Meet the GingerBaers
The GingerBaer story actually begins on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, 2018.
I was hiking a seven-mile section of Swift Camp Creek near Rockbridge, Red River Gorge when my group encountered an enormous paw print set in the mud. My first thought was—whatever dog that belongs to is a monster!
It was on that fateful day that my life would forever change.
After passing the offshoot to Turtleback Arch, a beautiful wolf-like shepherd rounded the corner in front of us. A lanky, malnourished bloodhound followed closely behind.
Both dogs were enormous and seemed feral, though they had matching red collars. I was alarmed by their size and a bit wary. I looked up to see approaching hikers, who advised the dogs were begging for food.
Because I wasn’t sure what to do, I fed our new dog friends some GORP—that quickly became our companions for the remainder of the weekend.
At this writing, those dogs are still with me, eight years later—and both have names.
The shepherd (a Red Heeler/German Shepherd mix) is a feisty adventuring dog named Arrow. He has been my faithful companion across hundreds of miles of backcountry adventures.
Bueller (my enormously smelly bloodhound) is also a loving friend. He has come to appreciate the finer aspects of indoor living (particularly air conditioning, various specialty cheeses, and my couch, among other things).
These boys and I are now forever inseparable, and this story wouldn’t be possible without them.
Then in 2020, Arrow met a girl. Not a dog girl, but a human girl who was traveling with us in a large Kentucky hiking club. After a brief kerfuffle at the campfire (Arrow attempted to bite an unnamed hiker), the girl and I hit it off, and she eventually became my wife in 2022.
She fondly remembers meeting us: “He was very handsome, and his owner wasn’t bad either.”
Today, we continue our adventuring lifestyle with our two dogs, two cats (an orange tabby named Keke and blackish calico named Chloe), and a precocious red-headed toddler boy.
Due to my natural red hair (and my grizzly disposition), my wife nicknamed me the GingerBaer—a moniker so fitting that it became the name of my website. (She has consistently joked that we will one day raise the ginger army.)
Strangely, she is the only member of our family without red hair! (Even our black calico has patches of ginger fur.) However, to keep up the bear theme, I nicknamed her the SilkieBaer and we call our son the GingerCub.
We hope that you enjoy reading about our GingerBaer adventures. Not only do we love hiking, camping, cycling, and the outdoors, we are also a Christian family who enjoys pondering the mysteries of the universe. Hopefully our stories will entertain, educate, and illuminate.
Sincerely,
GingerBaer, SilkieBaer, GingerCub, and the Ginger Army