[Please note that this was originally posted on 3.17.19 here. Hiawatha Hiking Company is our new business!] I wish everyday out on the trail was sunny with pleasant temperatures, but unfortunately Mother Nature often has different plans. If you spend a lot of time hiking outside, there will inevitably become a time where you have to […]
3 Tips for Backpacking in the Rain Read More »
[Please note that this was originally posted on 3.8.19 here. Hiawatha Hiking Company is our new business!] Recipe for (Mis)Adventure Oftentimes when I mention to someone that I thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) in 2016-2017 with my husband, Domonick, they ask if we were married at the time. I can’t help but smile and say,
On Hiking With Your Significant Other Read More »
[Please note that this was originally posted on 2.14.19 here. Hiawatha Hiking Company is our new business!] Disbelief “Is this Highway 178?”, I ask a 20-something year old guy who was getting water from a creek with his male hiking partner. He says to me, “You’re hiking by yourself?” I respond, “Yeah… I don’t feel like
On Being a Woman in the Woods Read More »
Greetings! 2020 reservations are now available for our beginner backpacking trips at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore! Learn the fundamentals of overnight trekking in one of the Midwest’s premiere wilderness locations. Trips are 2-nights and 3-days over 27 miles, with views of Lake Superior, sandstone cliffs, sandy beaches, waterfalls, inland lakes, and a variety of wonderful
2020 Reservations Now Available! Read More »
Big white snowflakes are falling outside in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. A non-substantial layer of the fluffy white stuff coats everything outside, and the cloudy, blizzardy air of everything looks like I’m watching television static through my outdoor window. “About 4-6 inches expected,” the weatherman Karl Bohnak said last night on TV-6 during the
An Update from the U.P. Read More »
Final Reflections Connection I started the drive back to the UP the following day. As I was driving on 61, I saw a southbound thru-hiker I had met near Carlton Peak. He was hiking on the gitchi-gami trail on the Gooseberry detour. He was using sticks as trekking poles and booking it like a mad
SHT Final Reflections Read More »
Start: Kadunce River Campsite End: 270 Degree Overlook – Northern Terminus Day 16-17 mileage: 39 miles Total mileage: 260 miles (the end!!) The next day was glorious. I didn’t have to wear four layers of clothing. The sun even came out for a bit! The 1.5 mile walk by the lake was amazing. The winds
Start: Lutsen Ski Area End: Kadunce River Campsite Day 13-15 mileage: 46.7 miles Total mileage: 220.4 miles I hated to leave the room, but I got hiking a little before 8am. There was a drizzle, high winds, and it was in the 40’s, so generally miserable. It was a couple hours before I saw anyone
Start: East Branch Baptism River Campsite End: Lutsen Ski Area Day 10-12 mileage: 45.6 miles (plus 1.8 mile Oberg Mountain Spur Trail) Total mileage: 173.7 miles It rained all night (It’s not a backpacking trip unless you pack up a wet tent at least twice). Today I went through Crosby-Manitou State Park and yes, it
Start: Silver Bay (Penn Blvd.) End: East Branch Baptism River Campsite Day 7-9 mileage: 33.4 miles Total mileage: 128.1 miles We decided to take a “zero” day and the morning was spent touring the grounds of the Split Rock Lighthouse which we saw from afar the day before. It was beautiful and the caretaker’s home