NCT100 2017

In honor of the National Park Service's 100th anniversary last year, the North Country Trail Association offered the inaugural Hike 100 Challenge (NCT100), which invited participants to hike 100 miles of the North Country National Scenic Trail in calendar year 2016.  This piqued my interest, so I signed up and eventually completed my 2016 NCT100.  It was an incredible experience for me: I got back into solo hiking for the first time since my son was born in 2010, and I absolutely fell in love with the North Country Trail (NCT).  Once I finished my 100 miles, I kept hiking the NCT.  It wasn't about the challenge anymore, just basic love of the trail.  I wanted to keep exploring the NCT, and the Finger Lakes Trails (FLT) as well.  The FLT carries the NCT through significant portions of New York State, so I am grateful to the challenge for introducing me to two awesome long distance trails.

via North Country Trail Association

Since a centennial only comes once every hundred years, I didn't expect any additional 100 mile challenges.  But when I found out the NCT100 was being offered again in 2017, I signed up in a heart beat.  And why not?  I knew I'd be out there.  So here they are... my 2017 NCT100 hikes:

Date Miles  Description
1/1/17 1.5  Cazenovia Gorge (Lehigh Valley Railroad)
1/3/17 7.0  Mount Pleasant Cemetery to Lenox Basin (Canastota, Erie Canal Trail)
1/11/17 2.4  Cheningo Day Use Area east up Allen Hill  (Taylor Valley State Forest)
1/18/17 6.1  Lenox Basin to Rte 46 Durhamville (Erie Canal Trail)
1/25/17 7.8  Rte 46 rest area north to Stacy Basin (Erie Canal Trail)
2/8/17 6.5  Circle Dr west to Stacy Basin (Erie Canal Trail)
3/8/17 5.9  West River Rd to Cortland 9 Rd (Tuller Hill State Forest)
3/29/17 8.8  Circle Dr east to Erie Canal Village (Erie Canal Trail)
4/5/17 5.5  Cheningo Day Use Area to Cheningo Solon Pond Rd
4/12/17 8.1  Cheningo Solon Pond Rd to Wiltsey Glen (Cuyler Hill State Forest)
5/10/17 5.4  Telephone Rd to Cheningo Day Use Area (Taylor Valley State Forest)
6/7/17 5.8  Baker School House Rd to Trout Brook & view
7/16/17 3.8  Stone Rd to Cortland nature trail (Hoxie Gorge State Forest)
9/20/17 7.6  Stone Rd to Baker School House State Forest (Underwood Hill)
9/28/17 7.4  Telephone Rd & Rte 41 (roadwalk), Trout Brook redux, Mount Tego
10/18/17 6.9  McDermott Nature Trail to skid trail (Hoxie Gorge State Forest)
10/25/17 9.5  Rte 392 to skid trail (Hoxie Gorge State Forest)
Total 106.0

I completed the 100 miles over 17 separate hikes.  One 3.8-mile hike was with my six-year old son, Frankie.  On another 1.5-mile hike, Frankie and I were joined by Mary and Keith; we kept the mileage low because it was mere weeks before Mary's hip replacement surgery, and she was in considerable pain.  A third 5.4-mile hike was just me and my husband Erwin.  The remaining 14 hikes, totaling 95.3 miles, were solo hikes averaging 6.8 miles each.  Because I did most hikes as out-and-backs with just one vehicle, I covered only 54.3 unique miles of the NCT.  The distance of "unique miles" almost exactly matches what I covered in 2016, and I finished both challenges in October.  However, a much higher percentage of hikes were solo in 2017.  I love solo hiking and don't want to give up any of that, but I do want to keep Frankie connected to the NCT.  I'll have to squeeze in a weekend NCT hike sometime soon so I can bring him along.  We'll have to wait until after hunting season ends though.


After completing my 100 miles, I did four more hikes on the NCT in 2017, bringing my total for the year up to 135.9 miles.  Trip reports for these additional hikes can be found here:

DateMiles Description
11/7/176.0 Nelson Swamp and Roadwalk to Irish Hill Road Trailhead
11/14/178.2 Roadwalks: Perryville and Stone Quarry Road
11/29/177.4 Erie Canal and Roadwalks (Durhamville, Cazenovia)
12/6/178.3 West River Road to Route 392 at Tioghnioga River

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