Day One
Saturday, October 11, 2025
Lisa: We didn’t need to get started too early because we only had about seven miles to walk to our first campsite–Marianne had reached out to a rancher and requested permission to camp on their land. So we had breakfast at the Saddlerock Cafe and then headed to Watts Coffee Company for our caffeine fix. There we met a little girl in a “In a World of Roses, Be a Sunflower” t-shirt. She looked up at Marianne and said, “You’re a sunflower.” We met Jennifer at Flint Hills Books.
Set out on the trail at 3:36 p.m.
7.61 trail miles, 15.33 total miles
63° to start with a high of 80°
Council Grove to Campsite
Click on the yellow crosses to the right to read the sections below
Downers
Lisa:
- We discovered the private ranch where we camped had just received a shipment of newly weaned calves, who spent the night screaming for their mothers. SCREAMING. (Meet the cows here, at 0:0.)
- Around 4 a.m., the calves finally calmed down and went to sleep. Fifteen minutes later, a pickup truck turned onto the dirt road in front of the ranch and woke up the calves. And they screamed some more.
Highlights
Lisa:
- We spent the day hanging out in Council Grove, which is a charming little town with a lot to see and do.
- At Grove Gardens, a festival was going on with vendors and food trucks. One of the vendors was Integrative Body Care, a massage therapy business, that was giving out chair massages. We happily participated!
- Like our first misogi last October, we intentionally left several things behind at the trailhead—regrets, worries, unkind self-evaluations. We were determined to have a meaningful and spiritual experience, and we started by reading aloud a liturgy from Every Moment Holy Vol. 3 and the Rilke poem “A Walk.”
- This trip, Marianne had a new (to her) double-wide stroller that helped more evenly distribute our loads!
Fast Facts: Council Grove, Kansas
- Founded in 1886.
- Population 2140 as of 2020 Census.
- It was named after an agreement between American settlers and the Osage Nation allowing settlers’ wagon trains to pass westward through the area on the Santa Fe Trail. Pioneers gathered at a grove of trees so that wagons could band together for their trip west.
- The Main street in Council Grove is the old Santa Fe Trail.
- Has 15 sites listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
- General Custer slept here with his troops during the Civil War, under a large tree known now as the Custer Elm.
Tips
- The Council Grove trailhead is easy to find but has no bathroom, water source, or trash can
- Right after South 525th Road is Allegawaho Park to your left
Water sources
- 1.7 miles east of the Council Grove trailhead, right before V Avenue, Big John Creek with water for filtering
- 3.22 miles east of the Council Grove trailhead, Little John Creek
Photo Gallery
Click on a photo for a captioned slide show to learn what you're looking at
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