Read, Write, Drink, Eat, Adventure
Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting a global pandemic to shut down the world right before I was to set off on my Trek Dirty to Me project and my years-long planned 2,200 mile trek of the Appalachian Trail. But it did, and I could not have been luckier. What a ride these last three months have been!
Read MoreI was stressing out about how I would have to completely change the way I eat next month, in an effort to prepare for my April 1 start to my Appalachian Trail thru-hike. I have experienced a stacked stat sheet of health benefits from my two months of Intermittent Fasting, and I didn’t want to give those up or change the way I had become accustomed to eating and performing. Then I realized I didn’t have to stop fasting at all. It’s just one more thing to add to my list of shit folks just haven’t really done (or talked about much) while long-distance hiking. So I’m going to do it and let you know how it goes.
Read MoreI assume the shared name is the only similarity between the extremely popular trail town of Damascus, Virginia and the city where I once got drugged and robbed after being taken to the middle of the desert in Syria(December 2008). So what do I do when I bookend Trail Days during my visit? Where do I stay? Where do I eat? What must I see? With whom must I speak? How the hell do I get from Damascus to Raleigh on the morning of Saturday, May 16?
Read MoreIt is a bit of a read, but this is why, starting on April 1, 2020, I am thru-hiking the 2,200-mile Appalachian Trail for almost seven months.
Read MoreAfter binging 158 hours of podcasts from TheTrek.co, Backpacker Radio, Trail Correspondents and The Attempt, I would like to give a special shoutout to what has become my graduate course in thru-hiking. You should check them out!
Read MoreNo, I will not be bringing a weapon (or weapons) with me for my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. I am confident in the overwhelming safety of the trail and the community, and I am confident in my own ability to defend myself against the perils of nature and humans. So please relax. I’ll be safe.
Read MoreToday I am taking a for real break, but I did take the time to do a bad photoshop and post a movie trailer for my mom starring one of her favorite actors. And it actually has something to do with me thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail.
Read MoreWith a week left in India, before returning to Indiana for the final monthlong March homestretch, I’ve wrapped up almost everything left to do here to get ready for my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. Of course, looking ahead, it feels like this was just a warm up for a whirlwind 28ish days in my hometown of Indianapolis.
Read MoreThe third state (of 14) on my way north to Maine is Tennessee!!! I have driven through here. Peyton Manning played college football here. They have BBQ on the other side of the state. I’m here twice on the Appalachian Trail. Two nights in Gatlinburg and a week and a half further north in East Tennessee. That’s all I’ve got. I have questions. Who wants to meet up? What should I do? What should I eat?
Read MoreWant a short backpacking trip within an hour-ish of Indianapolis? I am strongly considering a 4-5 day warmup/shakedown hike of the 50-mile Tecumseh Trail portion of the 160-mile Knobstone Trail. It’s a great chance to maybe sneak off to Bloomington to drop me off, or grab ice cream in Martinsville to pick me up. Or maybe you want to join me for a little multi-day walk in the woods (that is close to home this time)?
Read MoreI have pledged to raise $2,200 (or $1 for every mile I will be thru-hiking of the Appalachian Trail beginning April 1, 2020) for the American Lung Association's Fight For Air Climb to raise funds for healthy lungs and clean air. On March 7, I will climb 47 flights of stairs up Salesforce Tower in downtown Indianapolis, carrying the weight that I will be bringing along for my thru-hike. I need your help to raise the money before I climb!
Read MoreThe second state (of 14) on my way north to Maine is North Carolina!!! Yes. I have spent about seven total days in the great state of North Carolina. Once for a long weekend/spring break when I was not yet even legal to drive. Once for a two-day law school visit (not my visit mind you) to Duke. Consider me a Tar Heeled virgin. I have questions. Who wants to meet up? What should I do? What should I eat?
Read MoreI will be missing six months worth of holidays (and my 40th birthday) while hiking from Georgia to Maine during my thru-hike attempt of the Appalachian Trail.
Read MoreOne month of blogging regularly (daily) for Trek Dirty to Me! Lot’s of cool stuff on the horizon - especially once I get scootin’ along my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail.
Read MoreAnybody who has seen my phone and it’s meticulously organized folders of more than 400 apps knows that I love iPhone apps. So naturally I’ve put together a list of the apps that I will be using on the Appalachian Trail to help me get from Georgia to Maine and also have some fun in the meantime.
Read MoreThe ongoing internal debate of bringing a GPS tracker on my thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail is more about others being able to contact me in an emergency, and less about me needing to ring out for help. But, then again, you never really know.
Read MoreWhy I will be hiking the length of the Appalachian Trail (and future trails) with a Wild Ideas Bearikade Weekender bear canister and not a bag to carry my food.
Read MoreA cold hard look at the odds of completing my Appalachian Trail thru-hike with a look at the actual numbers, and why I think I can beat them.
Read MoreAll about my intense hatred of mosquitos and ticks (the assholes of the forest) and how I intend to kick them in the (metaphorical) nuts while thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail.
Read MoreTime for the 6-week (of 12 weeks) update on the training plan I have been doing for my Appalachian Trail thru-hike. Halfway there and on track. A lot of questions regarding what I have been doing, so I try to lay out the plan that works for me. Again, I know my body well and this may not be the right plan for other folks.
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