Hiking Across the Upper Midwest
An outdoor enthusiast from out of state is trying to cross much of the upper Midwest on foot.
It’s a fun way to attract more attention to trail preservation and maintenance.
Bonita Curtner is a grandmother from Taylorville, Illinois.
She’s working her way across the North Country Trail, America’s longest scenic trail, this summer and next.
She’s most of her way through this year’s segment, which began in early May in North Dakota.
Curtner is due to stop for the year in St. Ignace on August 25th.
She jokingly says she’d better be there that day because she doesn’t want to miss her ride — yesterday she bought her bus ticket from St. Ignace back home to Illinois, and the bus leaves that day.
She’ll go from the Mackinac Bridge to the Vermont-New York state line next summer, hiking on the trail whenever she can.
But she does hit the road sometimes, like she did on County Road 480 in Sands Township this afternoon.
Curtner is considered something of a legend in the hiking world.
In 1992, she became the first woman to ever yo-yo hike the 2200-mile Appalachian Trail.
That’s hiking the entire length of a trail, then turning around and hiking all the way back again.
She uses the name ‘Mother Goose’ when she hikes.
And you can follow her trip online at: www.postholer.com/mothergoose .