Western UP, Mi
- Mileage: 192; 45 on-road
- Porcupine Mtns.
- Remote
One of the first things we are looking at in our Western UP hike is how many on-road miles there are and where those miles are located. About the first 29 miles of the Western UP NCT are all road walking, from the Wisconsin border to the 29th mile, all road. 12 of the last 23 miles are also road; 12 straight road before the last 11. We are going to just cut out as many of the road miles as possible by starting at mile 29, finishing at mile 177, for a total of 148 hiking miles.
Our plan has evolved into three parts, they are all super exciting
Part 1: The Quartet
Mile 29 Starting Point – Copper Peak Road. Shauna and Rick have decided to join us for the first 4 or 5 days of our hike. I say 4 or 5 days because the start day has moved around a bit since the idea first started getting tossed around. Instead of traveling on Saturday and starting our hike on Sunday, we’re now traveling most of the way on Friday and starting on Saturday. Confidence in our plans built pretty quickly after reservations started getting made. Locked and loaded.
Having another two people on the hike is great for a lot of reasons. Shauna and Rick are amazing family that we have done more hikes with than anyone else. We get each other. Our adventures are always memorable and rarely appropriate or politically correct. This is our second hiking trip with Shauna this summer alone. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think she is preparing herself to do a longer thru-hike with us in the near future (eyebrow raise emoji). It also doesn’t hurt that Rick is an Army Ranger; he teaches, his presence builds confidence, a loyal friend I can talk to about military experiences or anything else really.
An extra pair of people is also very logistically advantageous in how to get to the trail and how to resupply while on the trail. We have two cars to work with, which allows us the ability to leave a car at the trailhead where we start and another car at the trailhead where Shauna & Rick want to finish. With a car at our disposal on the day Shauna & Rick finish their hike, we have the ability to resupply after only 4/5 days. But wait, there’s more! They are going to take do a musical car swap on the day they finish and move our vehicle 4 more days down the trail line. This means that we can do another 4ish day carry of supplies and have the option to run into town for a rest day if we should so choose to do so.