I received something very special in the mail today. I’m incredibly bad at getting the mail. In fact, I think my mail man hates me. I picked up this heavy package in the midst of an enormous stack of unopened mail. As soon as I saw the return address, I knew what it was. It was my Sheltowee Trace Association medal. I had seen other hikers…

My adventures on the Appalachian Trail led me to some amazing places this week, but nothing compared to sitting perched atop the summit of Max Patch. Considered the “crown jewel” of the Appalachian Trail, this mountain bald rises approximately 4616 feet in western North Carolina and provides unparalleled 360-degree views of the surrounding Appalachian mountains. My surreal experience on this…

Well, this has been a long time coming. I finished the Sheltowee Trace over two weeks ago, and I still have yet to produce a Trip Report. It’s less a problem of writer’s block, and more just a general feeling of apathetic malaise. I started writing this morning figuring that I could wing it with free association.   I suppose the crux of…

Once upon a time, in a galaxy not so far away, I was a strapping young lad in the Boy Scouts who was a troublemaker, part-time scoundrel, and general conductor of adolescent shenanigans. 25 years later and today I am a self-proclaimed man of letters who enjoys comparing himself to the likes of prolific scribblers such as Henry…

As a hiker, I have peed in a lot of awesome places; on the Wonderland Trail circling Mt. Rainier, the South Kaibab Trail in the Grand Canyon, the lighthouse trail at Point Reyes, the Kentucky/Virginia state line at Cumberland Gap, Mt. Le Conte, the Green Mountains, Devil’s Cave in the Big South Fork, the nature…

There were two prevalent themes on this beautiful, clear-blue skies hike. The first theme was that I became turned around several times over the course of the weekend. Not lost per se… (I don’t believe I have ever been lost), just turned around. It reminds me of something that was once said by Daniel Boone. He claimed to have…

Many have said that hiking a long trail is a metaphor for life; with its ups and downs, trials and tribulations, great beauty, sometimes great pain, with good and bad weather. Overall, while this platitude (bordering on cliché) may be true, there is a component to this idea that I had never experienced before. It came to me as a revelation…

Sometimes, the old ways are the best ways. Backpacking is uniquely a modern sport, but it is deeply grounded in the idea of “returning to nature.” Granted, human beings have been walking the earth for millions of years. And it could be said that Cro-Magnons were the first official “backpackers.” But unlike our distant ancestors today’s modern adventurers typically carry…

It felt as though I had concrete blocks tied to both feet. Through the smelly decomposing bio-matter I sloshed. The mucky mud made every step a challenge, and my legs protested for me to sit.  I passed through a briarwood jungle. The trail was partially obscured in places by thick understory, and thick brambles clawed at the…

I started my 15-mile circuit on my bike today. Straight up Man’O’War to the airport and back. It feels good to ride again.  Just realized one of my new favorite things; riding my bike to the airport, watching some airplanes takeoff (I saw an old biplane take off today). Coming home, taking a shower, then heading up the street to hit up the taco truck. This was the perfect ride.  Today was a gorgeous day…