Pemi Loop 2020

The Pemi Loop – it evokes proper noun status of places like The Great Range, Hat Creek Rim, the Maryland Marathon, and the Hundred Mile Wilderness.  The hike traverses several 4000 foot peaks, with many 360-degree summit views.   There are high campsites, a neat little alpine pond, and some fun scrambles up and down some…

2002 Caretaker season logs – Piazza Rock, Maine

I found my old logbook from when I was a caretaker at the Piazza Rock shelter area on the Appalachian Trail in Maine.  What a terrific experience, it really opened my eyes to Leave No Trace as a philosophy, and the overall effect that small impacts have when multiplied by hundreds.  I spoke to hundreds…

Leaving no trace in paradise

Digging through some old hiking photos from Hawaii, I was struck how similar the trail is to New England, despite having probably 1/100 of the traffic.   That volcanic soil just can’t take the abuse, similar to the thin layer of soil on top of the mineral soils covering the mountains of the Northeast.  Just like…

Weighed in the scales and (not?) found wanting

Heading up to the Adirondacks again, and I thought I’d weigh in, literally.   We bought a kitchen scale recently to help with big batches of canning, and it has a good capacity and resolution.   And its a quiet, hazy afternoon, nothing better than getting your gear sorted. (Jake the Wonder Dog assisting) Short version: Base…

Adirondack Trip May 2015

  4 down, 7 out of 46 to go. I got up to Keene Valley at about 10am on Saturday, rented one of those bear cannisters at The Mountaineer, then drove back S to the Elk Lake Preserve to hike Macomb.   A nice flat trail, wet, and then the slide started.   It wasn’t a pure…