Embedded Files
My partner and I were in Munising running errands when I saw a pedestrian carrying a large pack and 2 XC skis strapped to his back. I spotted him walking south on Cedar Street towards a few hotel accommodations and said to my partner “What’s this guy doing?”. I had an idea of what he might be doing, but I had a lot of questions: 'Hiking the North Country Trail in the winter? Insane!' or 'Maybe he’s ice climbing and skied there from his house?'. I thought after going to the ATM that we had lost sight of him and he had made it to wherever he was going, but just as I pulled in to park the truck at Fire Station Dispensary, which is next door to a hotel, there he was again! He found his way to his accommodation, a little off trail but nonetheless, he made it!
I just couldn’t help myself and had to chase him down in the parking lot to question what he was doing. I called out “excuse me” as I hustled his way. I first asked if he was on a long distance hike, to which he replied “the North Country Trail, I started in St.Ignace”. I was suddenly feeling almost starstruck and most definitely impressed! This journey, in the winter, was something I never thought to do. I have been thinking recently about winter camping and how to make it work with the gear I have, so I was excited to ask him a few things.
I asked him about his gear, to which he said that he had to regear a few times to keep warm. I asked about costs and yes, it has cost more than expected due to gear, plus hotel costs have been more than expected when he’s hoping to relax for a few days.
Regarding wildlife, he has seen eagles, ravens, and a fox, but not as many as he had hoped! He has seen plenty of tracks from wolves, deer and squirrels. I told him to keep an eye out for snowshoe hares!
His goal is to reach Wisconsin and ski the entire Upper Peninsula stretch of the NCT! When I asked him why, he humbly said “I build houses and I had the winter off. My brother went to Florida and I went to the U.P.”! I love it! With only his tent, pack, foam sleeping pad, sleeping bag, small propane canister, pot, food, and XC ski gear, this man, nearly twice my age, was living life to the fullest and truly challenging himself outdoors! I didn’t want to keep him from checking into his warm hotel room so I let him go but not before taking a picture together and writing down his information and asking his name: “Steve, search #nctupski and you’ll find me on Facebook!”.
I got home, went straight to Facebook, and typed in the hashtag, hopeful to find his posts. I first found a post someone else wrote about him using the hashtag, and the next post under that was from someone named Steven and sure enough, that’s the adventurer I met in town!
Wow, you guys… Steve is a detailed and thorough writer! I’ve never been so glad to have facebook! His storytelling is so fun to read and my eyes were glued to my screen reading his latest account of the trail before I sent him a message and the selfie we took together. I love to see someone documenting their experiences as they complete something like this! I have two journals where I once wrote long entries everyday detailing my life abroad when I was 12 and 20 years old. My blog, in a way, is an extension from the traditional journal but it's similar for me. I really love the daily details of Steve’s trek.
I scrolled down to find the beginning of his posts hashtagged #nctupski and found his first post with a smiling selfie and the Mighty Mac in the background. This post absolutely inspired and moved me! And I think you should read it:
North Country Trail Upper Peninsula Ski
It is my intention to ski the North Country Trail from the Mackinac bridge to the Wisconsin border west of the Porcupine mountains, 555 miles. I want to do something to note my 55th trip around the sun and 555 miles seems fitting. I've never done a long distance, backcountry, ski trek before. It should be an adventure.
The last two weeks I have been gathering gear. I found a $10 pair of skis, an outer shell and a down puff jacket at the Goodwill. I rummaged through my old camping gear for a tent and backpack that were functional. The army sleeping bag I considered taking did not meet my expectations on a trial run and I had to buy a sleeping bag, along with a new pair of ski boots. It is hard to know just how far I'll be able to travel per day. My best guess is that it is 8 days to my first resupply. That's about 15 pounds of food. That and the cold weather gear is almost more than my pack can carry so I built a pulk. A pulk is a small sled that can be attached to me with two poles to help carry the load. A new pulk setup is about $500 and with Christmas so close it wouldn't get to me on time anyway. I made one out of an ice fishing sled, pvc poles and some fittings I had in the garage. The pulk will carry half my gear the rest will be in my backpack. While building the pulk in my shop, my Uncle Gary's shop, it brought back memories of the last time I talked to him. He showed me a truck camper of his own design that he had built from scratch. He had taken it on a U.P. fishing adventure. I think his spirit was smiling on me as I built the pulk for my adventure in his shop.
Everything about this journey is challenging. Hypothermia and frostbite are real concerns.Getting lost is a worrisome possibility. Getting hurt days away from help could be devastating. Moose, lynx, coyotes, bears, cougars and wolves all roam this wilderness. Snow storms that drop many feet of snow often hit the U.P. and subzero temperatures could push the limits of my equipment. The worst possibility I could imagine though is that it will just be more than I'm up to and I decide to abandon the dream.
Why am I doing this, because this is who I want to be and to not do it would mean that I am no longer who I was. I am doing it because it is challenging enough to test my mettle. I believe I have the skills and the experience to meet the challenge. One way or the other I'm going to go from believing to knowing.
What do I get from it? I get 15 hour nights as alone as a person could be. There are no screens, convenience stores or cars; and no distractions from my thoughts. I want my thoughts to have a long stretch of quiet to arrange themselves in a way I can live with. Most of all I get stories. All the old stories are getting dusty, things I did back in the day. I need fresher stories.
Written by Steven on his Facebook page
Having the willpower to act on your intentions, be who you want to be, and prove to yourself what you can do is very inspiring. Before we moved into an RV, 'Well, I guess we’ll find out!' was our common response to every worry. We were ready to go from wondering to knowing if we could make this lifestyle work. I relate to the personal desire to take on and complete a greater physical and mental challenge to prove that I can. For years, I’ve been interested in long-distance bike trips or potentially hiking a long-distance hiking trail. Hearing about Steve’s plan to XC ski across the UP gave me new ideas!
The North Country Trail is probably the least hiked Scenic Thru-hike Trail, despite being the longest National Scenic Trail in the country, covering 4,800 miles across eight states: North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and Vermont. According to the North Country Trail Association, as of 2021 only 20 people have completed the full trail since it was established in 1980. When I met Steve, he has just completed 42 miles of trail running along Lake Superior in Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, which I'd imagine must be some of the most beautiful miles of the entire trail!
The costs of these long-distance thru hikes can be outrageous though. I was reading an article a few days ago written by Andrew Marshall titled “Cost of Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail Almost Doubles in Five Years”. The article discussed hiker statistics according to a survey completed by PCT hikers over the last 11 years. According to the survey, thru-hikers paid, on average, $1,708 on gear in 2024. Hikers spent an average of $10,149 on their trip, including gear. The survey only started asking participants about costs in 2019 and in that year, hikers spent an average of $6,561. The survey shows the cost of the PCT has almost doubled in just 5 years. Unfortunately, knowing this fact, I don’t plan to attempt anything big like this until I have more funds coming my way!
Nonetheless, hearing about Steve’s plans have inspired me to think about ways I can do something similar in the future or even a one-nighter with my current gear! Steve is like me in that he collected both used gear and gear he had to get out the door and into nature!
After seeing Steve in town, I decided to message someone on Facebook who previously offered to sell me her used XC skis she doesn’t use anymore. She hadn’t been responding and I didn’t want to bother her but I’m glad I reached out again because we now have plans to meet so I can get back on my XC ski grind!
Now my mind is swirling with dreams of XC ski thru-hikes across the Upper Peninsula. I am reading Steve’s posts like a juicy novel and I’m excited to follow the rest of his journey! Go Steve!!!! Just keep skiing! After learning about Steve’s journey, I feel like it’s time for me to figure out winter camping…
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse