When I start dragging on the trail, I unfurl my Z-Rest and take a short power nap—maybe 20 minutes or so. Most of the time it’s just me in my sphere on the trail. So I lie down in the mid...
There is a monastery on the Appalachian Trail. The guide book said that the monks allow thru-hikers to camp there. I was going to stop there and take a couple half days off to meditate and enjo...
http://asthecrowflies.org/2008/03/06/haitian-woodstock-on-the-appalachian-trail/
I thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2003. It was a wet and cold year. I hiked exclusively in Chaco sandals. To keep my feet from getting too cold, I often wore neoprene socks. My neoprene socks...
http://asthecrowflies.org/2008/01/22/waterproof-socks-a-bad-idea/
The first time I hiked the PCT, I didn’t use a trail name; I felt it was a tradition that belonged to the social, more goofy, AT hiker. The problem is, if you don’t have a trail name, other p...
The shelters on the Appalachian Trail often host the most unlikely campers. One guy I saw in a shelter, carried a duffel bag full of cotton clothes, a folding chair, and a cell phone from which h...
http://asthecrowflies.org/2007/04/29/build-a-shelter-and-they-will-come/
On the Appalachian Trail I met two coal miners in their 50’s who spent their vacations, hiking a section of the trail. Starting at the begining in Springer, they were working their way throug...
http://asthecrowflies.org/2007/04/27/the-coal-miners-on-the-appalachian-trail/
I’m pretty much ready to head out to hike the PCT(Pacific Crest Trail), but I won’t be leaving for well over a week. I’m going to just buy my food along the way. I’m not at all picky and ...
The first long trail I hiked was the PCT(Pacific Crest Trail). I quit my good paying job and planned to return to work the following spring. I looked at the hike as a “trip of a lifetime” and...
http://asthecrowflies.org/2007/04/22/how-much-does-it-cost-to-hike-a-long-trail/
When I was in a shelter on the AT(Appalachian Trail), waiting for someone to come see about the abandon pack that was left there, we joked about who they would send. We thought for sure they woul...
http://asthecrowflies.org/2007/04/18/resuply-at-the-wilson-creek-shelter/
On the AT, as I got to a shelter, just before dark on a rainy day, someone inside yelled “we’re full“. I said, “I’ll just get some water and hike on then”. I filled up with water, put...
This is my emergency fire starting kit. It’s a spare Bic lighter and two Esbit Solid Fuel Tablets in a plastic ziplock baggie. It weighs 1.6 ounces or 47 grams. I’m thinking of trading one of...
http://asthecrowflies.org/2006/12/05/emergency-fire-starting-kit/
Hiking through Connecticut on the Appalachian Trail, I got a lot of warnings about Lyme disease. They said when I got done with my hike that I should take 4 weeks of doxycycline because the chanc...
http://asthecrowflies.org/2006/12/01/lyme-disease-on-the-trail/
The Appalachian Trail is a a 2200 mile(3500km) trail running from Georgia to Maine in the Eastern United States. The only book I used for the entire trail was Wingfoot’s Thru-hikers handbook. I...
http://asthecrowflies.org/2006/12/01/hiking-the-appalachian-trail/
It was a rainy day on the AT (Appalachian Trail.) It was where the AT comes closest to New York City. Not far from this shelter there was a train stop right on the trail that would take you in to...
In the woods at night anything can happen: in your mind. It’s what makes the telling of scary stories around the campfire so effectively scary. Once, when I was a kid, my mother lowered her voi...
Trail angels are people who help long distance hikers achieve their dream of hiking a long trail. Help may take the form of cans of pop chilling in a stream, a cooler full of snacks left along th...