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Thursday, December 14, 2023

Loren Gets Her 100 Miles


It turned out to be a really beautiful day for a hike. Loren completed her Hike 100 Challenge 2023 (to hike 100 miles on the North Country Trail in a calendar year). She wasn't sure she was going to be able to this year because of plantar fasciaitis, but she got some treatments that helped, and here she is! (With Koa jumping up to help celebrate.)
hiker with Hike 100 sign


She wanted to do the hike here because she says this is her favorite local place on the trail, along this esker. And I zoomed out, so you can see that she actually is on the esker.
hiker on an esker


There were 10 of us and two dogs who hiked to celebrate with her.
hiker group picture


We started at Sawdust Hole and went down into Leitch Bayou to hike along the Manistee River.
Leitch Bayou Manistee River


There is an eagle nest along there which we didn't see even though we know about where it is. However, we did see the eagle.
bald eagle flying


I just like this section of the trail because at the west end of the bayou, the trail climbs back to the top of the bluff. Before we were even a chapter (before 1998) the Forest Service had built these great switchbacks. I think there are a total of 8 legs (in two groups of four) to get all the way to the top. They show up a lot better when there are people on them.
hikers climbing switchbacks


Now we have a couple of people who are close to 200 miles for the year, and they want to do that. (There is no official reward for getting to 200, it would just be a personal goal.) I'm not sure what my total is. Let's see. There were 437 to complete my End-to-end. Then I've done about 40 more (haven't tracked it very precisely) on the NCT since then. so that would be about 477. Will I make it to 500 for the year? Doubtful. I have things to do that really don't leave me with the time to do another 23 miles. I'm not interested in doing any 15 mile days now!

However, this was not all the fun for today. Cathy and I spent the day together after the hike. I'll show you about that tomorrow because I have to buckle down and get things done tomorrow, so I won't be out tracking down interesting pictures.

North Country Trail. Sawdust Hole to the esker and back, 5.3 miles

See Two Hikers Hit 100

3 comments:

Ann said...

Congratulations to Loren. Nice to have all those people there to celebrate it with her.

The Oceanside Animals said...

Lulu: "Congratulations to Loren!"
Java Bean: "Ayyy, I would jump to grab a piece of paper too! Paper is good for shredding!"
Lulu: "I don't think Loren would be very happy about having her certificate shredded. Maybe go find a stick to chew on instead."
Java Bean: "Ooh, that'd be fun too!"

Sharkbytes said...

Ann- we like to celebrate each other's successes

Java- no worries. The actual certificate will come in the mail. This is just something she printed to pose with. But maybe you can answer a question. Koa always turns her back when the camera is pointed at her. Catching her jumping to to congratulate her Mama was a great improvement. Why does Koa do this?