Gettin Love Already!

One of the beautiful things about long distance hiking is that sometimes I am the recipient of random acts of kindness.  The gut-feeling kind of gratitude that I experience lasts a long time and will help power me North on this trail. First, my dear friend Sharon Mangan from the Good Shepherd United Methodist Church gave me a bag of goodies:

This is exactly the kind of thing I need to be able to do this trail. Minute Rice, foil packets of tuna, Ramen noodles, ANY kind of granola or protein bar... To Sharon, she said she was just cleaning out her cupboards. To me, these are vital calories that I will consume on the trail and think to myself "Thank you, Sharon!"

Next, Jerry Allen from the Midland to Mackinac Trail Commission sent me this map.

This map covers about 210 miles of the trail and takes a load off my mind. It will keep me on track and let me know where the next water source might be. This kind of map is fairly rare and not easy to come by. Jerry sent it to me on a moment's notice. A random act of kindness. Also, those blue triangles on the bottom, with the boot and horseshoe icons? They make me drool.

Special shout out to Joe Bevirt, the Chairman of the Midland To Mackinac Trail Commission.