Doug rejoined me as crew member today to help get me through Chaffee Creek and beyond. And we had a wonderful day.

So, my first three segments were Bohn Lake, Greenwood and Mecan River. And these three, in particular, were great trails: beautiful and highly runnable. There was one stretch in Mecan River, I believe, where the trail pops you out onto a gorgeous meadow. There were rolled hay bales dotting the field and the path for hikers was lined with waving grasses. It was very cool.

Next, Wedde Creek began in a lumpy, bumpy farm field that was difficult. After that was Chaffee Creek, an interesting trek because it takes you under I-39 twice. At one point, you walk through an enormous metal culvert with the creek rushing through; there’s a handy concrete sidewalk on one side.

Finally, the day ended with me knocking off the first few miles of another long connecting route. Doug handed off crewing duties to Ed, who will be with me for much of the weekend.

As I noted yesterday, I stayed at the Mecan River House last night. An IAT connecting route passes right in front of the inn! Now that’s handy! Innkeeper Agnes is very sweet. She let me do my laundry and made sure I had just what I wanted to eat and drink in the morning. So this is another great selection for a place to stay when you’re hiking. (Oh, and the river runs right behind her inn – it’s beautiful.)

500 Miles Away from Home

Totally changing topics, people keep asking me how many miles I’ve walked. Well, the truth is, I don’t know. And that’s surprising for me, because I’m normally the kind of person who tracks everything. In fact, you’d expect me to be tallying my daily mileage down to the tenth of a mile, and know exactly how far I’ve walked and how far I have yet to go. But I haven’t done anything of the sort.

So what’s up? Well, I think I got thrown off in the beginning by my knee tweak and cellulitis, plus the rough paths. I didn’t want to think about having 900 (1,448 km) or 1,000 miles (1,609 km) to go, even if it sounded impressive to think I’d already covered 100 or 200 or 300 (161, 322 or 483 km). It was simply too daunting. I preferred to take things one day at a time, one hour at a time, one step at a time. Still do.

That being said, I’m pretty sure that today I’m roughly halfway through my epic adventure. And that’s pretty darn exciting.

Disclosure: This entry contains affiliate links (among regular links) to products I own and like, or which I think you might like. This means that, at no extra cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.

 

©2018 Melanie McManus – All Rights Reserved

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