The Support Crew (ECT Day 64-65)

Cypress Landing to Center Ridge Road (Day 64)

• Hiked Today: 30.2 miles
  • Alabama Connector (53.5 – 83.7)
• Total Hiked: 1,398.2 miles
• Total Paddled: 99.5 miles

Weather: 50-62°F, some sun, but turned cloudy, windy

The storm passed pretty quick overnight. I remembered hearing the wind gusting wildly for a while and it keeping me awake, but also around 12:30 am I awoke and it was completely still and silent. My foggy sleepy brain was thinking maybe I was in the eye of the storm. Pretty sure this wasn’t that kind of storm. Rain did continue after this lull, but I was sound asleep for the most part.

Today was a full day of speedy road hiking. I took my time getting going from Cypress Landing wanting to say goodbye and thanks to the nice folks who had hosted me there. Since up early, I hung out in a rocking chair outside and got some water boiling for instant coffee. Perusing on my phone, I watched as the sun popped up, chatted with a few of the campground guests, and eventually stopped in to say goodbye to Brody. 

It was around 8:30 am when I hit the road. Throughout the day, I really kept it moving and took few breaks. The roads weren’t too bad… light traffic and usually a decent shoulder to walk along. Even for lunch, I had packed out some of the leftovers from the feast the night before, so just ate the potatoes and sausage on the walk.

Alright, little tangent here. Here’s the thing, I hesitated putting this pic on here because this really isn’t a joking matter. But… you have to know. Obviously I’m not being attacked by this werewolf/dogman. But, had I encountered this in the north country, I would not have been so flippant. Back home, fears of the Northern Michigan Dogman are legit. Many a night have I quaked in fear. You see, every ten years on the seventh year (1957, 1967, 2017, etc…) stories emerge of new sightings, new attacks. It’s all told in Steve Cook’s ballad, “The Legend.” He ends with these words of wisdom…

“Have the dogmen gone away? Have they disappeared? Soon enough I guess we’ll know, cuz this is the time to fear, for another ten years has come around, the seventh year is here and somewhere in the north-woods darkness, a creature walks upright.

And the best advice you may ever get is never to go out………. at night.”

So now you’ve all been warned!

As I neared the end of the day, I kept in touch with my mom, texting back and forth. Why? Not because I was terrified it was getting dark and being attacked by the dogman. Rather, she and my dad were actually in route to find me. Surprise! In fact, if not for some truck mechanical problems, they would have met up last night at the RV park. Since they’re towing a camper trailer the original plan was to get a site together. After being delayed though, they booked a spot up ahead at the Kick Back Ranch. It’s nearby enough for them to come pick me up.

So that’s how it came to be that around 5:00 pm, as I was just speeding along the road, there I see my dad’s truck coming at me. It was good fun seeing them in person again and catching up. As is usually the case though, food was on my mind. When they asked if I wanted to go out to a restaurant or to just make stuff back at their camper, I replied, “It don’t matter.” Well, minutes later, there we were at It Don’t Matter Family Restaurant. They’d passed on their way to get me and I guess that’s how they interpreted my response being quite literal 😉

The buffet was pretty solid… fried chicken, some veggies, a salad bar, mashed potatoes, etc… It was wonderful having their company! And that night, so great to have a home base with some heat and a comfortable chair and bathroom and water and electric.

Over the past few years, my parents have gotten more and more into the camper trailer world and have made a habit of heading south during the later winter months. So, this is part of that journey for them. They plan to hang around with me for a bit, support me on the road walk, and then continue their travels elsewhere. How neat is that!?

Albums of the Day:

“Higher” (2023) by Chris Stapleton 

“The Concert” (1980) by Credence Clearwater Revival 

Center Ridge Road to Pintlala (Day 65)

• Hiked Today: 30.7 miles
  • Alabama Connector (83.7 – 114.4)
• Total Hiked: 1,428.9 miles
• Total Paddled: 99.5 miles

Weather: 40-62°F, sunny, breezy, beautiful 

Those of you that read about the Everglades kayaking trip may remember that my father enjoys chef’ing up tasty breakfasts for folks. I was quite thrilled that he hadn’t lost this passion during our time apart. So this morning, he and I had some eggs, bacon, and toast while mom slept in. After brewing some coffee, we hit the road to go find the spot where I’d stopped yesterday.

A 7:00 am start time was much earlier than I’d anticipated. And because of that, it was cold! With my reinforcements crew arriving yesterday though, I’d also received all my “potential items for trail” supplies. So instead of my colorful sock mittens, I had legitimate winter mittens this morning!

I set out to crushing road miles and dad returned to the campground. As far as the walking went, nothing too out of the ordinary today. More country roads, more cows and horses, some giant trucks carrying logs or chickens ferociously tumbling on by.

A little after noon, the team reunited again, right along the roadside for lunch. It was a pretty low traffic area with swampy forest looking out both ways. We pulled out some camp chairs and had some scrumptious sandwiches and sodas. This is how to do it!

As we were hanging, we saw two people walking southbound down the road towards us. We debated if they were thru-hikers or just other folks out for a walk. Turns out, it was ECT’ers, Terminator and Dallas, who are finishing up there last section. They’d saved the Alabama section for last and have everything else completed! It was a fun encounter meeting them.

Something I should point out, is that I’ve embraced the slack pack idea. This is something I’ve always been hesitant about. I like my pack and it feels part of me on these long journeys. So, thus far, I have always hauled most of my gear with me. Today, I gave in and just walked with my pack and the necessary snacks and water and first aid, etc… items that I thought I might need for the day. It seemed silly to carry things I really didn’t need. So, my sleeping bag and tent and additional layers… that all stayed at the camper. Dad even put some waterproof spray on my tent fly, which I’d mentioned was something I hoped to do while they were around.

After lunch, dad felt like walking, so he and I set out while mom headed back to go kick back at ole Kick Back Ranch. He picked a pretty good section for the most part. The roads were pretty quiet and there were some nice farm views.

After trekking nearly 6 serious miles, we called in for a pickup and dad got rescued. I figured I’d walk a few more hours and keep chipping away at this road walk section. Super Strider Sheryl and Dave H Master Trailsman are quite the professional support team. Who knows, maybe I’ll get into the whole supported fastest-known-time thing and they can keep me trekking in speedy mode.

The location of the campground really worked out nicely for all these pickups and drop offs too. At the end of today’s hike, I had about made it even with the campground latitudinally (north/south). I still didn’t want to walk right to it, but my location on trail was only a few miles away.

After showering and getting into a clean pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt, I was spoiled to another great meal. We even had margaritas tonight haha. I could get used to this!!!

Album of the Day:

“Rage Against the Machine”(1992) by Rage Against the Machine