Geri Taeckens and her husband, Bill Park, prepare to go skiing with guide dogs Jake (at left) and Kojak at the Pine Bowl trail in Kinross Friday, February 12. Mr. Park attaches bells to his ski poles to create sound for Mrs. Taeckens to follow. Jake and Kojak pad after them, ready to assist Mrs. Taeckens if needed. Cruising on an old 1967 Skidoo Alpine snowmobile, Tom Piippo of the Rudyard Lions Club drags a train of equipment behind him, maintaining the Schoolfarm and Pine Bowl ski trails. As the homemade groomer he constructed breaks up the snow and flattens it, the track setter pulled behind creates a defined track for skiers to enjoy.

Among many of the skiers taking advantage of the groomed trails is Geri Taeckens of Sault Ste. Marie. Mrs. Taeckens, a certified masseuse and licensed social worker, hits the Pine Bowl trails with her two seeing eye dogs, Kojak and Jake, and her husband, Bill Park, also of Sault Ste. Marie. Mrs. Taeckens began losing her sight at an early age. The grooves cut by the track setter help her identify where the trail goes and makes skiing easier, she told The St. Ignace News. Mrs. Taeckens is grateful for the work the Rudyard Lions Club performs on the trails.

Mrs. Taeckens is an outdoors enthusiast, hiking through a variety of trails and climbing when she can. Many of her favorite activities she participates in with her husband, whom she met in Canada in 1991 while she was studying the S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald.

Unlike many others she met, Mr. Park did not treat her differently from anybody else when they first met, despite her blindness, Mrs. Taeckens recalls. They hit it off, and began hiking together. When they started cross country skiing together, Mr. Park attached bells to his ski poles to help his wife navigate by sound.

Mrs. Taeckens can tell the distance between herself and her husband by the sound of the bells. She can also tell where to turn based on the sound, as well.

"It's really kind of magical when I think about it, how I instinctively know," she said.

With the aid of the bells and the track grooves, Mrs. Taeckens has no trouble using the ski trails, even when there are sudden dips. But she does become nervous if someone notifies her of a steep decline ahead of time.

Kojak, Mrs. Taecken's retired black lab, and Jake follow her while she skis. While her husband is always with her, Mrs. Taeckens brings her dog harness in case their help is needed. One of the difficulties she experiences while skiing is being able to take her guide dogs with her.

While guide dogs are allowed to be anywhere in public, Mrs. Taeckens said, some skiers will complain to the couple about her dogs, even when their purpose is explained. Regardless, the pair continue to ski wherever they can.

Climbing, another favorite sport, is thrilling, she said, as she can tell how elevated she is based on the sounds she hears. While hiking, Mrs. Taeckens can navigate by grabbing onto branches and outcroppings.

"It's a whole body and earth experience," she said.

Mrs. Taeckens is a former special education teacher for Brimley schools and an author. She has written a children's book, "Walking Along with my Dog," about a girl named Iris and her guide dog Seemore. Her other book, "Blind Man's Bluff!," is an autobiographical account of how she began losing her sight at age 7 to retinitis pigmentosa. "I did a lot of things pretending was normal," she said. In some of these attempts, she would end up hurting herself. She completely lost her sight over a 30-year period, she said.

The overall message of her autobiography is about using challenges to grow, she said. It took about eight years to write, and excerpts will be acted out in a radio play on a subsidiary station of National Public Radio out of California. Her children's book has been transcribed into Braille along with the pictures inside.

Besides hiking, skiing, climbing, working, and writing, Mrs. Taeckens is a commissioner on the Michigan Commission for the Blind, which provides rehabilitation services for newly blind individuals and vocational training. She also established the Iris Seemore Animal Health Fund to raise money for service animals and owns her own psychotherapy and massage therapy business.