It’s an easy eight miles into town from the shelter. I’m on the trail before seven, hiking fast across the ridgeline as the sun tries to burst forth from behind the slate-colored clouds. Thousands of feet below, an explosion of green. Roads snake through pastures and trees. Tiny doll houses dot the landscape. Everything big … More Lightning Hangover: A Zero Day in Pearisburg
Today the trail is a mess of roots and rocks. Spiderwebs stretch from branches and trees, strands of sticky silk criss-crossed like caution tape across the trail. I brush them off my face, arms, neck, sunburned calves. Trip over the roots and rocks while doing so. Today, I decide, the trail is trying to kill … More The Trail is Trying to Kill Me
The birdsong begins before my alarm, an overlapping chorus of tweets and peeps and chirp-chirp-chirps. It’s a comforting sound, a sound that sounds like home. Which it is, really. Over the past year, I realize, I’ve spent more nights sleeping outside than in. I roll onto my side and open my eyes. They fall closed. … More Big Miles, Big Bears
Hi Guys! Just wanted to let all of you in Internet Land know that I’m still alive, even though I haven’t blogged in a week. There are two reasons for this; the first being that after hiking all day, it’s hard to find the motivation to lie in my sleeping bag and type away furiously … More Quick Update from a Grassy Field in Virginia
I Could Drive Forever 