One of my first hikes in the White Mountains around 1991.
The first days
Since I was little I have always liked hiking and backpacking. I cut my teeth in the White Mountains of New Hampshire suffering through mud, rocks and roots with my father and brother. I have fond memories of driving from Boston to visit my grandparents in Lebanon, NH. We would stay a few days and then my mom would spend some quality time alone with her parents while my dad took us to the forest.
Our usual spot was the Franconia Notch area. Along the way we would stop at Fadden’s General Store in North Woodstock, which sold penny candy. Dad gave us each a dollar and we had to choose a hundred pieces to take with us on our adventures. Yes, it was the early 90’s and the prices were different.
Our trips generally came in two ways. We would do a day hike in the area and then stay at Fransted Campground, or backpack overnight or stay in one of the cabins. I remember being attacked by leeches at Zealand Pond and a very busy stay at Zealand Falls Hut. I remember watching Fransted Campground slowly develop year after year. From the worn and threadbare greens of their miniature golf course and their abandoned playground that time forgot to the clean cuts and new bathrooms installed on the hill towards the back. These trips became a tradition. We always topped them off with breakfast at Polly’s Pancakes before heading back.
I made my dad take me to Polly’s last month when we were at the Whites training a bit.
Moving to the Mid-Atlantic
The trips continued even after our move to Baltimore and the greater Mid-Atlantic. A few years after that move, I joined the Boy Scouts at age 11. This fostered my love of the outdoors while also exposing me to new activities like rafting, rock climbing, and cycling tours. I’m incredibly grateful for that exposure. In high school, A walk through the forest Summer reading was required at the beginning of the second year. This piqued my interest, but I saved it for a later date.
Another embarrassing photo of me at my Eagle Ceremony circa 2005.
Unfortunately, after becoming a Junior Eagle Scout year and then going to college, I seemed to neglect my outdoor adventures. This trend seemed to continue beyond college and into my career in the fascinating world of commercial insurance. Too much eating, drinking, and sitting at a desk left me out of shape and staring out the window wishing for a great adventure. What can I say? I really enjoyed The Lord of the Rings growing up. Of course, he had gone outdoors. I had the car camped here and there, but nothing had scratched the itch that was developing.
Most recent history
In September 2017, when a friend mentioned a backpacking trip he was planning to the Hoh River in Olympic National Park, I jumped at the opportunity. I gathered up the remains of my gear (supplemented by a raid on my dad’s gear closet to replace some things I had outgrown) and left.
I was in the worst shape of my life. Yes, I snorted. Yes, I snorted. Yes, I died on all the climbs and got the worst blisters of my life. But the spark was lit. On one particularly momentous occasion, at the top of the hike, overlooking the blue glacier of Mount Olympus, I had a spiritual moment as I came face to face with a mountain goat. I stood frozen for what seemed like an eternity until it turned and walked away down the mountain. The next day I walked the eleven miles to the trailhead on my poor, suffering feet. Every step was painful, but we didn’t even stop to take a break. The flame had been completely rekindled.
Coming face to face with this big boy was surreal.
I returned home after that trip and immediately began my research. I Googled the Appalachian Trail. That led me to a list of long distance trails in North America. I noticed there were some smaller ones right next door in Pennsylvania. I added them to the list. I noticed the Batona Trail in the Pine Barrens of New Jersey. I added it for training. Soon the list grew longer and longer. PCT, CDT…I’d sure like to do a Camino at some point.
Finally, I found something called the Eastern Continental Trail and a hiker named Jupiter who had just completed it earlier in the year. This was revealing. This seemed to be what I was looking for. I became obsessed with finding everything I could about it. Why hike the Appalachian Trail when you could also hike the International Appalachian Trail, Appalachian Trail, Pinhoti Trail, and Florida Trail? Sometimes I can tend to be an all or nothing type of person.
That hike along the Hoh River Trail was not the only eye-opening event in my 30th year. While I was in the middle of all this research and planning, I had a serious health scare. Reader, I didn’t handle it well. One day, while on a conference call with a client, I excused myself and went to the bathroom where I proceeded to have a minor mental breakdown. A menty b! It’s not a big deal.
