Hiking Plans Summer 2015

Our planning process has started for summer 2015. This year we will hike and stay overnight on the trails as we get more into longer distance hiking.

We are planning a return to northern Minnesota and the Boundary Waters area. This time we plan to camp at a state park along the SHT. The state park will determine what part of the trail we hike. Last year we enjoyed visiting Grand Marais and look forward to visiting again.

As the SHT is part of the North Country Trail (or is that vice-versa?) we now plan hiking the NCT in Michigan.  The Manistee-Huron National Forest looks a good area to hike. The Spirit of the Woods Chapter cares for the trail in this area. We are already in contact with this chapter about a possible shuttle.




The Ozarks Trail looks interesting and beautiful. Our thought is to start the northern end of the trail hiking the Courtois section. The Onondaga Cave State Park obviously has a cave to explore along with great hiking on the OT. We are already in contact with two possible shuttle solutions.

More to come!


 

Post Knee-Op

The surgery on my knee went very well. I have compliment my surgeon Dr. Koh for doing a super job. The operation lasted about an hour and the cartilage causing the locking and pain issues was shaved away. I assume he trimmed the torn meniscus too. Prior to the operation, Dr. Koh came into the pre-op room, checked the computer and said, "We will fix this". After the operation he told Michelle PT would be necessary!

Today is post-op day 5 and other than some expected soreness my knee feels great. The post-op appointment is tomorrow and at this point hiking is in our future!!

Arthroscopic Knee Surgery

The big date is January 16, 2015 for surgery around 4PM. With the late time of surgery I was worried about being without food and little water after going to sleep the night before. The Physician's Assistant confirmed it is about six hours so at least I can eat an early breakfast and some type of lunch around 10am. My first post-op appointment is January 22 and then on the PT.

I believe I underestimated recovery time and wonder if there will be much hiking this summer at all. The AT Georgia section is definitely postponed until 2016. We were thinking about our first trail overnights on the Ozark Trail early in the summer, but we shall see. Our current yet tentative plans were hiking the Ozark Trail, North Country Trail in Michigan (lower) and back for more Superior Hiking Trail. We shall see how long a 66 year-old takes to recover.

Camping will still be in the picture using "George", our popup camper. We still need to be out in the woods one way or the other!

Surgical results as they are known, stay tuned.