MARQUETTE – If James Lunning isn’t an avid hiker by now, he soon will be.

Lunning, who hails from Minneapolis, recently came through Marquette as a thru-hiker on the North Country Scenic Trail.

At 4,600 miles, the North Country Scenic Trail is the longest of the national scenic trails, stretching from New York to North Dakota. A section of the trail runs through the Upper Peninsula, including Marquette.

Being a thru-hiker means you’re walking the entire distance as opposed to being simply a day hiker, which can be strenuous on its own, depending on the terrain.

The North Country Scenic Trail hasn’t been Lunning’s only recent hiking experience. Right before attempting this trail, he finished hiking the Appalachian Trail, which runs about 2,185 miles from Maine to Georgia and covers 14 states.

That’s a lot of foot-blister potential.

And he’s not done after he finishes the NCST.

“I’m walking the three big hiking trails in the U.S. as well,” Lunning said. “And they’re all north to south. So, I’m basically walking a whole bunch.”

Lunning said he started his journey Feb. 12, 2015 in Georgia, the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. After finishing that trail at the end of July, he made a side trip to Connecticut to walk to the Atlantic Ocean.

He then took roads to New Hampshire and Vermont and then to Crown Point, New York, where he picked up the NCST.

Lunning expects to finish his NCST trek in mid-June in North Dakota. He then plans to walk to Glacier National Park and pick up the Pacific Northwest Trail, followed by the Pacific Crest Trail. From the Pacific Crest Trail, his itinerary includes a side trip to the Pacific Ocean, making his entire journey a coast-to-coast adventure.

“Once I’m done with the Pacific Coast Trail, I’m going to take the Continental Divide Trail back up north,” Lunning said, “and if I still have money to hike, I might walk back home, but I might hitchhike back from there or try and get a ride or buy a plane ticket or something at that point.”

His original plans were to hike just the Appalachian Trail, but then he realized he had the time and money to accomplish something bigger.

Lunning, only 23 years old, quit his job as a machinist to take on the hikes. What he will do professionally after he gets home is unclear.

“It’s a long way away,” Lunning said, “I might do something else.”

So, why did leave his job and walk thousands of miles – solo – with few possessions?

“You can’t guarantee that you’ll be able to take off time like this to something, when I’m not going to be able to do this when I retire,” he explained.

His journey has rewarded him with unusual sights, such as bears, eagles and hundreds of deer. He even spotted a bobcat in Ohio.

However, there’s the simple – and looming – challenge of walking in cold weather instead of the balmy weather of June.

“It definitely gets more difficult,” Lunning said. “The snow is more difficult than the cold is. The snow slows me down.”

He uses a tent for nocturnal rest, and has been feasting on foods like rice, lentils, quinoa, pasta, dried fruit, peanut butter and beef jerky.

Walking alone during the day and sleeping alone at night on the NCST doesn’t bother Lunning, at least safety-wise.

“Trail is safer than probably anywhere else in the country,” Lunning said. “I bet if you were to look statistically, walking the trail is way less dangerous than driving a car.”

In fact, that’s probably true for any of his trails, he said.

Then there’s the people factor. The Appalachian Trail has many people traveling it, but the NCST is more solitary, he said, although the solitude doesn’t bother him.

He acknowledged it can be difficult to keep clean during the winter.

“When I’m on my own, I don’t worry about it too much,” Lunning said. “If it’s warm out, I might, you know, swim and stuff, but when it’s cold like this, I’m not jumping in the water.”

And who could blame him.

Fortunately,the NCST has a support system for hikers, and sometimes people let them shower in their homes.

“And you probably should shower,” said Lunning, who also stayed over in a home in the city of Marquette.

For part of Lunning’s stopover in Marquette, a North Country Trail Association Trail Town, he stayed at Econo Lodge Lakeside in Harvey, where he met up with his parents, Bruce and Stephanie Lunning, also of Minneapolis.

“We haven’t seen him since Christmas,” his mother said.

Lunning said he’s most excited about the Continental Divide Trail, which includes the tallest mountains in the lower 48 states, and to a lesser extent, the Pacific Crest Trail.

As of his Marquette stopover, Lunning estimated he’s logged about 6,000 miles total, and expects to finish with 15,000 miles.

Of course, it helps if people feed him along the way, and the state has aided Lunning in his quest.

“Michigan has been good to you,” his mother told him.

Christie Bleck can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250.