Wow, good call on hiking backwards today. Steve met me at the same spot as yesterday, just west of McClusky. He shuttled me to a parking spot near St. John’s Lake at the Chain of Lakes Recreation Area, which was southwest of my car.
Disclosure: This post 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.
\The path first treks through the Chain of Lakes (I was at the eastern end, so there wasn’t much left), then joins the canal paths. But I could see right away that, once again, there was no mowed path and very tall grasses. So I walked around on the roads.
Leaving Chain of Lakes
Once on the canal path I made great time, as the ferocious wind was at my back for most of the morning. While these canal paths look very similar to one another, the trail was quite beautiful today.
The fierce wind constantly blew the ever-present grasses, which bowed and rose repeatedly, creating the effect of “The Wave” that fans do at football games. Or that they did when I was young, anyway.
With the sky sunny, but often filled with puffy clouds, the changing light created shadows that bounced around, often making the grasses look multi-hued. It was really quite beautiful.
Crazy Winds
I had several miles straight into the wind in the afternoon, which was challenging. But the canal kept snaking around, so that helped. I finished around 3 p.m.
From there I went to Turtle Lake, picking up some groceries. Then I drove to Steve’s church, Turtle Lake Baptist Church. He said the church would be open, and to just set up wherever.
For a small town, this church is huge! There’s the main level, plus a lower and upper level. I set up downstairs, where there 
are numerous classrooms, a huge kitchen and bathrooms. One room has couches, so I’ll sleep on one tonight.
I have plenty of food and drink, but Steve also said I could have whatever I wanted from the kitchen stores. How kind!
Kindness and Pivots
Thanks to Steve’s lead, the NCT now goes around two lakes just outside of Turtle Lake. The ribbon-cutting was held recently. He said these trails are definitely mowed – yay!
However, they’re about 7 miles long (11.3 km) versus the 1-2 miles (2-3 km) for the previous route that still appears in my FarOut app. That’s a considerable difference, especially since I have just four hiking days left, and had planned three long days.
My final day, Sunday, is supposed to be short, so that I can drive the four hours to Fargo and stay overnight there before completing my journey home on Monday.
Guess these next three days are going to be long. Rats. On a positive note, I guess that means I can eat a lot these next few days!
Snowshoe
ND NCT miles today: 17.3 (27.8 km)
ND NCT miles to date: 377.4 (607.4 km)
Total NCT miles to date: 3,279.4 (5,277.7 km)
Total NCT miles to go: 1,320.6 (2,125.3 km)
