“Next year can we hike the ‘Thousand Step Escalator?’” — Anonymous hiker. I don’t curse. However a vulgar word rhyming with “duck” expelled from my frustrated throat with such force that people all the way in California stopped what they were doing to look up curiously. Walking on an excessively rocky ridge overlooking serene, green... Continue Reading →

“It was the best of hikes, it was the worst of hikes, it was the age of endurance, it was the age of blisters, it was the epoch of purpose, it was the epoch of meaninglessness, it was the season of blue skies, it was the season of rain, and it was a time of... Continue Reading →

I clung to a protruding rock outcropping blocking my passage along a narrow ledge on the lip of a cliff over a deep canyon. I stood pinned to the rock wall, my back to the cliff. With my left foot I kicked away some gravel on the ledge, hoping to improve my future stability—one less... Continue Reading →

“Call me Ishmael.” — Herman Melville, Moby-Dick *********** One month Prior: Bryan (Wolverine) texted me to request that I post a backpacking trip during Presidents’ Day Weekend. “It doesn’t have to be epic,” he wrote. (Ha! He should know me better . . .) ***********One month later: Friday night, February 17, 2023, 11:00 p.m. Afton Mountain,... Continue Reading →

The final Corbin Cabin journal entry read: 1.8.23 — This cabin exceeded our expectations! From the Michelin star dining, to the butler turn-down service, to the surprise music appearance of the Eagles, we had no complaints! This was a true luxury camping experience compared to our usual ones—sleeping on the ground outside. —DCUL: Washington, D.C.’s... Continue Reading →