5.75 miles
I had scheduled a day hike on this day and although I woke up to 45 degrees, wind and clouds, I decided that at this point in my life, my motto is: "No excuses!" So I got the stocking hat out, a scarf, my puffy jacket and some knit gloves, grabbed my pack and got going. I had a lunch appointment at 12:30 so I decided to start around 9. I got delayed by family logistics but was at the NCT Trailhead around 9:20. I started my MAPMYHIKE app about 9:30. The Trailhead is at the Shingobee Recreation Area. I hiked the section that goes along the river. I started getting tired by 10:30 and figured I will run out of time to head back if I keep going so I turned around and did an extra loop in the Shingobee area instead to add up to 5.71 miles. It took me 2 hours and 26 minutes to get back to the car. My pace stays at a steady 2.9 mph but I took several breaks for potty, photos, snack, map checks etc.
I saw two eagles perched in a dead tree. They watched me walk along on the trail and screeched to me. On the way back I looked up and stopped suddenly when I spied a porcupine sitting in the middle of the trail looking at me. We both just stared for a moment and then he hurried off the trail, while I slowly moved along. I enjoyed seeing fiddle heads of fern emerge from the forest floor and admired evidence of beaver chewing a tree down and then chewing all limbs off the tree top. Each spot looked like a large pencil sharpener was used to sharpen the truncated limbs to a point.
I carried a my pack loaded with most of my final gear at about 15 lbs, not including food but including 1.5 liters of water in my water bladder and not having optimized gear at this point. I was pretty happy with my performance especially considering that this was one of my least optimal times of the month to do this.
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