Just Keep Moving - Day 358

  My mantra for today was, "Just keep moving. How fast you go is not important, but just keep moving forward." The snow was difficult.

This is Silver Creek, the same creek that the Eben Ice Caves are on farther downstream. I was mighty glad there was a bridge there. It's actually a road bridge.

No such luck at the Rock River. I knew this was going to be a ford, but I didn't know how bad. Not very bad, but I did have to use trash bag waders to get across.

Once I crossed that, I entered the Hiawatha National Forest. And, more specifically, the Rock River Canyon Wilderness. You may remember my post about Wilderness. This is another Federal Wilderness, but the trail does not yet go through it. For years and years, the NCT has been on a road beside the boundary because the Supervisor did not agree that the mission of a trail and the mission of a wilderness were compatible. But times and people change. The trail is now going to be allowed to pass through this area. It will probably follow the Rock River and include the Rock River Falls, but not the Eben Ice Caves.

The weather is warming, and the snow is getting wet and heavy. I have to be honest and tell you that today was a tough slog. When I saw Sue with Sophie and Annabelle coming out to meet me, I was really happy. Sophie is trying to decide if it's me, and she should run to greet me, or if it's someone scary to bark at.

I wore the snowshoes part of the day but not all. Some of the route was on little/not used forest roads, and the snow wasn't really deep enough there to need them, but it was heavy enough to drag. I have to say that I'm fine with this hike being a challenge, but if it turns into a constant death march, I'm not sure I'm up for that. We'll see.

This evening, we were taken out to dinner by members of the Marquette Area Chapter of the NCTA. I had a really nice salad which was a welcome selection.

Miles today: 9.9. Total miles so far: 4131.2.

See Marquette with Cathy