APPALACHIAN TRAIL – GaMe (Georiga to Maine) 2004Hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT) was a life long dream for me. I retired late in 2003 and was planning another section hike on the AT. I suddenly realized I could attempt a thru-hike for the 2004 season and went to Lady Kritter, my wife, with good news, bad news. Good news – I was going to hike the AT, bad news – I would be gone for six months. This epic journey covered 2,172 miles through 14 states of the eastern United States. I left alone from Springer Mountain in northern Georgia March 15th and summitted Katahdin, Maine on September 24th 2,172 miles later. Lady Kritter endured three hurricanes and one tropical storm in Florida while I was on the trail. By the time the news reached me on the trail it was too late to try and make it home. I spent countless hours nervously waiting for word that everything on the homefront was safe and sound.
APPALACHIAN TRAIL – GaMe (Georiga to Maine) 2010Springer fever hit me hard early in 2010. The hiking season was beginning and I was itching to get on a trail. Greyhound and I were planning another hike to Europe. Circumstances beyond my control halted going across the big pond. It was too late to thru-hike the Florida Trail. I pushed away from the desk in amazement. Was I actually comteplating another thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail Why not! It was close to home and I enjoyed my first thru-hike. This time I knew what to expect. I could re-visit places I liked, stay away from the ones I didn’t and visit places I didn’t get to see in 04. And so, once again, I left alone from Springer Mt. on April 6th hiking north, and summitted Katahdin on September 19th, 2,179 miles later.
SUMMER OF 2008 HIGH SIERRA HIKE -Greyhound, my hiking partner and I, came up with a long distance hike covering over 500 miles in the High Sierra Mountains, California. The hike combined three long distance trails: the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT), the John Muir Trail (JMT) and the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) that connected with the TRT and the JMT. The TRT is a loop trail where we started at the south end of the lake at Big Meadows and hiked in a clockwise direction around the lake, back to Big Meadow. The PCT intersects with the TRT at Big Meadow where we hiked south along the PCT towards Yosemite National Park. We picked up the John Muir Trail at the trail’s northern terminus,Happy Isles, Yosemite and finished our hike at the trail’s southern terminus at an elevation of 14,500 feet on top of Mt. Whitney. We called this hike “The Summer of 2008 High Sierra Hike”.The Tahoe Rim Trail is one of the longest loop trail in the United States that circumnavigates Lake Tahoe. This 165-mile trail passes alpine lakes and takes the hiker along the ridgeline of Lake Tahoe’s crown of peaks.The John Muir Trail is located in the High Sierra Mountains of California. This 212 mile trail from Yosemite National Park to Mt. Whitney, passes massive granite peaks, waterfalls, pristine alpine lakes, ancient lava fields and meadows of wildflowers. This should be on any backpacker’s top ten list of trails to hike.The Pacific Crest Trail is a 2650 mile trail that runs through the states of California, Oregon and Washington. The southern terminus starts at the United States border with Mexico in California, and terminates at the border of the United States and Canada in Washington.
OCALA NATIONAL TRAIL – Living less than an half hour from the Ocala Trail gives me an easy 5 day getaway whenever I need some green time and can’t get to the mountains. One of the best kept secrets for winter hiking, I’ve been on this trail numerous times tweeking my gear and staying in shape for the spring hiking season. There are sections of rolling hills of pine forest with lakes and ponds scattered along this trail in the Ocala National Forest. The Ocala National Trail is a 72 mile intrinic part of the Florida National Scenic Trail located in the center part of the state near the city of Ocala.
THE FLORIDA TRAIL – Being so close to The Florida Trail (FT) makes it a great trail for me to backpack or long distance hike. I can go for a weekend, or a long distance hike depending on my schedule. The FT gives the hiker a true perspective of what it was like for the Florida pioneers. The best time for hiking is in the winter when the bugs, heat and water levels are not a major problem. The FT is a designated national scenic trail that covers over 1400 miles. The southern terminus is located deep in the Everglades and travels up the middle of the state and over to the panhandle near Alabama. The trail will take the hiker through unique natural habitats not found anywhere else in the United States. I have backpacked many sections of the Florida Trail, however I’ve yet to do a complete end to end thru hike of the trail. Hopefully, I will do this in 2012.
THE PENNINE WAY – 2006The Pennine Way in England is a 256 mile trail that follows the backbone of northern England and ends in Kirk Yetholm, southern Scotland. It is the first official long distance trail in England based on the Appalachian Trail concept in the United States. Greyhound, my hiking partner, and I, decided to take our long distance hiking experience to Europe. We discovered that tenting in Great Britian is called wild camping and is not wild at all. Sheep encounters are numerous. And, “backpacking” and taking a “walk” have different meanings. The way will take you through small villages, farmland and into the rugged backbone of England, from the Peak District through the Yorkshire Dales and over Hadrian’s Wall to the Cheviots.
THE WEST HIGHLAND WAY – 2006The West Highland Way (WHW)is the first official long distance trail in Scotland. The trail is 95 miles in length with the northern terminus located at the base of the highest mountain in Britian, Ben Nevis. While in Europe with Greyhound, Lady Kritter was to met us and do the WHW with us after the Pennine Way. Because of schedule conflicts, Greyhound hiked the WHW before Lady Kritter and I, and then went on to Ireland. Lady Kritter and I left the small village of Milngavie (pronounced ‘mullguy’) to begin the West Highland Way. Lady Kritter twisted her knee coming down Conic Hill and ended up recuperating at the Rowardennan Youth Hostel. Lady Kritter and I met back up in Ft.William the northern terminus of the WHW. The third leg of our Europe trip, Iceland, was cancelled due to a “nasty-wee-beastie” (tick) bite while camping at Auchtertyre Farm. The bite became infected and landed me in a hospital for a week in Stornoway, Scotland. I did get to experience the West Highland Way passing through some of the most spectacular scenery in all of Britian and recommend it to be on any hiker’s top ten bucket list of trails to hike.
THE BARTRAM TRAIL – 2007The Bartram Trail is a National Recreation Trail traveling through 117 miles of the mountains of Northern Georgia (36.5 miles), and North Carolina Mountains (74.4 miles). Greyhound and I hiked this trail in 2007 as a spring hike to curb or Springer Fever (an occurrance in Spring for past AT hikers that represents the start of a thru hike going north from Springer Mt. in Georgia).I consider the Bartram Trail the little brother of the Appalachian Trail (AT). The trail has similar characteristics as the AT so I recommend this trail to hikers who are thinking about a long distance backpack on the AT.
THE FOOTHILLS TRAIL – 2007The Foothills Trail is a 76 mile trail located in the mountains of South Carolina. This woodland trail lies in the escarpment of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I hiked this trail in 2008 with Cole and friend from the store. The hike passed mountain rivers, waterfalls and views one wouldn’t expect to see in South Carolina.
