Posts
“Steady” on the State of Long Distance Hiking
I first met Steady at Cable Gap Shelter, south of Fontana Dam as it delivers the Appalachian Trail (AT) into the Great Smoky Mountain National
The Legend of the Fish Stick Gang
On the very first day of my hike the back of my right boot wore a blister into my heel. In 2011 I had hiked from Georgia to Maine without such a
Song of the Open Road
Halfway up Springer Mountain I walked up on a man lying flat on his back in the middle of the Approach Trail. At first I wondered if the man was
The Power of Feet
If I've learned anything from hiking, it is the power of feet. Since I do not wear anything as restrictive as hiking boots on my hands, I have my
High Highs and Low Lows
It is perhaps the optimistic nature of planning a long distance hiking adventure to imagine optimal conditions. Some of us see a vision of ourselves
So People Are Thru-Hiking the Appalachian Trail Already?
In the moody depths of big city winter days, it comforts me to remember that someone is always hiking somewhere on the Appalachian Trail. It has
Time and Moments
The way we mark the seconds and minutes, sixty of them, goes back to the Babylonians. I assume the twenty-four hour clock is also astoundingly
The Twelve Days of Appalachian Trail Christmas
The Twelve Days of Appalachian Trail Christmas On the first day of Christmas the AT gave to me a white blaze on an oak tree! On the second day
About Water
Water, in all its manifestations and forms, pervades most aspects of hiking the Appalachian Trail. For starters, the Appalachian Mountains themselves
Did You Sleep in the Woods Yet?
The first time I stood on the Appalachian Trail was at Perkins observatory on New York's Bear Mountain, in 1983. My father took my brother and me