How do I even describe today’s hike to the Boy Scout Cabin in Lowell?! So, hiking companions Amy and Bruce Eckert joined me today from Holland. They drove over in two cars and met me at Seidman County Park after dropping one car at the Boy Scout Cabin in Lowell, our destination. The day was forecast to be hot (90 F. / 32 C.).
We headed out along a winding trail through Seidman, which crossed other trails. This being a Saturday, there were other hiking groups on the trails. Once through Seidman, we had a bunch of road-walking along quiet country roads.
Making Our Way to the Boy Scout Cabin
The afternoon featured more trail segments. Some were hilly, but nothing too bad at all. At one point, the trail dumped us off on a road near Fallasburg, a historic community dating to the early 1800s. Buck Hough, a trail angel who will be 
helping me tomorrow, had told us to take a quarter-mile (.4 km) detour into the area, where we’d find an original covered bridge from that era. So we did, and it was a cool, little enclave filled with old homes and the bridge.
While the humidity was low, the temperatures were still toasty, and the mosquitoes continually worsened on every trail segment. By the end of the day, we were all glad to be finished.
Rain, Rain, Go Away
We’d kept an eye on the weather forecast, which indicated a short period of rain around 6-7 p.m. It looked like it might just miss Ionia State Recreation Area, where I was camping. Yay!
Amy and Bruce couldn’t camp with me, but they’d planned to eat dinner with me at Ionia. So we headed there. While driving over it rained a little, but nothing too severe. We really were sure we’d missed the worst of the storm, which seemed to be south of us.
We parked at Ionia, and I got out of my car and went to Amy’s to discuss our plan. And then, as Amy sat safe in her car and I stood next to her with my umbrella, the heavens opened. And I mean opened. There was a torrential downpour for maybe 15 minutes.
Regrouping
Once the rain ended, the sun came out and it was super hot. My campsite actually fared well, in that the inside of my tent and its contents stayed dry. But my chair was flooded and the outside of my tent was soaked. Some other items I’d set under the picnic table were modestly wet.
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The Eckerts did stay for supper, as planned. They also helped me clean some of my muddy, wet items. Friends are so awesome! After they went home, I went to sleep. A lot of the noisy campers from last night had left, so it was a quiet night.
I’ll confess I had considered bailing when the rain was at its 
worst. I figured I’d either drive straight home, despite the long distance, or back to Holland with the Eckerts. I’m glad I stayed.
Snowshoe
NCT Miles Today: 18.8 (30.3 km)
MI NCT miles to date: 957.5 (1,541 km)
Total NCT miles to date: 1,706.5 (2,746.4 km)
Total NCT miles to go: 2,893.5 (4,656.6 km)
I love my Six Moon Designs hiking umbrella, which I’ve used a lot on this three-week section hike. Ditto for this Thermacell mosquito repeller.
