I pulled this off with a ten-mile hike on the North Country Trail today. In fact, it's the first ten-mile hike I've done this year. I needed to accomplish one for sure before I commit to my hopeful hike this fall.
Well, I did it. And I did it in 88% humidity. The temperature was decent, but I was soaking wet when I got home and not because it rained. It WAS supposed to rain, but it didn't. My knees and hips are tired, but not impossibly painful, and the joints didn't seize up like concrete after I got home.
Two nice finds on the trail. This is a group of Inky Cap mushrooms.
Best find of all was a really large blue racer. They aren't endangered, but they are becoming more rare.
Here's a closer look at his head. He was right beside the trail, but he let me pass.
I didn't do much else today. I figured the long hike would be enough. It took me just over 3.5 hours. I did take one snack break, so that was pretty close to a 3 mile/hour pace. I chose the route on purpose because it has decent elevation change. Not sure about all the ups and downs in between, but overall, I climbed 260 feet from beginning to turnaroud. If I'd been willing to make it an 11-mile hike I could have climbed another 130 feet. Maybe another day. That's a fair amount of elevation change for around here, so even though it's such a familiar hike to me, it's a good workout.
Miles walked in 2026: 287.2
Hike 100 Challenge 2026: 108.7= Complete
Onekama Challenge: 99.0 miles! I'll complete that tomorrow.
North Country Trail, Lake County, MI. Wingleton Rd to 8th St and back. 10 miles
 | See 2025 Hike 100/A> |
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