To test my new gear and learn the ropes of backpacking, I did a number of hikes on the 20 mile NCT/Manistee River loop. I think I've hiked this loop at least four times and here are pictures from those hikes. I learned a lot. I learned to keep my pack light, what sort of food to take along, how my gear worked, that you can't sleep in just a bivy sack (you need a sleeping bag too!)
My Dad, David (nephew) and niece (Bethany) did the first ever hike on this loop with me (see picture). We all walked 10 miles the first day and all of us were exhausted! Now I am used to walks like that, but back then I wasn't.
This is a fairly well known section of trail and you'll usually see people on it. The Manistee River Trail is used more because of the views on this section of trail.
On the way home (Grand Rapids, MI) we always stop at Sally's restaurant in Whitecloud for some grub. Good times.
Happily may I walk.
May it be beautiful before me.
May it be beautiful behind me.
May it be beautiful below me.
May it be beautiful above me.
May it be beautiful all around me.
In beauty is it finished.
~Anonymous, Navajo Night Chant
Recommended Reading ...
Hiking How To ...
- Beyond Backpacking / Ray Jardine's Guide to Lightweight Hiking by Ray Jardine
-Advanced Backpacking by Karen Berger
Adventures in the Mountains ...
- No Shortcuts to the Top by Ed Viesturs
- Breaking Trail by Arlene Blume
- High Adventure: The true story of the first ascent of Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary
Long Distance Hiking Adventures ...
- A Blistered Kind of Love: One Couple's Trial by Trail by Angela and Duffy Ballard
- The Cactus Eaters by Dan White
- Where the Water Divide / A Walk Along America's Continental Divide by Kren Berger and Daniel Smith
- Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey
Trail Guides ...
- The Maah Daah Hey Trail by Hiram Rogers
- Hiking Grand Canyon Loops, A Falcon Guide
Grand Canyon Reading ...
- The Man Who Walked Through Time by Colin Fletcher
- Over the Edge: Death in the Grand Canyon by Michael Ghiglieri and Thomas Myers
Isle Royale Reading ...
- The diary of an Isle Royale school teacher by Dorothy Peterman Simonson
- Ingeborg's Isle Royale by Ingeborg Holte
- The wolves of Isle Royale : a broken balance by Rolf O. Peterson
