June is New Member Month! We plan to have at least one low-mileage (LM) trip on the calendar for each weekend in June. If you are you an assistant organizer (AO interested in leading a trip, check out our Trip Repository for ideas! Are you someone who's been thinking about doing some backpacking? This is... Continue Reading →
VMO: Swatara Gap to Port Clinton via A.T (35 Miles) May ’23 – And Then There Were None
The Rocksylvania rocks had come alive and were chasing us. They wanted revenge, but not just that. They wanted our blood. We were running...gasping for breath. Desperate to get away from the murderous rocks. Mike was the first one to fall. It was unfortunate, but he was the slowest and weakest hiker out of all... Continue Reading →
Trip Report: A Tale of Two Ridges (Massanutten Trail Loop, Virginia) (March 30 to April 2, 2023) (72 Miles)
“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 →
Trip Report: DCUL’s A-MAZE-ing, But Not Escalente Adventure (Canyonlands, N.P., Maze District, Utah) (April 15-23, 2023) (92 miles)
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 →
Trip Report: Joshua Tree and Mojave National Preserve (January 2023) – Return to the Desert
The first time I saw the Mojave Desert, it looked like an inhospitable wasteland. It was 2006 and I was on I-10, driving across the country with my dad from my college in Orange County, CA back to my hometown, Washington, DC after graduation. The barren, sun-baked hills and mountain ranges seemed like a good... Continue Reading →