Our Stories

Hike for Hope: Healing on the North Country Trail

by Amelia Rhodes

When Florence’s husband Carter retired in 2000, neither of them realized how much their life was about to change.

Carter began hiking the Chippewa National Forest in Minnesota and soon realized his favorite trails were actually one big trail: the North Country National Scenic Trail.

Florence and Carter discovered the planned route for the NCNST went through their home county, but no trail was on the ground yet. Carter met a man named Jerry while hiking, and together they began meeting and coordinating with North Country Trail Association volunteers in other areas of Minnesota. Florence wanted a way to connect with Carter in his retirement but didn’t want to just be his hiking transport.

Reflecting on those early years, Florence shares. “It was an incredible experience to be out in the field as [the North Country Trail] developed. There was a lot of extra effort to figuring out where the Trail would go… I used all the tools available to us and did mowing and whatever I could do to help out. Sometimes physical labor, promotional things, supply chain, whatever needed to be done, it got done because there were volunteers to do it.”

In 2002, this small but mighty group became the Itasca Moraine Chapter of the NCTA. After years of hard work, they completed their section of Trail in 2009. Today, about 90 members belong to their Chapter and help maintain 75 miles of the NCT.

In the fall of 2001, while still working to get trail on the ground, September 11 changed everyone’s lives. The group continued working, but Florence believed a Hike for Hope would help in everyone’s healing process. “There was despair and a feeling of anxiousness. The Trail was a place of peace and contemplation, a time to just be and not to have to spend a great deal of time worrying. You just thought about where you were going. It was a place that was good for our souls.”

Florence organized the Hike for Hope in fall of 2001, and the event blew them all away. They recognized they were building something that anyone could use – a place that provides peace and contentment, and a feeling of connection to nature and those you shared it with. “The event lifted our spirits a whole lot. We didn’t dwell on the negative but on what was good,” Florence shared.

The Hike for Hope continued for the next 18 years. Each year, people shared how much they needed that hike. The early years held a more specific remembrance of 9/11. In recent years the event continued to provide space for people to set aside their heartache to focus on hope and the joy of being together.

Thanks to a small but mighty band of volunteers who caught the vision for the North Country Trail, more trail is available for anyone who needs a space to step away from the hurry and hardness of life for a time of hope and healing.