Yesterday I helped spot a hiker on the NCT at Red Bridge. So I took advantage of that opportunity to put some trail miles into my conditioning. Shamu at 37 pounds rode on my back, and Maggie at 50 pounds trotted along. We went up the big hill from Upper River Road TH to the main NCT. I believe that this is the biggest trail hill anywhere in the Manistee NF. Puff, puff. Then we hiked north for a total of 30 minutes, turned around and came back. We made it just past Pole Rd (a little over a mile of trail). So, total walking was probably under 3 miles. OK for beginnings. It didn't feel too bad, and I'm not at all sore today, but I can sure tell that to do 5 or 6 of those walks in a day I need to seriously work on this conditioning!