In heading to my husband and his race in Ohio, I was able to convince my in-laws to stop at Hocking Hills State Park, what on the Facebook group looked to be the most spectacular part of Ohio.

Also, based on my calculations, I still needed another mile to make 100 miles in Ohio for this year. The day we traversed Hocking Hills, my in-laws were agreeable to letting me hike the entire Grandma Gatewood trail, which coincides with the NCT for about 5.6 miles. I wasn't wearing my full pack, but I did enjoy the time hiking through the park. It reassured me that I should give the trail one more chance; however, this time I will set my focus on the state of Michigan, my home state and my HEART state.

Towards the end of my time with my mom, her husband, and my in-laws, I finally had time to think about my WHY vs pretending not to feel like an incompetent child back living with her parents. I reflected on the people and places I had met and visited in the past few weeks. This lead me to think about the kind of people I have met during all my long distance backpacking. It reminded me of what John Campbell, my Ohio trail angel, and I were talking about in regards to the trail community/family. 

The NCT community is different since there are not 1000 people attempting to thru-hike this trail like there is on the AT. It is a community mostly online, and one needs to reach out to the different chapters typically for assistance. I am not good with asking for help, so this will be a challenge as I continue on the trail with the idea of hiking my home state of Michigan. Hopefully hiking in Michigan will allow me more time with friends and family still in the state vs having to ask strangers for help, but we will see. Part of what I enjoy about long distance backpacking is meeting the local people and seeing what our country has to give in the mountains, woods, and valleys. 

On 12 July, I plan to take amtrak from Denver to Grand Rapids, MI, where I will then take a Greyhound to Cadillac, MI. My aunt and cousin come to Cadillac 16 July with my sister arriving 20 July. I will make sure my sister's birthDAY is a success, and then plan to head to the Mackinac Bridge to camp with a couple of my dad's sisters. On 23 July, I hope to take off on the NCT, again, heading for Marquette, MI. During my time couch surfing and asking myself WHY?, I continuously feel my heart pulling to the shores of Lake Superior. So, I figure if I cannot make this trail happen with time spent along my favorite great lake, then it is just not meant to be at this time. The upper peninsula of Michigan has always been a place of happiness and friendliness for me. May it be that way as I work on traversing it and recapturing my joy of backpacking. 

False Start/Lost

I did it! I attempted the NCT again. This time, I made it ~7 days. Then, I bailed...again! I don't remember the Appalachian trail being so hard to stay driven. Besides 16 years, what has changed in my drive to backpack long distance? 

Since my college days at Kalamazoo College on the Land/Sea orientation program, I have enjoyed backpacking. As a kid, you could NOT pull me from the outdoors. So, doing the AT just seemed perfect for me. Once I completed the AT, I found the desire to go long distance growing in me more with each passing year. This lead to the Colorado Trail (CT) 8 years later. Still the desire to go longer than the CT was there and growing...or was it!?

Possibly what was growing was the longing for the simplicity of life on a long trail as well as the sense of community/family. In 2005, I met a hiker on the AT who had just been served divorce papers & layed off from his job. He had heard about the trail family of the AT, and decided to come hike. Talking with a NCT trail angel, who is a past AT thru-hiker, while traversing o-HI-o, I was reminded of this sense of family/community. Maybe the lack of this is what is making my attempt of the NCT so challenging.

On Sunday, 23 May 2021, I flew to Pittsburgh, and was then delivered to the NCT at the point where it crosses the PA/OH border.

From there, I hiked ~14 miles, getting into Sprucevale Lock, where I set up camp for the night in an empty group campsite tucked away from the road.

Little did I know the park, which "closes at dusk" was a hot place for teens/college kids to meet up, hang out, party, or go parking. Many seemed disappointed to find a tent in the group spot best suited for such things. Luckily, nobody decided to bother me, and instead moved along. 

The next morning I got up, packed up, & headed off down the trail in an overcast haze. Since northeast o-HI-o is the gateway to the Appalachian mountains, of course I had a variety of pointless ups and downs (PUDs), but at least I was mostly along the Beaver Creek.

It was a pretty, well maintained trail that made it easy for hiking despite the PUDs. Eventually, the trail came to a re-route in Beaver Creek State Park that took me from trail to back country roads. That was alright with me as it had started to rain, and the trails were already muddy. When the sun came out in the afternoon, it made for a muggy hike. I was thankful to get to Lisbon, OH, grab some chocolate milk & cold water from the gas station before working on a hotel room to share with the in-laws for the night. 

It was great to see the in-laws and left me feeling ready like when they dropped me at the start of the AT. One couldn't ask for more supportive family. I was excited for the continued adventure.

