Off the Grid

To begin, it's strange to see anyone hiking in Vermont this time of year. Hiking for the day is pretty common among Vermonters, however overnight camping in the woods is pretty much done by this time in the season. It's just too cold for people except for hunters and crazy hikers like myself. Since there aren't many thru hikers pushing through, [...] Read more

If you were looking hard enough over the past week, you might have seen me in New York City, New Haven, Boston, Bangor, or climbing Mt. Katahdin in a blizzard. The miles I've put down have prevented me from updating my blog as often as I would like. I've done some serious outdoor stuff. To update everyone on my plans, here's the deal: Last Monday [...] Read more

I'd like to try to explain a small portion of the mindset you get into as a long distance hiker. Sometimes what we do or how we act is counter-intuitive, quirky, or downright insane. What kind of person hikes for thousands of miles? How do we cope? What keeps us going? What exactly is rattling around in this crazy head: Mileage: Some people ask [...] Read more

Part of life consists of going through some crap just so you better appreciate the good. The other days was a watershed. In case you haven't noticed, I'm rather cynical, which also means I get really excited when awesome things happen. I never really expect them, so it's a great surprise. (BTW, if you haven't noticed that I'm cynical..this is [...] Read more

I finally crossed into the great state of New York from the....let's just say "the other" state of New Jersey. In the interest of full disclosure, I'd like to clear the air after my Jersey bitch-fest. Plus, my buddy Matt is a pretty solid dude, and apparently he's from Jersey, so, in his words, "it ain't all that bad." Truth is, it isn't all that [...] Read more

Almost every time I visit New Jersey, I find myself asking the same question: Why am I in New Jersey? It's an important question that has no good answer. Even if you can come up with a decent answer, the next question is most likely: "Want to get the F%#& out of Jersey?" Example: Why are we in Jersey? To get some White Castle, Dude! Now that [...] Read more

Ever hitched a ride? Probably not. Why? Because it's dangerous? Any statistics to back that up? NO! Of course not! It's just dangerous...everybody knows that. There's a certain percentage of crazies, criminals, and murders out there and that number hasn't changed significantly throughout the course of human history. It's also a very small number [...] Read more

Look around. Humans own this planet. We are an Apex Predator. As far as the big cats, grizzlies, and sharks go, our highly developed brain has put us on top of even these fearsom predators. North America used to be a scarry place to hike around. Large Black Bears, packs of timber wolves, and mountain lions could all hunt you down in the woods and [...] Read more