Stefscursion – An excursion, but with Steffeses

The North Country Trail. It’s America’s longest scenic trail at 1400 miles, passing through 10 national forests, 100 state parks, and 4 national park areas. It spans from North Dakota to Vermont, and touches 3 of the 5 Great Lakes. The trail takes you through the Androniack Mountains, the Pictured Rocks, the Superior Hiking Trail, and even crosses the Mackinac Bridge. If you’ve hiked a few trails in West Michigan, it’s not unlikely that you’ve seen the NCT logo: a rounded blue and white triangle with a yellow star that reads “North Country National Scenic Trail.” We first encountered it by accident in Seidman Park in Ada, Michigan.

This year, we have decided to embark on what we hope will be a long and beautiful journey of hiking the North Country Trail. We both have day jobs–and neither of us wants to do the Peter Jenkins thing (although my parents did before they were married, and likely walked this very trail–but that’s a story for another time)–so we will have to settle for conquering the Trail one 2-5 mile section at a time. It should only take us 500ish days. If we only go for one hike per week, we could be looking at a measly 10ish years of weekend excursions. But who knows, maybe we will be able to tackle some longer stretches over a vacation here and there! It’s like my mama always says: when you have to eat an elephant, you do it one little bit at a time. Or, if you have to eat an elephant, start with the ear.

Our “ear” for this monster trail will be a little 3-mile stretch in Middleville, Michigan, that we hope to walk this weekend. We will be taking our faithful Aussie companion, Yakul, along for the ride. He is 7-months old now, and has more energy than either of us! He should keep us going at a good pace.

This is the part where I invite you to come along with us for the journey. Some stretches will be long, boring lengths of road through the country. There may be some cold winters and hot summers. Inevitably we will get lost once or twice, but we are looking forward to this little adventure. And we will take it one step (one bite) at a time.

Have you ever walked a section of the North Country Trail? Where did you go? What did you see? Comment here or on our Instagram to help us plan our grand adventure! Can’t wait to have you with us on our journey 🏕