To the Farthest Points North—Part One
March 29, 2017

To the Farthest Points North—Part One

by guest blogger Bonnie Spencer   Part 2, Part 3 March 29, 2017 CW and I scheduled our spring 10-percenter hike to be completed by Buckeye TrailFest at the end of April. That put our first week of hiking back into March. We will do three sections of the Buckeye Trail in northeast Ohio—the points of the BT farthest from our home. Our hike will start from the point where we ended last fall, where three sections come together. For those not familiar with the BT configuration, this is possible on the circular trail because …
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February 1, 2017

Lost but Making Good Time

February 1, 2017 I still feel a little stupid for wandering off the trail on a hike I was on a couple weeks ago. Maybe it will help if I talk about it. I’ll tell you the sad details, make an excuse or two, and hope that by the time I’m done writing I’ll feel vindicated, or at least not quite as dumb. Here goes. I went hiking with my friend George, who is working on completion of a circuit hike of the Buckeye Trail. He had less than 300 miles to go and was …
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My Smartphone Education
December 18, 2016

My Smartphone Education

December 18, 2016 For years I listened as my hiking buddies bragged about their smartphones. But I didn’t care. My antique flip phone did what I wanted it to at the time: call and text people. Besides, if I was careful it could hold a charge for a five-day backpacking trip while my friends scurried for ways to power up almost daily. They shelled out hundreds for their high-tech gadgets, plus more for high monthly service charges, while I spent only 19.99 for my phone and pay about 15 dollars monthly to TracFone. Pretty smart, …
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Hiking Without Dad—Part Three
November 1, 2016

Hiking Without Dad—Part Three

by guest blogger Bonnie Spencer   Part 1, Part 2 November 1, 2016 Day 10: Spencer Wildlife Area to SR 83 south of Litchfield (6.8 trail miles) We were eager to begin the last week of our hike. Our progress the previous two weeks left us with only 45 miles to complete. As always we were hoping for agreeable weather. In addition, we were looking forward to better seasonal color than we’d experienced so far. On our way to the clinic to drop Sugar off for her “vacation,” we stopped at Tim Horton’s to pick …
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Hiking Without Dad—Part Two
October 20, 2016

Hiking Without Dad—Part Two

by guest blogger Bonnie Spencer   Part 1, Part 3 October 20, 2016 When we got back from our last hike, I got right on the kennel situation. I spent hours online researching the three referrals from the clinic staff. The first one I eventually found out was located too far away. I had already looked into the second and wasn’t comfortable with it. Besides, they weren’t taking new dogs at this time. I read every word on the third kennel’s site. They were a half hour away, but they were in the direction we …
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Hiking Without Dad—Part One
October 9, 2016

Hiking Without Dad—Part One

by guest blogger Bonnie Spencer   Part 2, Part 3 October 9, 2016 I had no intention of playing on the title of CW’s book. But as I contemplated how this 10-percenter would be different from the other two CW and I have done, I realized this would be the first one without Dad. We lost my sweet 94-year-old father in May. The thought of hiking without Dad sadly wandered into my mind and wouldn’t leave. Of course, Dad didn’t actually hike with us, but he was there in so many ways. Before we left …
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