Blue Lakes Trail
The Blue Lakes Trail is one of the most popular day-hiking destinations in the San Juans, and for good reason. This place is scenery overload! […]
Colorado Trail South
In July 2023, Greg and I enjoyed five days on the Colorado Trail, completing the 80 miles from the Railroad Stop at Elk Park next […]
Hiking the Green Monster
I got my pup Rex out on his first backpacking trip this spring. Greg invited me along on a tour of the “Green Monster,” a […]
February in the Foothills
So I’m done with the Hundred Highest. Now what? After the highs of 2021, I hardly set foot on a hiking trail in 2022. In […]
The Highs and Lows of the Highest Hundred
Here is the trip report of my highest hundred finale, Stewart Peak: Trip Report. But there is so much more to this story… I finally […]
Brush Creek Wildflowers – Crested Butte
For the maximum scenery and wildflowers with the least amount of effort, it’s hard to beat the Brush Creek hike just outside of Crested Butte; […]
Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Black Canyon of the Gunnison is in the middle of nowhere, high desert Colorado, but it is definitely worth the visit. One of the best […]
Wild Pigeon and Turret Peaks
Pigeon and Turret Peaks are two wild and remote mountains in the Weminuche Wilderness, with no easy approach. I chose the shortest and most direct […]
Wham Ridge!
Down to the final four for Colorado’s hundred highest summits… and they were some good ones! First up: Vestal Peak. But it wouldn’t have felt […]
Loyalsock East – A Pennsylvania Fave
Greg Strine and I hiked the 30 miles of the eastern half of the Loyalsock East Trail in northern Pennsylvania, over June 3-4, 2021. The […]
California Peak and Mount Adams
My quest to climb Colorado’s hundred highest mountains is winding down to the final peaks. I was fortunate to be able to climb two more […]
Gladstone Peak and Half Peak
July 28, 2020, I completed a much-longer-than-anticipated day hike to Gladstone Peak via the Cross Mountain Trail and Lizard Head Pass. The scenery was some […]
True Wilderness–Six Days in the Weminuche
For years, I’ve been trying to climb Jagged Mountain. That was the central focus of this trip, but there was a lot more to it […]
Enjoying the Little Things
Recently Dad and I hiked to Flat Rock, PA for the umpteenth time. It’s always worth paying attention to the details. Every hike is different, […]
Soggy Dolly… Dolly Sogs… I mean Dolly Sods
Weather was perfect for our weekend backpacking trip, a 20 mile loop in the Dolly Sods Wilderness. Click here for the full trip report. Some […]
More Pennsylvania Highlights
I hope to get more complete pages in place for the following hikes eventually, but for now I’ll just share the highlights: Last year, we […]
Colorado: “Off Days”
There is a lot to do and see in Southwestern Colorado and surrounding area. Between mountain climbs, we tried to fill our days as much […]
Rio Grande Pyramid, The Window, Phoenix Falls and Phoenix Peak
Colorado, 2019 included a backpacking trip to The Window… Rio Grande Pyramid… (Trip Report Here) And a hike to Phoenix Falls… And “Phoenix Peak”… (Trip […]
Ellingwood Ridge to La Plata Peak
La Plata Peak’s famous Ellingwood Ridge was my first class 3 scramble, and in some ways this climb served as my gateway drug to harder […]
Ouray and Vermilion
There were many twists and turns in our plans for Colorado this year. Our goal of the Weminuche Wilderness was not to be. Ultimately, Mount […]
New Route to Flat Rock
Out and back “figure 8”: 6 miles As another practice hike for our upcoming Colorado trip, Dad and I took Hunter along on a gorgeous […]
A.T. to Big Flat
We’ve done the section of Appalachian Trail from Caledonia State Park to Ridge Road many times, but we always enjoy it—especially with the new green […]
Cat Rock Trail – Cunningham Falls State Park
This afternoon, we had just enough light left for a two-hour hike in Cunningham Falls State Park. Uncle John, Dad and I took Hunter with […]
