Presentations

How I spent three weeks hiking the Appalachian Trail from Damascus Virginia to Clingman’s Dome.

 

Pat E has been backpacking for about 25 years. He started backpacking in the late 90s with a two mile trip to a Backcountry site at Wild River State Park. He eventually was able to do a through hike of the Superior Hiking Trail in 2001 and he has done multiple trips into the Boundary Waters, the Border Route Trail and the Kekekabic Trail. Pat also organizes winter camping in the BWCA every year and is into kayaking, canoeing and biking

During Covid, no ferries were headed to Isle Royale as nearly everything was closed. Still, single-engine float planes stayed in business, taking hikers across the lake to this enchanted place. I booked a flight from Grand Marais for my first visit ever, walking about 90 miles in a winding path from end-to-end (Windigo to Rock Harbor) and seeing sunsets, animals, and magic all around.

A former professional flutist and American Public Media radio host, Alison Young is the “solo female middle aged titanium reinforced long distance backpacker” Blissful Hiker. She’s hiked on six continents and in one year, walked New Zealand’s “long pathway” Te Araroa and the Pacific Crest Trail. She tells her story through sound on the Blissful Hiker podcast and also hosts and produces Walking Distance. Find out more at BlissfulHiker.com.

2021 Kathy and Tony Mommsen left from St Croix Falls, Wisconsin to canoe and bike the perimeter of Minnesota. They finished the season at Rainy Lake near International Falls. This presentation shows them in 2022 picking up where they left off. They bicycle from Grand Portage to St Croix Falls and canoe the entire BWCA from Crane Lake to The Grand Portage. They will share their enchantment with the beauty of the state, the big lakes and history of the boundary route, the pictographs, the Grand Portage, the spectacular North Shore, and the woods of northern Wisconsin.

Bio: Kathy and Tony have been married for a long, long time. They have always done outdoor stuff including a BWCA trip every year, cross country skiing in the Midwest and the mountains, and a few bike tours in Europe, Pacific NW, California, and New Mexico. With each trip they ask themselves “how do we make our day-to-day lives feel as relaxed as our trips?