Early last Thursday morning my son and I woke up around 3:30 am (Central time), made some coffee, loaded up the car and drove off. About five and a half hours later we were standing in my buddy Craig Smith’s house near Atlanta, GA. That afternoon we had some beer & pizza for lunch with Craig, Benny Braden (Plug-it In Hikes) and Ben Smith (from GooseFeet Gear), then loaded all of our gear in the back of Craig’s truck, and drove south… Continue reading
My summer 2018 JMT hike is still quite a ways away, but, it’s also steadily growing closer too! In just a few more months I will start working on actually getting our permits, and from then it will begin to feel even more real… Until then though, I am stuck with daydreaming and planning! That’s not a bad thing though… I have only hiked out west once, and even that hike won’t be exactly quite like this one, so there is still much I need to learn. Sure, some of it I won’t learn until I am actually standing on the trail, but until then I enjoy learning as much as I can beforehand! Continue reading
On June 23rd & 24th of 2017, I hiked the 50 miles between Dennis Cove Rd to Damascus, VA. This marked my 3rd state along the Appalachian Trail that I have now completed, and landed me on the first big landmark for AT hikers, some 469 miles from the southern terminus, Springer Mountain. However, that wasn’t the only milestone that I achieved on this hike… Along with my son and his friend Micah, and my buddy Craig Smith, we also put in a whopping 29 miles on day 2 of our hike, our biggest daily mileage yet! That’s not so bad after a 21.5 mile day either… When it was all said and done, I was/am very excited to finally make my way into Virginia. This state alone is about 1/4 the length of the Appalachian Trail all in itself, so at my rate, I figure I will be here for a while to come… but that’s ok! I look forward to it all! Continue reading
In September 2009 I took my first steps on the Appalachian Trail. It was only a few months before this time that I realized that “backpacking” was even a thing, and that there was such a thing as the Appalachian Trail. Once I saw it though, it stuck in me, and it pulled at me. In September I took those first steps beneath the arch in Amicalola Falls State Park. Now, 8 years and 469 miles down the trail later, I finally walked beneath the arch welcoming me to Damascus, VA!
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In late 2013 I was “talked into” buying a new Zpacks Arc Blast backpack. As it turned out, that pack ended up being the best pack I have ever used. Sure, it was a 60 liter backpack, so not really a small backpack, but I found that I was reaching for it on any hike I went on that wasn’t in the dead of summer (which for these hikes, even my XS Zero backpack can be too big… lol!) The Arc Blast backpack fit me like a glove and it was comfortable (even with total pack weights reaching into the mid 20’s). It had all the features I needed and wanted, and none that I didn’t want (I’m looking at you hydration port). For me, it just worked. I loved that backpack, but in time I came to find one small issue with it, which ultimately would make the pack unusable for me… Continue reading
A little over a month ago I came across a post (either on Liz Thomas’ Facebook page or her Instagram page… I can’t remember now) announcing that her new book, “Long Trails, Mastering the Art of the Thru-Hike“, was ready for preorder through Amazon. I didn’t even know that she was coming out with a new book, but I do enjoy reading new books about hiking and backpacking, so I followed the link to Amazon and submitted my preorder. The book was something in the neighborhood of $16, and at that time still had around 2 weeks (give or take) before it was ready to ship. Continue reading
