travel light, wake early, walk far
“Of every tree of the garden you are free to eat; but as for the tree of knowledge of good and bad, you must not eat of it.” — God, Genesis 2:16, JNP, 1985 “There was a time I could drink my cares away . . . but the whiskey ain’t workin’ anymore.” — Stuart,... Continue Reading →
Number one rule of hiking is "DON'T GET DEAD!". One of the corollaries of that rule is "DON'T RUN OUT OF WATER IN THE DESERT". The issue of water was definitely on my mind as I was planning a backpacking trip to the Arizona's Superstition Mountains Wilderness. This part of Tonto National Forest is rugged... Continue Reading →
2025 upon us, we ventured out on January 2nd to Shenandoah (SNP) for two nights of backpacking to start hiking in the new year and take in the hunter-free woods on this, the last week of rifle season in Virginia for every public forest in the state not federally protected like this national park. There... Continue Reading →
Photo: Logan. We love our traditions around here. One week after DC UL’s annual Four State Challenge, we launched our third post-presidential election week escape from DC to the 75-mile Quehanna Trail in north-central Pennsylvania. In 2016, I vividly remembered our shell-shocked faces after a surprisingly tumultuous week as we gathered at the trailhead on that... Continue Reading →
Everyone knows of the Black Forest Trail in north central Pennsylvania. Fewer people in the USA know of another “Black Forest” a lot further away—in Germany. Weirdly, the Germans call their Black Forest “Schwarzwald.” (I assume Pennsylvania beat Germany to the trademark rights to “Black Forest,” or Germany’s version is just a knockoff of Pennsylvania’s).... Continue Reading →
DC UL Backpacking 