“The sparrow hops along the veranda, with wet feet.” — Haiku by Masaoki Shiki I officially declare the Loyalsock Trail in Pennsylvania the best long-weekend backpacking trail in the mid-Atlantic. Having long heard praise of it, I weirdly never had the opportunity to experience it. Having now completed a thru-hike, I added it to my... Continue Reading →

I planned this Labor Day Weekend trip as I do any DCUL trip. I appeared for my planning appointment before the DCUL power-brokers at the national headquarters. With my PowerPoint presentation ready, I sat at the end of the 40 foot mahogany conference room table to present my plan. At the head of the table,... Continue Reading →

Ah! A low mileage, summertime hike centering around a mountain-steam-fed lake. The perfect hike for a hot August weekend. What could go wrong? Trouble: Rainstorms Eight of us arrived at the trailhead parking area at 9:20 p.m. on Friday night on the Blue Ridge Parkway. The weather forecast was good, but we still worried about... Continue Reading →

There are some people who delicately peel off adhesive first-aid bandages to minimize pain; some who gingerly wade into the ocean to get used to the temperature before swimming; some who sip and savor Scotch. Then there are DCUL backpackers. We rip off Band-Aids, even from sensitive areas; we jump into the icy ocean without... Continue Reading →

This trip was damned from the start. Chandler (Willy Wonka) posted this trip for June 9, copying the trip I last posted for and completed September 17-19, 2021. I called that trip “Redemption” because when I first attempted this challenging loop four years prior, I could not complete it. The September trip, four years later,... Continue Reading →