The Preperation for the NPT

I just returned for one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. I just completed a 32 mile stretch of the Northville-Placid Trail (NPT) on a four day backpacking trip. This was so big that I will have to write about in sections in order to do it justice. I went on the trip with two incredible people that I would go hiking anywhere with. I think that instead of just being a narrative of the experience I will also write about my feelings and the many, many things that I learned.

Let’s start with the pre trip packing. This is real funny now, but then I was very tense and very worried. I wanted to make sure that I brought everything that I needed. I really did not want to get out there and not have something, especially when hiking with people with such experience. My experience is old school and really one or two night adventures. I had not done anything thing like this before. When I checked the weight of my pack it weighed 65 pounds. I really did not worry about my pack weight when I was in my 20’s. The max weight I was given was 55 pounds. I had to make some cuts. So, the ax, camera, GPS, some of my GORP and a shirt, lowered my pack weight to 57 pounds with 2 qts of water. That is what I had to live with.

You will see and with many chuckles from my trail-mates, I could have lowered the weight a lot more and would have been able to take my camera. That will have to wait.

Next I will write about the trip from Wakely Dam to the Lean-to at Cedar Lake.

One last thing. I had mentioned that there were some side trips around the different places that we were staying, including looking for a geocache in Fench Louie's Cave. My trail-mates just chuckled and said "sure."