Wandering Knight

It has been 9 years since I did a solo backpacking trip. That trip was my second Great Outdoors Challenge crossing of Socttland from Mallaig to Stonehaven. While that was a solo trip I probably met people every day and hiked with them at least some of the time. This hike on the North Country Trail would not only be solo but I expected it would be solitary except at major campgrounds. In this two-part series I travel from Mackinaw City, Michigan to Petowskey, Michigan. In some ways it proves to be a great trip; in other ways not so much. In part 2 I travel from Richard’s property near Levering Road to Petoskey. I also spend some time in Petoskey proper, though I do leave a modest gap, adding a bit more to my totaly milage. All in all I probably hike another 28.5 trail miles along with a modest bit of going to and fro in Petoskey itself. In some ways this segment was less eventful than the first portion but it does have highs and lows and some just plain dull stretches. It is, in other words, prety much what on

It has been 9 years since I did a solo backpacking trip. That trip was my second Great Outdoors Challenge crossing of Socttland from Mallaig to Stonehaven. While that was a solo trip I probably met people every day and hiked with them at least some of the time. This hike on the North Country Trail would not only be solo but I expected it would be solitary except at major campgrounds. In this two-part series I travel from Mackinaw City, Michigan to Petowskey, Michigan. In some ways it proves to be a great trip; in other ways not so much. In part 1 join me for the first 3 days of the hike from Mackinaw City to Levering Road. That is a distance of about 28 trail miles though I actually walked more than that. The actual North Country Trail (NCT) is running across the Mackinac Bridge behind me. I just dipped my toes in the waters of Lake Huron here at Gary R. Witt Memorial park: close enough to the trail. I’ll eventually walk towards the bridge and thus closer to the trail as I head back towards the trailhead at

I hope you enjoy this audio journal. You can find a video that provides a slightly different glimpse of the trip here. Lower Tahquamenon Falls. Even though it is cloudy you will always be impressed when you come here. --May 23 2019 at 15:25. Paradise, MI, United States     Tahquamenon Falls. The Upper Falls are shown pouring themselves over the drop. While bugs can sometimes drive you nuts at this state park (not today) it is definitely a place worth visiting. --May 23 2019 at 17:11. Newberry, MI, United States     This is Clark’s first backpacking trip. We are a couple hours in to our first day having our first lunch on the trail at a spot we like. --May 24 2019 at 14:09. Munising, MI, United States       Our first day on the Lakeshore Trail. Joni looks happy and ready to tackle the world. --May 24 2019 at 15:27. Munising, MI, United States I wish I could recall what this car looked like when I first saw it some 20 years ago. It’s been sitting here far longer

During the weekend before the 1999 firearms deer season would commence a group of people, all members of the old yahoo Groups GreatLakesHikes group, would arrive at the Birch Grove Schoolhouse for the first annual GLH Gathering. It is now 2018 and last weekend we held the 20th annual GLH/North Country Trail Gathering. While some people have gone (including sadly one death of fondly remembered Dick Bolton) others have joined the gathering. Just three people, myself, Paul, and Julie, have been able to attend all 20. This year’s event was just as enjoyable as previous ones have been. Good food and drink, enjoyable hiking, interesting weather, and always good company helped make this gathering just as good as the previous ones have been. Below you will find a handful of photos that give a sense of the event. You will also find the audio podcast I pulled together to document the event. Having two people working a bow saw makes the job of cutting go much more quickly. When you have two bow saws to use on trees, o

I do not know how many times I have backpacked the Lakeshore Trail in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore over the past couple of decades. I have gone in both directions many times. This year, with 13 other people many with little to no backpacking experience, I would travel the trail once again from Sand Point to Sable Falls. This is something of an annual trip over Memorial Day Weekend though I do not always get to attend.  The trip would turn out to be a very fine one even with some trials and tribulations thrown in. We lucked out with the weather and everyone had a good time. The audio you are listening too will give you a sense of what we experienced.  You can find more photos in these photo albums which have the same photos but display differently (Google, Apple). There is also a video you can enjoy here on YouTube.

