To the Farthest Points North—Part Two
April 11, 2017

To the Farthest Points North—Part Two

by guest blogger Bonnie Spencer   Part 1, Part 3 April 11, 2017 This week the trail will take us northwest to Lake Erie as we hike the Bedford section. We have watched the weather forecast for several days. Though most days should be warm enough, basically we are seeing rain throughout the week, with possible snow on Friday. Not what we want to see. CW talked with Bob Morecki, the Bedford section supervisor. He told us there was a section that hikers call Muddy Lane. After our last week up, that should be a …
Read More
77
4 Responses
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 …
Read More
75
4 Responses
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 …
Read More
60
2 Responses
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, …
Read More
64
5 Responses
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 …
Read More
66
No Response
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 …
Read More
65
2 Responses