Hi Alice! I enjoyed rereading your adventure in the Porkies! Since you enjoyed the Escarpment Trail, I would highly recommend the leg of the North Country Trail from M-64 to Old Victoria. This portion of the trail runs along the edge of the Trap Hills escarpment which offers a number of spectacular views, but particularly amazing in the fall is the view from and of the Hacking Site which is not well advertised and not known by many, including locals. You can find a number of GoPro videos I have taken from this stretch on my North Country Trail playlist on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYRnNRJtf4m_X8K_EHggz1Q2zTxQZez1r&si=1tSyqC8QdatcTL8m I re-ordered it some so a bunch of those videos are near the top of the list. My North Country Trail Pinterest board is another good source of images from within the Peter Wolfe Chapter which you can find at this link: https://pin.it/5aoyFuvss
Thanks for that recommendation, it definitely sounds like a place I would enjoy and that section wasn’t on my radar previously! Since it looks like it mostly goes through National Forest, that makes it a lot easier to plan a trip because I don’t have to worry about campsite reservations, like I would in the Porkies. I’m excited to watch your videos and start thinking about a fall trip there!
Haha, so much truth in this... Those special place names are the best. It's so funny when you & your friends have your own name for a place and use it with total confidence, and then you meet someone else who also knows the place... (My friends seem to have a tendency to take the real name but say it with a weird French accent, no matter whether the place is in France or not...)
There's only one spot where my made-up name has been instantly recognized by others who've been there! I call it "the bullshit bridge" because the bridge was built about 10-12 feet BELOW the trail, so you have to carefully maneuver down an eroded hillside to use the bridge and then scramble on all fours to climb up the hill on the other side. Not fun to do when you've got 20+ lbs of backpacking gear on your back, so it's memorable enough that everyone knows what I'm talking about (and I actually made a couple backpacking friends by complaining about it)!
I tend to sing in my head. This summer I was on a backpack trip with my old GS buddies and we were climbing up a challenging pass (McGee in the Sierra). At the top we shared high-energy snacks, tried to huddle out of the high winds, and talked about the songs playing in our heads. No one had the breath to sing aloud, but the songs still made the time pass.
My singing is often in my head as well to save breath! Though sometimes I will exhale to the tempo of the song in sections where I need a little extra push to keep myself going!
Your story made me think that there should be something called Walk and Talk Therapy. Nature and good conversation are such a life-giving combination.
I love that idea! A good conversation in nature is both relaxing and rejuvenating and my mind always feels clearer afterwards.
Hi Alice! I enjoyed rereading your adventure in the Porkies! Since you enjoyed the Escarpment Trail, I would highly recommend the leg of the North Country Trail from M-64 to Old Victoria. This portion of the trail runs along the edge of the Trap Hills escarpment which offers a number of spectacular views, but particularly amazing in the fall is the view from and of the Hacking Site which is not well advertised and not known by many, including locals. You can find a number of GoPro videos I have taken from this stretch on my North Country Trail playlist on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel at this link: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYRnNRJtf4m_X8K_EHggz1Q2zTxQZez1r&si=1tSyqC8QdatcTL8m I re-ordered it some so a bunch of those videos are near the top of the list. My North Country Trail Pinterest board is another good source of images from within the Peter Wolfe Chapter which you can find at this link: https://pin.it/5aoyFuvss
Enjoy!
Thanks for that recommendation, it definitely sounds like a place I would enjoy and that section wasn’t on my radar previously! Since it looks like it mostly goes through National Forest, that makes it a lot easier to plan a trip because I don’t have to worry about campsite reservations, like I would in the Porkies. I’m excited to watch your videos and start thinking about a fall trip there!
Haha, so much truth in this... Those special place names are the best. It's so funny when you & your friends have your own name for a place and use it with total confidence, and then you meet someone else who also knows the place... (My friends seem to have a tendency to take the real name but say it with a weird French accent, no matter whether the place is in France or not...)
There's only one spot where my made-up name has been instantly recognized by others who've been there! I call it "the bullshit bridge" because the bridge was built about 10-12 feet BELOW the trail, so you have to carefully maneuver down an eroded hillside to use the bridge and then scramble on all fours to climb up the hill on the other side. Not fun to do when you've got 20+ lbs of backpacking gear on your back, so it's memorable enough that everyone knows what I'm talking about (and I actually made a couple backpacking friends by complaining about it)!
I tend to sing in my head. This summer I was on a backpack trip with my old GS buddies and we were climbing up a challenging pass (McGee in the Sierra). At the top we shared high-energy snacks, tried to huddle out of the high winds, and talked about the songs playing in our heads. No one had the breath to sing aloud, but the songs still made the time pass.
My singing is often in my head as well to save breath! Though sometimes I will exhale to the tempo of the song in sections where I need a little extra push to keep myself going!