John Muir Trail NOBO: Marjorie Lake to Marie Lake (Days 9-12)

This place is still real. I'm still here. I brought myself up here with my two feet, and I love that I have the ability to recognize the beauty of God's creation.

John Muir Trail NOBO: Crabtree to Marjorie Lake (Days 4-8)

Had an amazing thought this morning while looking for a sunbursty rock formation that looked like a tree or other type of plant: one day, I will be a rock. When my body is no longer serving its purpose to me, hundreds of millions of years in the future, my body will be a rock just like the ones I saw all day. The thought is comforting in a way.

John Muir Trail NOBO: Connecticut to Lone Pine to Mt. Whitney (Days 1-3)

I did it. I summited Mount Whitney. A few system failures put me off track at the beginning of the day - lost my lip balm for 10 minutes and followed my physical map (sorta) to the ranger station instead of the trail.

The Mountains Are Calling (John Muir Trail: Aug 21 – Sept 11)

Twenty-two days. 265 miles. Logistical complexities that would make a NASA employee weep. More lip balm than I’ve ever used in my life. And last September, I thru-hiked the John Muir Trail.   This was, without a doubt, the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life. And thru-hiking this trail is one…

Devil’s Path in the Catskills (Sept 1-3)

Well, I survived the Pemi Loop. Why not take on another notorious trail? The 24 miles of Devil's Path are infamous among hiker circles, often making lists for the most physically challenging hikes in the U.S., and apparently racking up its share of casualties. But I already knew the Catskills. I knew the near-vertical climbs...

Pemi Loop, New Hampshire (Aug 23-25)

Way back in last spring, when I decided to finally become a backpacker, I daydreamed about the trails that were about to open up to me. Timberline Trail. Long Trail. And the Pemigewassett Loop, a 32-mile loop of interconnected trails in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. The Pemi Loop is often considered to be one...

AT-MA: Jug End Road to Sages Ravine (July 21-22)

New York and I need a break from each other for a bit. Luckily, My Guthooks package has a few miles in Massachusetts! I could start at Jug End Road (42°08'40.1"N 73°25'53.4"W) and hike south 9.8 miles to Sages Ravine campsite near the CT border. Sages Ravine is one of the prettiest day hikes in...

AT-NY: Route 52 to Telephone Pioneers Shelter (July 14-15)

Oh, this weekend. THIS weekend. They're not all fun. Hoping to knock more miles off the Appalachian Trail in New York, I hopped on I-84 and parked at the lot off NY-52 in Stormville (41°32'28.2"N 73°43'57.5"W). This hike would take me 11.7 miles northward, back to Telephone Pioneers Shelter from the previous weekend. Trail-wise, it...

AT-NY: Hoyt Road to Telephone Pioneers Shelter (July 7-8)

Getting out to hike is way more complicated now that Sleeping Giant is closed. Locally, I can choose from a flat-as-a-pancake canal trail, or slightly-less-flat trails where wrangling a safe parking spot is more challenging than the terrain itself. Or, I can drive 2 or 3 hours for something that might be too challenging now...

AT-NJ: To High Point (June 2-3)

June has been a slow month for hiking. With two Saturdays on my work schedule, and with my local park out of commission until at least the fall and possibly for another year, I've been spending more time walking around my neighborhood than muddying up the trail runners. But I still got to take a...

40 Miles in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, TN & NC (May 20-23)

A few months ago, as I started thinking about the new backpacking season, my in-laws called up and said they were going to rent a cabin just north of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which I had recently read was one of the prettiest sections of the Appalachian Trail. Were we interested? YES. YES....

AT-CT: Birdwatching Heaven (May 5-6)

I have been waiting to finish up the Appalachian Trail in Connecticut for like, six months now. My existing gear couldn't keep me warm enough for an overnight, so I spent those months doing day hikes and thinking of how my map showed a 4-mile stretch next to the Housatonic River. I daydreamed of kingfishers...

Catskills’ Black Dome Trail (August 26-27)

August brought me back to the Catskills for the third time - not for Devil's Path quite yet, but to tackle three of the five highest peaks in the area. I had already gone over Blackhead Mountain via the Escarpment Trail, but I was happy to do it again now that I was preparing for...

AT-NJ: Delaware Water Gap to Deckertown Turnpike (July 2-4)

So I had gotten it into my head that I was going to hike the Long Trail. I knew I could average 11 miles a day for two days. Now it was time to kick it up a notch and try to average 12 miles over three days. For years I've been following I-80 through...

Glastenbury Loop in VT (May 27-28)

The Escarpment Trail was complete, and I had been bitten, badly, by the backpacking bug. I wasn't quite ready for New Hampshire's Pemi Loop and my White Mountain friends advised me that the weather is crazy, so I turned to 100 Classic Hikes in New England to help me make some Memorial Day Weekend plans....

The Catskills’ Escarpment Trail (May 6-8)

Ah, the Escarpment Trail. The first real backpacking trip I took, last May, a trip for which I wasn't fully prepared, a trip that could have ended very very badly but didn't, a trip that had as many surprises and moments of joy and moments of frustration as every backpacking trip I have ever had....