{"id":7570,"date":"2021-07-23T13:42:39","date_gmt":"2021-07-23T18:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/?p=7570"},"modified":"2021-07-31T14:16:43","modified_gmt":"2021-07-31T19:16:43","slug":"michigan-nct-day-54-rockford-to-seidman-county-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thethousandmiler.com\/michigan-nct-day-54-rockford-to-seidman-county-park\/","title":{"rendered":"Michigan NCT Day 54: Rockford to Seidman County Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
\nGosh, today\u2019s hike from Rockford to Seidman County Park<\/a> was one of highs and lows. Yesterday, my last-minute trail angel<\/a>, Nancy, was my shuttler. She said she\u2019d shuttle me<\/a> again today, but could only do so at 7 a.m. because she was heading to St. Louis. That was fine, except we were supposed to get rain overnight and into late morning. I\u2019d rather not \u00a0start a day-long hike in the rain, so I said I\u2019d try and get a taxi. No worries!<\/p>\n

\n

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.<\/i><\/p>\n

\n

But she said I shouldn\u2019t take a taxi, and gave me the number for some hiking buddies. The wife, Betty, said she\u2019d be happy to shuttle me later in the morning. So that was the plan.<\/p>\n

Heading Toward Seidman County Park<\/h2>\n

The forecast changed slightly when I got up, with the rain<\/a> predicted to end by 10. So Betty and I agreed to meet at Seidman at 10 for the shuttle. Halfway there, I realized I\u2019d forgotten my backpack<\/a> in my motel room. Really?! So I had to go back. She was so kind and didn\u2019t care.<\/p>\n

Betty delivered me to my Rockford start at 11, and I was off. The first mile or so (1-2 km) wound along the Rogue River \"Woman(love that name!) on a paved path. At one point it was FILLED with goose poop, so I warned an oncoming walker. She said, “I know. We call this spot Poop Alley.”<\/p>\n

From Poop Alley the trail led past the dam, through the cute Rockford downtown and then out of town on connecting road routes. Right after I got on the connecting roads, a woman pulled over in her car. She said she could see I was a serious hiker, and offered me a bag of sliced watermelon. How kind!<\/p>\n

Two hours in, when I was ready for lunch, I hit a short, off-road segment near Silver Lake, where there were picnic benches and garbage cans. Score! So lunch was great (especially that juicy watermelon!).<\/p>\n

The Afternoon Gets Sketchy<\/h2>\n

After that, the path was a mixture of busy roads and paved recreational trails. The going was somewhat tough, as the terrain was all steep uphills followed by steep downhills.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The humidity kept rising, and I was sweating buckets. Around mid-afternoon it poured for a short time, but at least that cleared the air a little. And I had my hiking umbrella<\/a>!<\/p>\n

\"BoardwalkI reached Seidman County Park around 5:30. I changed into dry clothes, then drove the 30 minutes back to the Holiday Inn Express in Cedar Springs to pick up my AirPods Pro<\/a>, which I\u2019d realized sometime today that I’d also left behind. Argh!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally Off to My Campsite<\/h2>\n

From the motel, it was another 50 minutes to Ionia State Recreation Area<\/a>, where I\u2019d booked a campsite for two nights. There are no places to camp in this part of the NCT, and this was the closest campground I could find. (It would have been just 30 minutes from Seidman, had I not left behind my AirPods Pro<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

When I got here, it was a convoluted process to check in and get to my site. The mosquitoes were terrible, which I can\u2019t really complain about, since the bugs have been minimal these past 2.5 weeks. Thank goodness I had brought along two Thermacells<\/a>.\u00a0They saved the night.<\/p>\n

By the time I had camp set up, I was totally sweaty again. Ugh. This is why I love fall and winter \u2013 no sweating!<\/p>\n

Tonight the overnight low is supposed to be 72 F. (22.2 C.). That\u2019s disgusting! I\u2019ll sweat all night, and then face three days of hiking in 88 F. (31.1 C.) temps. Oh, well. You take what you get.<\/p>\n

Snowshoe<\/p>\n

NCT Miles Today: 18.4 (29.6 km)
\nMI NCT miles to date: 938.7 (1,510.7 km)
\n<\/span>Total NCT miles to date: 1,687.7 (2,716.1 km)
\n<\/span>Total NCT miles to go:\u00a02,912.3 (4,686.9 km)<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Looking for recommendations on hiking gear and accessories? I love my Gregory backpack<\/a>, AirPods\u00a0Pro<\/a>, Six Moon Designs hiking umbrella<\/a> and Thermacells<\/a>.<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gosh, today\u2019s hike from Rockford to Seidman County Park was one of highs and lows. Yesterday, my last-minute trail angel, Nancy, was my shuttler. 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