Text and Trails

Who doesn’t love a good read? Or a bad read, really.* I certainly do and I spent a lot of my time in 2021 with my nose in a book or four. Here’s my little chance to tell you which of those books I loved the most in 2021. Maybe something will jump out at…

Intro. If this hike was a Coldplay song it would definitely be “The Scientist.” Andrew, Brian, and I said, “Oh, let’s go back to the start,” and reversed direction for our section hike to head southbound (really eastward) along the roughly 69-miles of trail and detours from the West Virginia/Virginia border on Route 48/55 all…

Intro. Welcome back to the Tuscarora Trail! Claudio, Kyle, Brian, and I continued our 2021 section hike with 45 miles taking us through the tri-border region of Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland and covering sections 11-13 (and a bit of 14) as described in the PATC guidebook. We finished in historic Hancock, Maryland after passing…

January started with a significant reading list. I’ll spend the rest of 2021 trying to even equal the power of the two books I read to start the year. No, these two books don’t share much in common. But each on their own merit is worth a “stop what you’re doing and read” urge. Hear…

Intro. I needed another trail section-hike project like I need some new backpacking equipment. Which is to say I absolutely didn’t but certainly took one on anyway. As far as section hikes go, it seemed everyone in my backpacking orbit was working on their own Tuscarora Trail version. And why not? At 250 total miles…

Backpacking seasons come and go. DC UL Backpacking should know. It’s been around for 11 great years. Though I founded the original version of the group as — essentially — a personal backpacking crew for me to ring lead in 2009, it has grown beyond my wildest dreams. I bestowed a name, an ultralight orientation,…