Today is day 1 of the Hike Fest.
I went on the 3.5 mile hike in the morning. Most blazes in ND are on posts.
People think North Dakota is flat. And it is in certain places, but there are many places where it is more like this-- rolling hills and some trees. These are mostly oaks along the Sheyenne River. This was our first view of the river (the brown stripe down in the valley)
This hike went from the Berg Trailhead across a section of private property that has been granted a trail easement.
The chapter has put in a number of new stiles (fence crossings). This design is super! There are steps that go through the fence and you walk up one side and down the other. Other designs work fine, but they are more like climbing the fence.
And why are there fences and stiles? Because there is large-scale grazing of beef on much of the land. This is a good thing because the prairie grasses evolved with the bison, and to keep the native plants healthy they need to be grazed.
The cows are extremely curious. They all ran over to see what we were. But when we climbed into their pasture they ran away like the wind.
The afternoon hike was 6.5 miles from Ekre Trailhead to Jorgen's Hollow Campground. This is within the National Grassland which is marked by posts with an angled top and the NCT emblem.
We arrived at Jorgen's Hollow in time for a yummy picnic dinner, and a few remarks, introductions of people, and the presentation of a few awards. Great fun. There are about 80 people who came to ND to participate.
The mosquitoes were pretty bad, but the worst was the heat. So I hiked 10 miles that were very hot. I know, I know... I should be used to that, but I don't seem to be.
There was really cold water available to drink at the end, so that was nice.
More hikes tomorrow.
Miles today: 10 miles on the NCT in North Dakota.
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