I don't know how many Wheatland Music Festivals I have attended. I know many who have been going for decades. It is a a festival full of music, workshops, dance, and good times. You might not enjoy all the music that you can find but chances are good you will find something you will like. In this episode you will hear music from Bruce Moksly and the Mountain Drifters, Don Julen's Mr. Natural Project, Ruthie Foster, Session Americana, Lunasa, and Jayme Stone'sLomax Project. There was considerably more than just this.

The Waimangu Volcanic Valley features numerous geothermal features. Mount Terawera erupted June 1886 destroying everything in the area and totally reshapedpp q the land. Lake Rotomahana grew 20 times in size and became North Island's deepest lake. The famed pink and white terraces vanished beneath the water or were destroyed. The world's largest hot pool, Fryingpan Lake, was born. Today a fantastic mixture of re-emergent flora and fauna combine with the landscape to create a stunning special place. More re photos and video coming    

The Coast to Coast Trail runs between Waitemata Harbor and Manukau Harbor in the city of Auckland, New Zealand. It is 10 miles long and does have some modest climbing , mostly up and then down Mt. Eden, the local high point. This is an urban walk but don't let that fool you. We saw a lot and were very pleased with this hike through neighborhoods and parks. Enjoy the audio diary. You can learn more about the trail in many places. Here is just one that includes a map. Coast to Coast Trail Infow.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/en/parksfacilities/walkingtracks/pages/coasttocoast.aspx  

We have now been in Auckland for two days. Our first day we spent wandering around town: visiting the harbor, walking through some parks including part of what might be the largest park in Auckland - Auckland Domains -and getting a sense of the city. Once you get off of the main streets things get quieter and there certainly are neighborhoods to be found. One thing that struck us is that the vast majority of the people we are seeing seem to be fairly young. I'm not sure how many of them are locals and how many of them are tourists, students from abroad, or workers from abroad but the general trend seems to be towards younger people. We have also noticed a large number of people especially from Pacific Rim countries which I suppose make sense if those people are coming here to work, travel, or study. Our second day we explored a little bit more of the city and also took the harbor tour; featured in the bonus material you'll find at the end of the podcast. Both days the weather has been A bit cloudy and warm. W

It is a partly sunny afternoon. The temperature is warm enough with just a hint of coolness in the modestly blowing breeze. It's the last day Argo Canoe Livery will be open this year and I am taking advantage of the fine afternoon for one last paddle to Barton Dam and back. This is an easy paddle of just under 4 miles round-trip. You don't really have anything to worry about on this stretch of the Huron River unless you somehow ignore the presence of the dams. While I am sure people can get hurt (I recall a woman did drown in this area years ago) it's hard to imagine. It's hard to imagine even getting stuck though there are shallows, naturally enough, by the banks. It is a thoroughly lovely easy paddle marred only by the roar of nearby traffic.   Photos viewable in an album from Apple iCloud (not captions) or from Google (captioned).

Amsterdam Day 1 - August 5, 2016 Our first day in Amsterdam has come to a close. We spent it exploring beyond the immediate neighborhood. Our apartment is located near museums including the Van Gogh Museum and the Rijksmuseum. Somewhat farther away we found , in due time, Central Station and even the location of the apartment Mom, Dad and I stayed in 16 years ago when last here. Yesterday we spent a couple of hours exploring the immediate surroundings; today we wandered farther afield. Amsterdam is certainly walkable but you had best pay attention to the countless cyclists and motor scooter riders. While the vast majority of them follow the same rules of the road that cars do their bike lane is right next to the sidewalk and easy to stray into. It is certainly an extra challenge for anyone with low vision , let alone blind people; walking here can be a real trial even though traffic lights have audible warnings for when you can cross or not. We walked around for several hours with notable breaks to take in th

SEKI Adventure Show Notes Part 1 Andy and I start our adventure in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks (SEKI). There are many reasons a trip can be an adventure and only some of them ares strictly physical. I certainly would experience several of them during the trip. In part 1 we get things going from our flights from Michigan to California, initial meanderings through the mountains in search of a campsite and stove fuel, and then the actual backpacking portion of the trip itself.  You can see the complete trip journal in the A Wandering Knight blog (awanderingknight.blogspot.com). Photos are presented in several different albums and you can find those referenced from the trip journal. Video will be coming soon. You can find complete photo albums that document the whole trip in Apple (doesn't show photo captions and EXIF data), Flicrk, and Google (same photos different presentations).  

