I’m back! This is year #10 for my section-hike of the North Country Trail. Ed and I drove to Ohio yesterday (Columbus area), then to my starting point today in Rinard Mills. We had planned to hike together, but Ed had to have kidney stone surgery on Tuesday, so he was too uncomfortable to hike. Instead, he was my shuttler/cheerleader.
It was a tad cool when I started, but I warmed up pretty quickly. The trail headed uphill, where I promptly got off track due to a man chatting with me and some large, downed trees. Also, lots of mud. I was looking down a lot to get around the trees and mud and realized I was off the trail. Rats. I bushwhacked my way back, getting cut by thorns in the process.
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Heading Out from Rinard Mills
Once back on track, it took me more time than I’d hoped to meet up with Ed for lunch at the Knowlton Covered Bridge. I got off-trail once again during a road walk, where the blazing was confusing and there were loads of “No Trespassing” signs everywhere – not to mention signs saying there were cameras around and people with guns. Uh …
But I managed to get back on track. There are still a lot of steep uphills in this area, which is hard on my bad knee. The trails also have a lot of areas with deep leaves and 
branches, which slow you down. But the sun was out, it wasn’t too hot or too cold, so all was well.
The end of the day featured several of miles on the roads. The paved roads are fine, but there were many steep uphills on gravel, which again was hard on my knee. Oh, well – I’m still out here!
Tonight we’re staying at an AirBnB in the country, as there weren’t any nearby places to camp.
Snowshoe
Ohio NCT miles today: 16.1 (25.9 km)
Ohio NCT miles to date: 786.3 (1,265.4 km)
Total NCT miles to date: 3,634 (5,848.4 km)
Total NCT miles to go: 966 (1,554.6 km)
Most useful gear today: My Prana hiking pants, which protected me from scrub and mud!
