Day Seven
Friday, October 17, 2025
Lisa: We were remembering last year’s detour outside of Ottawa and couldn’t wait to see the completed leg between Pomona and Ottawa. While this leg is largely uncovered, it’s beautiful, and the new bridge is spectacular.
Marianne: Got to the Airbnb in Ottawa, the Hickory House, took showers and cleaned up. Got to curl my hair with a curling iron! We walked to the BBW joint, Smoked Creations, recommended by Fred and Ken way on the other side of town. We would have gone to the Italian joint, Amore, but it was closed for a wedding. Watched The Woman in Cabin 10 and we really enjoyed it.
Set out on the trail at 6:21 a.m.
10.63 trail miles, 15.23 total miles
63° to start with a high of 80°
Pomona to Ottawa
Click on the yellow crosses to the right to read the sections below
Downers
Lisa:
- Marianne’s distress about the every-20-minutes trains that kept her from sleeping the night before.
Marianne:
- The night was rough with the trains running through on 20 min intervals! (Listen to how it sounded EVERY 20 MINUTES ALL NIGHT LONG here at 5:00)
- We only had one visitor using the bathroom and scaring me.
- I worried all night that we didn’t hang the food high enough and a racoon was going to feast on our stash!
Highlights
Lisa:
- Seeing Lake Georgia Sue. If it weren’t so close to Ottawa, it would be a great place to camp.
- Meeting Fred (the owner of the campground) and his buddy Kenny.
Marianne:
- Gorgeous Sunset at Pomona – Prettiest I think I’ve ever seen. Wish we could have pulled up chairs to watch it longer.
- Beautiful morning with spectacular sunrise.
- Lake Georgia Sue was only 4 or 5 miles (?). We spoke with the guy at the office and he said we could use one of the picnic tables down by the lake. We had a lovely morning (except for the f*ing trains!) After breakfast we met the owner, Fred and his side kick, Ken.
- Lisa did a scene from Stand by Me. And with feeling! Bravo! (Watch here, starting at 5:34.)
- Our Airbnb in Ottawa was called the Hickory House. Cutest house ever!
Water sources
- 1.74 miles east of Pomona, unnamed creek
- 2.5 miles east of Pomona trailhead Blue Creek
- 3 miles east of Pomona is Lake Georgia Sue, which has Porta-Potties and water in the lodge
- 6.6 miles east of Pomona trailhead Appanoose Cree
- 2 miles before Ottawa is the Marais des Cygnes river
Photo Gallery
Click on a photo for a captioned slide show to learn what you're looking at
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