It’s time for summer trail maintenance on the North Country Trail (NCT). Andy and I maintain a section between 13 Mile road (Cleveland Drive) and 16 Mile Road in Newago County. The section also includes the side trail to Highbanks Lake Campground. All told the section is easily 6.5 miles long. This year we hoped to do a lot of re-blazing. Circumstances would rather dramatically affect our plans. Trail maintenance can be saticefying but it can be hard work too.  Learn more about the North Country Trail at their website northcountrytrail.org. Andy and I are part of the Western Michigan chapter. Get a visual sense of what things can be like from this short video on youtube (https://youtu.be/7iNYXnHSGnw)

Top of the Park has wrapped up for another year. You can get more of a sense of what this year was like from the previous podcast (there are also some others in the queue if you look back far enough). In this one I feature bits of music from Shari Kane and Dave Steele, Whit Hill and the Postcards, and George Beddard and the Kingpins.

Ann Arbor Summer Festival runs for the last three weeks in June. It actually runs through the July 4 weekend. While the festival features numerous paid ticketed shows at the Power Center the real meat and potatoes of the event are, I feel, to be found at the Top of the Park. There you'll find free music of various types from singer songwriters, country, intriguing bands that defy easy categorization, and rock 'n roll. Events for kids as well as other special events happen there too. There is also a wide assortment of food available. Music heard here includes: Magdalen Fossum, Annie and Rod Capps, Annebelle Road, RFD Boys, and Hoodang.

West Park hosts a variety of events in the summer. The Penny Seats Theater (penny's eats.org) are doing two shows this year. Now, and the weekend of June 30, 2016, they're doing a version of The Cantebury Tales.

It is the second weekend of June and I am finally joining Paul Haan and Eric Doyle with Eric's Friend Jamison for a weekend of fly fishing. This would , for Jamison and me, be our first fly fishing excursion and it quickly became clear   that we had a lot to learn as we tried to catch our first fish out of the Muskegon River. Fly fishing is a more involved activity than you might first think. I am confident that their are scores, if not hundreds, of species of flies that one can use that try and entice various fish to strike and impale themselves upon a hook. The flies you use change depending on the time of year, what is hatching, what is turning from nymph to fly (I think) and what the fish are doing. You may try different flies at different times of the day ; you might try using more than one fly at a time; you might move you line in different ways to make a fish think the fly is more like a real tasty morsel than not. Of course, most times you will fail to catch a fish - it's a good thing we about catch a

Join me, Andy, Elwira, and Luna (the dog) on a camping weekend in mid-Spring on the North Country Trail. We do trail maintenance and a bunch of hiking along the NCT in the area of Baldwin, Michigan. Learn more about the NCT at the northcountrytraitl.org website.

This  year I attended the 42nd annual Wheatland Musci Festival. I am not sure how many I have been too; less than 10 but certainly at least 8. That may seem like alot but compared to many I'm a piker. Paul Haan has probably attended 25 and I know people who have attended nearly every festival. People return year after year not only for the generally excellent muscial variety but to renew friendships. Wheatland Music Festival is more than just dozens of concerts it is a thriving community. I hope you enjoy this audio program and get a good sense of what a wonderful festival Wheatland is. Natually enough I have included a sampling of some of the music played at the festival. You'll hear music by Bill Kirchen, Dervish, California Feetwarmers, some open mich music, Balsam Range, Rapetipitam, and Jerron "Blind Boy" Paxton.   You can learn more about the Wheatland Musci Festival, held the weekend after Labor Day, on Wheatland Music Organization's property just outside of Remus, Michigan at their webiste (www.wheatl