I first met Marty when I thru hiked the Ice Age Trail. He and his sister graciously welcomed me into their home where I was fed well before taking a luxurious bath. Marty then slack-packed me along part of the Ice Age Trail in Wisconsin. We’ve stayed in touch over the years and when Marty offered to slack-pack me on the North Country Trail in Wisconsin, I gladly took him up on the offer.

After I bid goodbye to Mike, I completed one little section of trail before meeting up with Marty at a campground on Drummond Lake. This campground was just slightly off the trail and was central to the sections of North Country Trail I was working to complete next, so we made it our home for a few days. Each morning, we drove both cars to where I would end for the day. After leaving my car there, Marty drove me to where I wanted to start. I hiked to my car and drove back to the campground to meet up with Marty for dinner, only to repeat the scenario the next day on the next section of trail. This is similar to how I hiked the Florida Trail after I broke my foot and was hiking 750 miles on crutches in an orthopedic boot. (See my blogs from the Florida Trail for more info.) Doing it this way allowed me to hike without carrying the full weight of my backpack.

Marty had a copy of my recently published book, Meeting Mary Badass: Healing Dissociation Through Adventuring. It was exciting for me to see it for the first time.

Hiking through this area of Wisconsin in the Chequamegon National Forest is lovely. Numerous smalls lakes dot the forested landscape. The trail is still relatively flat, but unlike in North Dakota, the trail in Wisconsin has enough dips and rises to ease the strain and monotony of hiking flat all day.

It was this 60 mile stretch of trail that originally sparked the idea of creating the 4800 mile North Country Trail. As I hiked along these pristine lakes, I was grateful to both the trail maintainers and the people who had first had the wisdom to protect this beautiful northern lake country. I sent a prayer into the wind that humanity would be wise enough to continue to protect these necessary bastions of relatively unblemished nature. I resolved to do what I could to protect them.

One day, as I was finishing lunch in a campsite near a lovely lake, I met up with machine, a hiker I first met on the Florida Trail. He was the only long-distance hiker I met while I was on the NCT. While camped at Drummond Lake I met a group of women who were section hiking parts of the trail. They offered to help me when I reached the sections of trail closer to where they lived in Michigan. I love these random encounters and I’m grateful for the many friends I’ve met in the hiking community.

I had some pain in my foot and decided I would take one Tylenol to make the hiking more enjoyable. I planned to stop hiking for a while when I reached the Michigan border, but I hoped I could make it through Wisconsin. I wanted to take advantage of having Marty to slack-pack me. I don’t usually take any painkillers during the day when hiking because I think it’s important to feel my pain and be able to discern if it seems like the kind of pain that I should get off the trail for. I was thrilled that was just one Tylenol and no pack I was able to walk close to a 15 mile day at a 3 mph pace. When, a few days later, I needed to take a second Tylenol to go the same distance pain-free, I began to be concerned. By the end of a week, when I needed to take two Tylenol and two ibuprofen to complete my daily mileage, I knew it was time to call it quits. My skin graft was again opening up, and for the first time I noticed some swelling in my foot. I hated not to finish Wisconsin, but I knew I had to take care of my body in the same way I take care of the land. Still, throwing in the towel for the year didn’t come easily for me.

Marty and I had moved our campsite further west on the trail to be closer to the sections I had reached. We were now camped in Copper Falls State Park. I took one day off and enjoyed the sites in the park. The following day, Marty and I drove to Apostle Island National Park and spent the day sightseeing. While I was managing to do these short walks drug-free, I could tell I really did need to hang up my boots for a while, so Marty and I parted ways. He went back to his home in Two Rivers, Wisconsin, and I went to the Mellon library to work on some blogs. While there, I enjoyed a delightful floral kaleidoscope before beginning my drive back to Vermont.

Years earlier, I would’ve felt depressed at not completing my goal of hiking all the NCT in Wisconsin. I’ve come to understand that much of this depression was a result of present day disappointment triggering massive childhood disappointments, causing me to get lost in the dissociation of my painful past. But just as I try to be aware of my physical pain, I have learned to really lean into my emotional pain, welcoming it and releasing the memories of my painful past. This has helped me avoid sinking into depression. Instead, I stay in the present moment, acknowledging the disappointment but also cultivating curiosity about what might be around the corner for me. Rather than focusing on how the horrible burn on my foot prevented me from reaching my hiking goal, I chose to be grateful for all who had been kind to me along the journey and all the wonderful things I had seen, which will be added to my collection of memories from other adventures. All of these have taught me something, and drawing on the memories brings me joy and carries me through the difficult parts of my life.

As I drove east, enjoying the rural nature of Michigan’s upper peninsula, I pondered what I would do next. I knew I wanted to work on promoting my book, but little did I know what else would be in store for me. But that story will have to wait for the next blog.

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