May 28, 2026

A whole bunch of zeroes as I try to recover from the recent injury to my leg. I've been patient and rested my leg, but the arrival of new Oboz shoes to replicate as closely as possible the sole of my previous boots, puts me close to returning to trail this coming Thursday.

Bring it on!

Along the way, I managed to grab...

May 25, 2026

A bit of a critical week to recap today, with an injury that landed me in the Emergency Room in Pearisburg. I'm currently off trail but working on getting back to trail in the coming days. Wish me well!!

I also found time to chat with a couple of guys I've met on trail; Big John and Baloo.

I'm using Polarsteps to record...

May 21, 2026

I've reached the quarterway point of the Application Trail, and am getting dark thoughts about the weather in the next few months. It is already unseasonably warm, so June through August should be pretty alarming when they arrive.

i now have a plan of completing 86 miles per week that would get me to Katahdin by the...

May 18, 2026

A bit of a break for me this time. It is mid May, and that means Trail Days in Damascus. Dave Santi and his buddies picked me up from about 60 trail miles north of Damascus and brought me back to their Airbnb. What a treat!

So I was able to rest for much of the three days of the event AND buy some replacement shows....

May 14, 2026

This week, I had my first experience of substantial rain, with the hike out of Damascus. This took us through a 20 mile detour which turned out to be very benign, compared with the previous detour several miles back.

Along the way, I spoke with Alan Roberts, or Wizard, who was hiking with his 15-year-old son, Blood...