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Before I say anything else, I would like to extend my gratitude to the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the Quad Cities for hosting me as part of their forum on Sunday morning. I enjoyed speaking with everyone in attendance, had some great conversations, and received some really helpful input. There were some great questions from the group, and I look forward to seeing some of them out about in the Quad Cities! I love talking to people about adventuring and microadventure, so if you’re interested in having me come speak with your group, club, or organization, let me know via my Contact Page or e-mail me at Wade@IntrepidDaily.com and we should be able to schedule something.
Although we never get to spend as much time outside as I would like, Clarissa and I got in a bit of hiking after the forum on Sunday. We planned to explore as much of Credit Island as we could, but flooding made that all but impossible.
Instead of calling it a day, we made our way down the road to Nahant Marsh. If you’ve never been to Nahant, it’s a great spot for an entry level hike, observing wildlife, and getting children interested in the outdoors. They have an awesome education center and host a number of community events, so consider visiting and seeing what resources and activities are available.
In other news, I’ve spent the last month training with Plan for Adventure in Moline Illinois. Three times a week I go and put in the work, and I feel like I’ve made a lot of improvement.
You can expect a full review after my next month of training, but for now let me say that the experience has been fantastic. If you’re in the Quad Cities and looking for a positive environment in which to get in shape or train for a race, I recommend checking them out.
A few upcoming plans:
This weekend I’ll be camping at Sand Ridge State Forest. I’ll be packing into one of their “back country” sites, doing a little hiking, and spending some time alone in the woods. I’m going to pack pretty light, only carrying my Cotopaxi Volta, but I’ll also be packing in a few camping tools to test and review their efficacy in the field. You can expect a write up soon.
I’m also getting plans worked out for a summer project I’m currently calling the Great River Trail Trash Trek (name subject to change since that’s a lot of alliteration at the end). The plan is to start in Savannah Illinois, and hike the entirety of the 60 mile Great River Trail to Rock Island, while picking up all the litter I can safely retrieve and carry, and then disposing of it properly. My hope is that I won’t find too much, not just so I won’t have to carry it, but also because I’m hoping to find that those of us who live along the river take pretty decent care of it.
I’m currently pinning down places where I will stay overnight, refill my water supply, and dispose of the gathered trash, so if you have any experience riding or walking the Great River Trail, I would love your input. I’m also inviting anyone to help out and come walk any section of the trail with me, help me clean up the river bank, and enjoy being outside.
There’s still tons of planning to be done, details to work out, and I still need to finalize the date. That being said, I’m very excited about this project, and you can expect more posts about this moving forward. Let me know if you’re interested in joining me for a stretch or helping out in another way. If you don’t want to miss an update, you can sign up to receive e-mail updates at the end of this post.
I hope this has given you an idea of what’s going on in my little part of the world. What have you all been up to, and what adventures do you have planned? I’d love to hear about them, so please share in the comments.
I sure like the idea of you clearing the trash on your trail. I have been thinking about that sort of thing myself here in my own locality. There is so much of it around, it is unbelievable. When the wind gets up, it gets everywhere but it must have been thrown away by people I the first place. Happy planning 🙂
Thanks! I still have a lot to figure out, but I think it will be a good way to spend a week this summer. Hopefully some other folks will want to get involved and help out too, but worst case scenario, I spend a week hiking and picking up garbage. That sounds pretty solid to me!
Hiking and cleaning up the trail – a worthy endeavor. I hope nobody’s dumped a refrigerator! :-^)
Oh man, I certainly hope not! I don’t think I’m likely to see anything that big (fingers crossed). Bottles and cans are what I’m betting I’ll see the most!