Jeff joined me for a 6.5 mile hike in Pere Marquette on March 1 to kick off the month. We were planning to do at least a bit more, but an ice and snow storm was headed our way, so we headed home just in case. We didn't get much ice, but the temps dropped uncomfortably low for a few days. I did a few miles in the cold/wind/snow/ice just to say that I did, but most of my miles during the first full week of March were "around town" miles without a pack.
The past three days, though, I've done a marathon of miles with the pack. First up was a trip back to Weldon Spring Conservation Area, where I'd planned to try for 13.5 miles by doing both the longer and shorter loops of the trail. However...
There's only so much mud I can take. This trail gets a ton of use, and I thought everything would be packed down enough so that even if it was wet from melting snow, the trail would be in ok shape. I was most certainly wrong about that. Mile after mile of muck. Shoe-sucking, gloppy, slippery, sticky muck. Gross. And not particularly good for the trail, either. I was very glad I was hiking with poles to help me stay balanced and upright.
This insole I was testing clearly is not going to work since it won't stay put.
There were brief periods of respite between muddy sections, but the only place I could make decent time was a less-muddy section up on the highest ridge on the trail overlooking the Missouri River.
Otherwise...so. much. mud. My pretty blue shoes aren't so pretty any more.
The mud got into my shoes, coated my socks, and was squishing between my toes. After 8.5 miles, I called it quits on that trail. I had been out on the trail over an hour longer than I had been on previous trips on that loop, and by that point, I wasn't sure I had enough gumption or daylight to do a second loop. Plus, I wasn't doing the trail any favors by being out there, even though I had plenty of trail-running company. (By the way, trail runners, stop dropping Kleenex all over the place out here. I know you probably aren't doing it intentionally, but it's gross. Get a handkerchief or zip those things into your pockets a bit more securely.)
I used a very cold bottle of water to rinse off my feet and put on clean socks and shoes for the drive to REI and then home.
The next day, I didn't feel like driving anywhere, so I hit the backroads around our town. The following photos are the highlights of the next 10.5 miles.
Well, that's it for highlights. (No, those aren't UFOs in the corner of the pics. Just something on my lens.) The lowlight is that my right foot was killing me after walking that much on pavement even though I'd lightened my pack to just the base weight before heading out. I just really need to not do that kind of distance on pavement anymore. I needed a hot bubble bath and two beers to recover.
So that was 19 miles in 2 days, and even with the poor conditions, those miles were a good start to my spring break. Stay tuned for part 2 of the 3-day marathon!
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