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Willard Fenton-Miller: NCNST Long Distance Hiker

Willard Fenton-Miller

Central patch + 1000 Miles and Mackinac Bridge

I believe I first became aware of the North Country Trail in 2019, in the course of following several hikers’ YouTube vlogs, hiking the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails. That led me to the official North Country Trail website, where I began to learn about the National Scenic Trail that passes through my own state – and in fact comes within about 25 miles from where I live.

Later in that year I first set foot on the NCT, hiking the Manistee River Loop with my wife. This whetted my appetite for more. I wanted to hike longer distances; but not some faraway trail like the AT or PCT, and not the entire 4,800 miles of the North Country Trail. I decided to set my sights on the NCT through the state of Michigan. There were two primary reasons why I set this goal: One is that I wanted to make a more intentional way for myself to savor the natural world, by setting aside time to immerse myself in it. And second, as a non-native of the state of Michigan, I wanted to “bond” with the place I live and truly claim my place, by walking the entire length of it.

In early 2020, I became aware that the NCTA was promoting its Hike 100 Challenge and decided this was a great way to get started. So on September 14 of 2020, I set out northward from Territorial Rd. on the Ohio/Michigan border, and five days later arrived in Augusta, Michigan – my first 100 (102.5 to be precise) miles!

In 2021, I returned to hike a second 100 (109) miles, going from Augusta to Rockford. In 2022, I upped the ante and hiked 219 miles, from Rockford to Fife Lake, in Wexford County.

In 2023, I celebrated retiring from full-time work by almost doubling my total miles. I began at Fife Lake, hiked to the Mackinac Bridge, which I crossed on Labor Day. I then continued on through Tahquamenon Falls and along Lake Superior to end at Woodland Park campground in Grand Marias, Michigan, for a total of 364 miles.

This past year (2024), I returned to Grand Marias, hiked through Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. I followed the trail on through Marquette, McCormick Wilderness, Craig Lake State Park, ending at the O Kun-De-Kun Falls parking lot on highway US-45 for 256 trail miles. Also, during the year I went back and hiked a couple of short sections that I missed because of trail closures. I have, to date, hiked a total of 1051 miles, and have hiked all the official trail from the Ohio line to Rockland, Michigan. I intend to complete the last remaining miles in the state of Michigan during 2025.

Learn more about long distance hiker recognition at explorenct.info/NoCoLo/index.htm.