Kings Gap State Park Loop Hike
8/19/17 Saturday 6.6-mile loop I had never visited Kings Gap State Park before today. A network of trails traverses the hilly landscape of the park, […]
Spring at Big Schloss
12.25 mile loop-hike Uncle John and I enjoyed a 12-mile loop hike to Big Schloss last year on a 100+ degree summer day. We wanted […]
Jones, Oklahoma and Buckskin
I wrapped up 2016 with three more Centennials: Jones Mountain in August, and Mounts Oklahoma and Buckskin in September with my dad. These were mild […]
Dallas and Teakettle
Dallas Peak, Teakettle Mountain, and Jagged Mountain are considered to be the three most difficult mountains to climb of Colorado’s hundred highest. I climbed the […]
Grizzly and Cathedral
Part 2 of my epic Summer of ’16 involved two more Centennial Summits in Colorado in early July. View from Grizzly Couloir Grizzly Peak A, […]
“Thunder Pyramid”, Sandwiched Between Mount Spalding and Ice Lake Basin
On the first of several epic 4-day weekends spent traveling out West in 2016, this one started out with a 13,800-foot gain in 8 hours–from […]
Standing Stone North
Our highlight for hiking in Pennsylvania in 2016 was the 21.5 miles at the northern terminus of the Standing Stone Trail. Here is the trip […]
Website Catch-Up / 2015 Wrap-Up
I’ve already done a good bit of hiking in 2016, so before I get too far behind I wanted to add my remaining highlights from […]
French – Frasco – Casco: Colorado Classic
Dad and I, along with my dog Hunter, tackled the French-Frasco-Casco Trio in Colorado this past July, in what instantly became one of my favorite […]
Yellowstone’s Hoyt and Avalanche Peaks
Dad and I enjoyed a memorable wildflower-filled hike on these two peaks in Southeastern Yellowstone on 7/3/15. Trip Report Here.
The Many Faces of Devil’s Tower, Wyoming
Enjoyed the 1.3-mile paved Tower Loop Trail around the base of Devils Tower back on June 29, 2015. Click the photo below for more pictures:
Thunder Swamp Trail Loop
In May 2015 we did a 3-day back-pack of the Thunder Swamp Loop Trail. Trip Report Here.
2014: More Pennsylvania Hiking
I was not able to get out west in 2014, but got a lot more hiking done in Pennsylvania, the highlight of which was the […]
Three Days on the Allegheny Front
In early May 2014 we hiked the Allegheny Front Trail, a 41.5 mile loop west of State College, PA, that has about as much diversity […]
Whiteside Mountain, NC Loop Hike
This past January my wife and I enjoyed a vacation to the Smokey Mountains in North Carolina. We found a nice loop hike on Whiteside […]
Colors of Winter
Click on image for high-res photo:
Iced Cube Epic, and other Colorado Adventures
I took a trip to Colorado with my parents over Independence Day this past summer. We visited Independence Pass on July 4th and completed a […]
Colors of Fall
Click on image for high-res photo:
Appalachian Trail Section Hiking
Two thousand thirteen was a good year for exploring more of my home state, Pennsylvania–mostly via miles of the Appalachian Trail. I’ve compiled a list […]
Colors of Summer
Click on image for high-res photo:
Return to Old Rag
With the summer now over, it is a good time to reflect on the many experiences of 2013, starting with a return to an old […]
Colors of Spring
Click on image for high-res photo:
Winter in Colorado
Zero degrees and a thirty mile per hour wind–the exact conditions I had been waiting for, to finally put my Denali winter weather gear to […]
Snowmass–14er Finale!
My family and I visited Colorado in the midst of the worst of wildfire season this past summer, so my Dad and Uncle John could […]
Looking back on 2011
This past year was all about training for a 20-mile hike in the Bridger-Teton Wilderness with my Dad and Uncle John–who first did this Paintbrush […]
New Camera!
Trying out my new Canon Rebel T2i (click on the photo to see full-size):