The good thing about your life seeming to fall apart is that you can take stock, look down, and decide which pieces to pick up. I had just regained a part of my childhood and felt like I was on a healthier path. So I kept going. It was January 15, 2018 when I promised myself I would complete the Triple Crown (including the Eastern Continental Trail) before I turned 40. I was two months away from turning 31.
One of my campsites in the Swiss Alps. How can this not make you want more?
I was planning to start the Eastern Continental Trail southbound in June 2019, but decided it would be wiser to increase the mileage. I spent the rest of 2018 marking gear and hiking local state forest trails in Pennsylvania, as well as the Batona Trail in New Jersey. In 2019 I put my planning and logistics to the test by backpacking the Walkers Haute Route from Chamonix to Zermatt as part of a longer international solo trip. In 2020, I challenged myself to increase my mileage. I hiked the Tahoe Rim Trail in six days. A feat that required chaining consecutive days of 25 to 28 miles. These were my longest days on the trail at the time and they proved to be a real challenge. I also got my first taste of forest fires on that road.
Yes, I went to Harvard…
It still took me until May 2021 to finally leave my insurance career and try a real walk. This was it. My first summer of thruhiking. I hiked the trails of Colorado and Arizona back to back. On the Colorado Trail I immersed myself in an authentic alpine environment. I had set an ambitious goal of climbing 16 of the 14,000-foot peaks along the way. Due to inclement weather, I was only able to reach nine of the sixteen planned mountains, but this earned me the name Side Quest trail from CDT hikers I had encountered for a while. As I walked with them, a group finishing their triple crown, I was able to study the way they moved with ease in the city, carrying out their tasks as if nothing had happened. I learned to act very hungry by talking to day hikers in hopes they would offer me food. I learned not to be shy about hitchhiking and to just stick my damn thumb out. I also learned to prewash dirty socks before washing them. Towards the end of the Colorado Trail I also hiked my first 30+ mile day. A feat I repeated two more times on that path feeling proud of myself.
AZT 2021. Surprised, I even found someone to take this photo of me at the Grand Canyon.
My experience on the Arizona Trail was quite different. Along this path I was tested in new ways. By not walking with anyone for more than an hour, I received a real taste of loneliness. In fact, I only saw seven other hikers in my 30 days on the trail and two were going the opposite direction! I learned that he can and will greet you six days in a row on the Kaibab Plateau. I learned the hard way what Catclaw Acacia is. Finally, I learned that frustrating, bad, difficult days on the trail are bound to happen and that sometimes you just have to keep going. Your mood will change over time. On the Arizona Trail I did my first day over 40 miles.
PCT 2022. The midpoint was amidst the remains of the Dixie Fire that burned 963,309 acres the previous year!
After the success of that summer I felt strong. I immediately challenged myself again by climbing the PCT in 2022. I’ll spare you most of the details, but I learned how to deal with and overcome injuries on that trail. Unfortunately, I also learned to deal with a failed hike. While hiking over 2,000 miles that summer, wildfires closed sections of the trail, forcing me to return and finish the lost sections in Oregon the following year.
Back in Colorado. This time at the CDT.
In May 2024 I embarked on another long adventure. I was supposed to hike the entire Long Trail as training and then immediately start the CDT, but my body had other plans. About halfway through the Long Trail I had a nagging pain in my foot and decided it was best to go off trail to recover. Maybe this was maturity or maybe I learned that it’s better to be kind to your body and not force yourself to hurt yourself (my natural inclination). After flying to Montana, I waited nine long days for my foot to get better until I started the CDT. I also received a lesson in patience. This proved to be worth it, as not only was I able to finish the CDT with no problems, but I also found new ways to push myself, like walking 120 miles in one push without sleeping (for the story on this, check out Peg Leg’s blog here).
CDT 2024. In the far south with 9 Lives and Fancy Feast. The end of my most recent walk.
This brings us to the Eastern Continental Trail (or ECT). A 5,700-mile route from the northern tip of Newfoundland, Canada, to the southern tip of Key West, Florida. A journey that will take me the rest of 2026 to complete. I am beyond excited to not only finally do this route, but also to better document my journey here.
Now, after all these trails, what have I learned? Oh, I don’t know. It’s just walking!
just walking
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