Today was a great day! I love, love, love the good days on the trail. First, after all of the crazy winds the other night, there were none last night, so I slept really well. Had a leisurely breakfast, since I wasn’t breaking camp, then met Patty for my shuttle to the canals.
It made the most sense to hike backwards (less car-moving), so she dropped me off at a bridge on the New Rockford Canal.
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Heading Back to New Rockford
I’ve read a little about the canals, aka the Garrison Diversion. It’s a long story, so read more via the previous links if you’re interested. But basically it started as a way to irrigate land and control flooding, but ended up unrealistic due to cost, soil conditions and more. Today there are gravel recreational paths alongside the canals.
While the connecting roads here have by no means been busy – the entire state’s population is about 750,000 – the trucks that do rumble past kick up a lot of dust from the gravel. So it was nice to be on these canal paths, where no vehicles are allowed.
I was also glad to have both a fully charged phone and two back-up batteries, so I could listen to podcasts and chat with my older sister.
Easy-Peasy Day
The canals are relatively flat, so there was no challenging hiking. I had a tailwind all day. The scenery, while essentially the same along the 
canals, was still pretty. Oh, there are lots of starlings or birds of that type who must have nests under the bridges. They were flying around in great numbers around each bridge.
The last several miles wound through New Rockford. It was nice to see the city.
I have not been able to find shuttles for the next three days, so I stopped 
in at various businesses to see if they knew of anyone who wanted to earn a little extra cash. Everyone said no, so I’ll probably be doing an out-and-back those days. Rats.
Snowshoe
ND NCT miles today: 18.6 (29.9 km)
ND NCT miles to date: 289.5 (465.9 km)
Total NCT miles to date: 3,190.5 (5,134.6 km)
Total NCT miles to go: 1,409.5 (2,268.4 km)
