IN MEMORIUM
“GO NORTH, YOUNG MAN” Recalling Joe “Plant” Schuler’s 700 miles on the Continental Divide Trail I acquired the trail name “Plant” soon after I left the US border in New Mexico on April 14, 2021. I was okay with that moniker because I am a botanist at heart but my long hair reminded people of Robert Plant of Led Zepplin fame. Born into a tent-camping family with parents and grandparents that are Eagle scouts, I was destined for the great American Adventure which became conquering the Continental Divide Trail. My first disclaimer is that you do not conquer the trail. You share it with the plants and animals you find along the way. You embrace it with the PAGE 38
fellow hikers and the kind souls that facilitate your movements. Whether it’s the goodhearted trail angels or the various outposts that accept your packages from home, its all good and refreshing in this convoluted world. My story first starts when we first tent camped along Lake Michigan on the summer solstice of 2000 at the ripe old age of 2. Summers expanded to rafting expedition in the Grand Canyon and another westward odyssey to Yellowstone. Adding another Eagle Scout to the family and exploring Philmont scout ranch in Eastern New Mexico. Midway through my degree at the University of Michigan, I took summer classes in the mountains of Wyoming. My destiny and passion had become the Rocky Mountains. Mom called it “planes, trains, and automobiles” as I made all the tight flight connections and Amtraked to Lordsburg NM. And has been written by others before me, from Lordsburg, you get shuttled the 84 trail miles to the US Border and the starting monument. Given the 3000 miles that the total trail encompasses, the 14 miles that I accomplished
