Last day of the Hike Fest. We are all worn out, but it's sad anyway. This is a beautiful laser-cut metal sign support on the Audubon National Wildlife Refuge. This was a gift to the trail by Kathy Beal who has worked at Audubon her whole career and is a great advocate for the NCT. She recently retired.
The trail through Audubon used to be restricted to the road, but before I did my big hike, they decided we could have our own mowed trail.
There is a beautiful visitor's center with nice displays and interpretation of the wildlife. Lake Audubon is an arm of Lake Sakakawea, but it is hydrologically separate because the water level in Audubon is kept the same all year.
The afternoon hikes were staged to end at the western terminus of the entire trail. The one I chose began at the arch which welcomes hikers to Lake Sakakawea State Park (the westernmost land manager for the trail). There is a bell you can ring to celebrate beginning or ending.
And... here are the three muskateers at the actual terminus. My third time here. Marie's second, and Diane's first. The weather was dull when I was here in 2022, so I'm glad to have a picture in nice light.
This was followed by a nice dinner with pulled pork and corn on the cob served by the ladies of Riverdale (the local community). After that was a good presentation on the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
The speaker clarified that the reason there are so many pronunciations of Sacajawea's name is because each tribal language had it's own nuances. In the Lewis and Clark journals it's usually Sacajawea or Sacagawea, but in North Dakota, one says Sakakawea!
Always hard to say goodbye to such good friends who care about this trail. We have noted that quite few of the people who have been involved for years are aging out. I think we have some younger folks stepping up to fill in. But, you know, I've been a member since 1995. In that amount of time there is bound to be a serious attrition rate. There were about 90 people who participated, which seems pretty good for an event that wasn't an actual national conference, and was at one of the termini. Those always have lower attendance because of the travel burden. The North Dakota chapters did a tremendous job of putting this together. Major Kudos!
Hiked 4 miles on the NCT in Audubon Wildlife Refuge and Lake Sakakawea State Park.
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1 comment:
Such a great preview for our trip to the Western Terminus in about 17 days-ish. I am putting together an Uber sign “Ride needed to eastern terminus - Vermont” for my formal pic at the Western Terminus! So sad that I did not start really have a goal focus for long distance hiking. I will be happy to complete the Buckeye Trail before I am physically unable (my goal age is 82 - currently 76!) Thank you for all your writing that continues to inspire me!
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