In the morning, I went on a short hike on trails in the Shingobee Recreation Area. The NCT goes through here, and I was here on August 26. But today, I walked a number of the other loop trails, not just the NCT. It was all very relaxed.
The color palatte sure is different now!
My favorite!
The afternoon was filled with four workshops and a reception. The topics were mapping, trail protection, route planning, and an NPS roundtable where people could ask the Park Service employees questions.
After dinner (I ended up at a table with several NCTA staff, and Tom Gilbert and the conversations were awesome), the program was provided by Annie Humphrey, an Anishinaabe musician.
I was pleased to get photos with two people who are notables in the NCT community. Keith Myrmel is an artist who has created wonderful maps (decorative- not for navigation) of the entire NCT. He also designed the original NCT trail logos which were used in a couple of the National Forests in the 1980s.
And here I am with LouAnn Fellowes Johnson, who was one of the two people who followed the route of the NCT before it was even authorized as a trail. They bicycled portions, but hiked most of it. She came to this Celebration to share stories of her adventure. It was the first time I'd met her in person!
Tomorrow will be just as busy. The constant activity and people get to me after a while, but for one weekend a year, with the people who care about this trail as much as I do, it just makes me gloriously happy to spend time with these folks.
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Sounds like a great day.
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