As that 3rd day wore on, and I continued to walk on roads, after a beautiful 2.5 miles on a rails to trails bike path, I started to have a sinking suspicion that I had no place to sleep for the night. My plan was to stay at the Inn & Tavern in Hanoverton, so I gave them a quick call in the middle of the day to verify availability. I'm not sure if they're not open during the week or if they truly were full on a Tuesday night before Memorial Day weekend!? Anyway, my suspicion was confirmed. 

So, when I got to Hanoverton, I found that it was so tiny I'm surprised there was any sort of inn. At a loss, I reached out to the NCT Facebook community starting with the women's hiking group to the trail angels and finally asking the general NCT community. Within 15min, I had responses from chapter volunteers and leaders working to help me out. Truly amazing. As a solo female, I'm a little skittish about people knowing where I'm at in the wilds. Anyway, I ended up hiking another 4 miles on the trail and getting a ride for the 2.5 miles to an RV campground.

The day left me feeling blessed with all the assistance being provided, but also with a keen sense of "I'm all alone out here. If something happens to me, how long will it take someone to notice?"

The next day I woke up early and departed from the campground on a 2 mile stretch that was not part of the NCT, but when hiked straight south intersected the NCT. While packing up that morning, I had dry heaves into puking. That set me on edge for the day, as I wasn't 100% sure where I was staying for the night. I had received notice from a NCT trail angel/maintainer that a gentleman in Malvern, OH was going to help me with camping spot. I was really hoping to make it to Waynesburg, which was beyond Malvern. Unfortunately, the sun gods and the miles on open roads past beautiful farm lands got to me causing further puking. No matter what I put in, it came back out tasting worse than when it went in. Therefore, I was wasted by the time I hit Malvern, and decided to get a hotel room for the night. Thank goodness for the trail angel, John, who was a past AT thru-hiker, and wanted to pay all his good fortune on the AT forward to other hikers.

He took me 8miles to the nearest hotel, and even came to pick me up after taking an unexpected rest day. 

So, day 6 of this adventure, after a much needed rest day where I pigged out and slept a TON, John helps me skip the rest of the road section before the NCT joins the Buckeye Trail (BT), and he drops me off where there is actual trail. This is where I learned the true meaning of "be careful what you wish for." As I excitedly started along the BT/NCT, I was glad to finally be on dirt vs pavement. This eventually changed as the trail became less distinguishable the further along I went in my day.

I suppose the consistent rain with cooling temperatures did not help. Despite all that, I was still able to pull off ~22 miles for the day. 

Unfortunately, it was this cold, wet evening that started my next halt in my adventure. As I huddled in my wet tent, tucked into my wet sleeping bag with my emergency blanket wrapped around to keep in the heat, I still found myself shivering. This brought up the thought again of how long would it take for them to find my cold dead body, since I was all alone. After a restless night of passed out asleep to awake and shivering to hip pain that made me switch sides, I woke up to the incessant morning squabbles of the birds. Once packed, as best I could to try to avoid mixture of wet & dry items, I headed out on the trail. The day started with light rain/mist as I broke my way through various thorny bushes and ducked under/over downed trees constantly watching for any hint of blue blaze. 

After 2 wrong turns on trail due to not being marked well or too overgrown, I followed the 2nd wrong turn out to the road & decided to walk on the roads for the rest of the day. With the cloud covered skies, that was the best decision ever. Due to the stress/anxiety of the growing concern about being out there all alone and tough trail conditions, I found myself puking up sour tummy contents. Once on road & resolved to ask my friend if she could drive ~2 hours to come get me - to which she agreed- I was feeling better and trucking along. 

I arrived to Piedmont, OH by about noon on the last day of this part of my journey, and found a place at Clay's Drive Inn to hunker down & wait for my ride. During this wait time, I was able to throw back some chicken strips and coke, while reaching out to my husband and mom. I ensured them I was going to rent a car and just drive the trail in o-HI-o...after resting out Memorial day weekend with my friend. To this my husband drops a logic bomb on me that now has me wondering what in the heck am I doing? - "I would encourage you to think about your why so that you can get what you need out of this summer." I hate it when he's right. 😉

So, at this time, I will spend some time in Michigan, trying not to overstay my welcome, and think about what I really want/need from this summer. Then, I'll hitch a ride with my in-laws to o-HI-o for my husband's 💯 mile race, crew him through that successful completion. Depending on what I figure out during the next couple weeks, I will either be dropped off at the OH/MI border with the intent to hike the state of Michigan (upper & lower peninsulas) on the NCT, or I will join my husband and dog home to Colorado with my tail between my legs, return to my PRN position with the clinic I left, and allow the super hero complex to die out. Right now, I'm leaning towards backpacking Michigan, but why? That is the big question, right now. 🤔🤨😬