HOW MANY MILES CAN YOU HIKE?

July, August and September 2018

We will never walk, hike or run as far as Forrest Gump, but then again we don’t have that kind of an obsession.  We will walk or hike (these Block’s don’t run much anymore!) miles and miles, up and down elevations, over rocks and sand and on boardwalks not just for the exercise but for the experience.  There are smells, sounds, textures, colors and things to see if you’ll let yourself just stop, take a minute and be part of the experience (right, Meg?).  You’ll experience the familiar, and ofttimes something you’d never expected to experience will cross your path.  It’s not just flora and fauna being everywhere, but that you are now an integral part of the habitat, and that habitat will react to you as either invasive or respectful.

We’ve walked or hiked 70 miles or more the past 2 months.  We’ve walked on roadways, sand, concrete, boardwalks and dirt trails through forests, and during beer and blueberry festivals.  Brian’s blown out a couple of older pairs of shoes/hiking boots during our treks.  We’ve gotten lost more than once and an “easy” 3-mile hike became 7 miles or so.  We’ve forgotten water, we’ve eaten a bunch of picnic lunches (how cool is that!), and we should have brought snacks on several occasions.  We’ve hiked in cool and hot temperatures and when the sun was too strong, and we’ve enjoyed the shade of majestic trees.  We’ve hiked trails maintained by universities, those maintained by cities and public trusts, and some trails not maintained at all.  This does not include urban adventures, such as walking on the U of M campus during our trips to Ann Arbor, grocery shopping, the Ann Arbor Art Festival, a trip to prison in Jackson (Cell Block 7 tour); the American Museum Of Magic in Marshall (Colon, Michigan is the magic capital of the US – go figure!), Jazz Fest in Grand Rapids with best friends Gail and Neil who just happened to be in the neighborhood, an amateur college summer baseball game with the Battle Creek Bombers. etc.  There’s more to come on the County Fair, Greek Heritage Festival, Historic Bridges Park, and the Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park.  We’ve seen some pretty cool stuff along the way.

Here are some of the trails that claimed our blood, sweat and tears!

Not pictured are our hikes at the Kalamazoo Nature Reserve, Fort Custer Recreation Area, and along the boardwalk in Marshall (part of the North Country Scenic Trail).

We just bought ourselves bicycles.  So what kind of bike was right for us?  We rented Electra Townies for our tour of PeLee Island a couple of months ago and just knew that would be our choice when the time came.  We found a wonderful bike shop in Kalamazoo that just happened to have what we wanted, and the fine folks at Pedal were also able to fix us up with the right bike rack for the Jeep.  But then we realized the real problem.  How can we haul the bikes along with us – the Jeep doesn’t have a hitch.  So onward to U-Haul, part ordered, wait a week, have the hitch installed and go get our bikes.  We’ve completed 5 rides.  First ride 17 miles and second ride about 10 miles or so.  We’re getting into shape, and with each new ride, we’re feeling increasingly confident and able to go a little farther than planned.  It’s pretty cool to ride along feeling the wind in your face, moving at a pace that matches the terrain, and having fun with a new kind of exercise.  And by the way, the first two rides kicked our butt, quad and calf muscles!

The next several blogs will include pictures of the cool stuff we’ve seen along the way.

Barbara and Brian