Judy Geisler - Following Carolyn's Hoffman's Gameplan - Will Finish NCT in 2010

Judy Geisler (photo from her web site)

from communication with Bob Geisler and web site

For the past five years, Judy Geisler has been quietly hiking and biking the North Country Trail, and maintaining a web site about her adventures. But who knew? Not many North Country Trail folks! Judy's plan is the same as that of Carolyn Hoffman who was the first person to follow the route of the NCT in 1978. Carolyn hiked portions that were actual trail, and connected the segments by bicycle on roads.

Judy has hiked many of the sections with a friend, Adele. I actually heard of these two women a couple of years ago, but wasn't able to track down any information about them. When Judy's husband, Bob, contacted me today to join the NCT email group, it all came together. He simply said, "She likes to keep low key." Now that is an understatement!

Judy began in 2005 at Lake Sakakawea, North Dakota. By the end of the summer she had completed North Dakota and Minnesota, except for connecting Grand Marais to Ely. The following year she biked that connection, after hearing all the horror stories about the Border Route and the Kek.

In 2006-7 she also did Wisconsin, and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The Lower Peninsula was completed in 2008, and Pennsylvania begun. This summer she has finished Pennsylvania, and is working on New York. The plan is to finish in Ohio next summer!

She and husband, Bob, camp in their RV when she is not backpacking. He serves as support vehicle, meeting her sometimes at cross roads, and delivering her bike when there are road segments to ride.

Bob writes, "People always ask 'What do you do while she's hiking?' Well, I have to find the next days end point to make sure I can get to it. I spend a lot of time on one lane sand roads. This is one spot where I had a place just big enough off the road to park and either stay with the car (if the bugs are bad) or hike in to meet her.

This story has to be one of the best kept secrets on a trail that is also one of the best kept secrets in the country! They don't have New York pictures loaded on their web site yet, but you can check out the whole rest of their adventures from the link below. I'll try to find out more details and get Judy and Adele into the "Clubs."

See Judy & Bob's Traveling Pages