Mike Garland of Santiago Twp. is at it again.

 

Last year, Garland biked   across eight states to aid the Relay for Life  American Cancer Society. This year, he plans to walk from the Mexican border to the Canadian border in an effort to raise as much funds — hopefully more —than he did in his 40-day trek from Minnesota to Oregon last spring. He raised $15,000.

 

This year’s quest is to walk the Pacific Crest Trail — 2,660 miles in a little more than four months. He and his wife, Peggy are funding the hike on their own. 

 

“I am planning this trip to raise awareness and funds for the American Cancer Society and Becker Relay for Life,” he says.

 

Mike’s adventure will start April 28 just southeast of San Diego south of Campo, CA. The long-distance hiking and equestrian trail closely aligns with the highest portion of the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges, which lie 100 to 150 miles east of the U.S. Pacific coast.

 

Mike has been practicing long distance walks for months now and has slowly integrated the 52-lb. backpack he plans to carry for the duration of the trip.

 

Mike’s massive backpack will contain clothes, a sleeping bag and liner, four-to-five pairs of shoes, socks, food, a jacket and other provisions he will need starting out. At several junctions of the trail, he’ll be able to re-supply his pack from items already forwarded to pickup points along the trail. Re-supplying his pack will occur every five-or-six days.

 

“My biggest goal is to be able to stay healthy for the duration,” he said.

 

Mike plans to walk 20 miles that first day through the heat of the Southern California desert. The first 700 miles of the trail is through this desert. He plans to finish his hike in early September.

“I’m anxious to get going,” he said. The worst thing about the four-month hike will be being away from my family.”

 

Mike has 11 grandchildren and four daughters.

 

For the last few months, Mike has been holding a meet-and-greet at the Big Lake Dairy Queen and plans to do more. Look for his flyers and announcements throughout town.

 

Mike is selling 200 tickets at $10 a piece for free food at the Pizza Dept and hopes to raise around $2,000 from the enterprise.

 

This past Wednesday, Mike and a group of his supporters visited Buffalo Wild Wings in Monticello to raise awareness and he brought along his humungous backpack for all to see. He had posted “10% off” tickets on his Facebook page with all proceeds going to the ACS.

 

In March, Mike and his supporters will be at Pizza Ranch in Monticello to take orders, bus dishes and help the staff in any way. Supporters are asked to come out for a night of fund and pledge to Mike’s cause.

 

March 16, Mike will be hosting a chili cookoff at Becker’s Pub at 3 p.m. There will also be a meat raffle at 2 p.m. and all chili makers are asked to call the Pub to get an entry into the cookoff.

 

Mike is also raffling off tickets for a king-sized quilt he is having made by his sister, Lynn Hamacher. The quilt depicts geese and other wildlife and tickets are available for $1 each or six for $5.

 

The nearly-finished quilt can be viewed on Mike’s Facebook page.

 

One of Mike’s most ardent desires (besides making the $15,000 or more for the ACS) is to have everyone who reads this to go to his Mike+You=Cure Facebook page and press “like”.

“That’ll open the door to getting updates on further fundraisers and to see my progress day-to-day,” he said. “Plus, this is where I’ll post videos and pictures and daily writings.”

 

Mike is also selling his popular orange-colored “wicking” t-shirts for $25. Just send him a message via his FB page and an order can be placed.

 

For Mike’s Facebook page, go to Facebook and type in the search area: Mike+You=Cure.

 

“Please donate what you can,” says Mike. Every little bit helps. Thank you for your support.”

 

As soon as Mike gets going on his hike,  the Citizen-Tribune plans to give weekly updates on his progress with maps and photos of his journey. Keep an eye out for this special feature in May.