Potawatami in the Spring

Great hike today! Pete and Cindy had the kiddos overnight, so Jay and I took advantage of the time by getting out on the Poto for most of the day. It was a little blustery and there was still some snow on the ground here and there. We didn't do the whole 18 miles, but we did accomplish a pretty respectable 12-mile loop. It was a good breaking-in of two important items: (1) Buster's new backpack and (2) my new Merrell trail shoes.

We procured the doggie backpack because the dingo's going to need to schlep his own food and water this summer when we hike through the Porcupine Mountains. Today was a good test for that. He was kind enough to carry our lunch on one side of his pack, and a water bottle on the other. Total payload: about three pounds. Good boy. He made it through our 12-mile day just fine, which tells me that our hikes in the Porkies (which will probably be shorter than 12 miles) will be a cakewalk for him.

The Merrells, well, they did just okay. This is a new adventure in footwear for me... I am moving away from my heavy, leather, Vibram-soled Salomon hiking boots, and attempting to go ultralight with these featherweight hiking shoes. I've had the shoes for a couple months but today was the first time I'd worn them for any kind of distance. I'm still slightly concerned about what they're doing to the back of my right heel. They didn't produce any blisters today, but there was definitely a hotspot back there by the time we were done. I'm banking on my baby-thin heel skin toughening up a bit between now and June.