My Father celebrated his 90th birthday this week. Pretty incredible, huh? Even more so because he’s still working, he remains very active, and is as inquisitive as ever. I hope I’m in as great shape, when I turn 90. Being 90, my …
Read More »Philip Werner
Pacer Poles: Gear of the Year
Every year, I like to name a piece of backpacking gear that has had a transformational impact on my hiking and backpacking experience and recognize it by giving it the Section Hiker Gear of the Year Award. To qualify for consideration, the …
Read More »Hiking My Own Hike – A One Year Reprospective
I quit my corporate job, a year ago this week, to go my own way. After 20+ years of work in the software and internet industries, I was bored with what I was doing and I couldn’t see that my work was …
Read More »Naturalist’s Notes: Catskills Tree Fungi
My interest in forest fungi started when I was hiking Vermont’s Long Trail in 2008 and I kept coming across these white fiddlehead looking plants called Indian Pipe or Ghost Flower. I took photos of them and the other new plants, trees, …
Read More »Western Catskills Traverse
I spent most of my formative years as a backpacker in the Catskills, a 700,000 acre forest preserve, located less than 100 miles north of New York City. It’s a beautiful place full of rivers, streams, valleys and mountains that maintains a …
Read More »Tent Stakes: How Many? What Kind?
When I go backpacking, I carry a small stuff sack with my tent stakes and extra cordage. I typically carry betwen 6 and 11 tent stakes with me, extra paracord and Kelty triptease. This is one of the more general purpose elements …
Read More »The Tentative Quilter
Have you ever used a quilt instead of a sleeping bag on a backpacking trip? I confess, I haven’t. But I took my first tentative step in that direction on my last backpacking trip. Instead of a quilt, I used the 50 …
Read More »The Flume in Franconia Notch
Last month, we went up to North Conway for a little vacation We drove up to the top of Mt Washington on the Auto Road, toured the Kancamagus Highway, visited a few waterfalls, hung out in Pinkham Notch and Crawford Notch, and …
Read More »Maine is for Mushrooms
I saw the coolest looking mushrooms on the Maine Appalachian Trail this year, but I’m having trouble identifying what kind they are. Care to give me a hand? Leave a comment if you know their names, or if you’d like to make …
Read More »Root Fires and Leave No Trace Campfire Building
I came across this note last week when I was hiking south past Rainbow Lake on the Maine Appalachian Trail. It reads: HELP, Aug 7 11AM, All Hikers, Towards the lake, I found a root fire. I’ve spent the past 2.5 hours …
Read More »Hiking in Hurricanes
I backpacked the northermost section of Vermont’s Long Trail during Hurricane Ike in 2008. I didn’t realize that I was hiking through a hurricane at the time, even with the heavy rainfall and wind, since that kind of weather is the norm …
Read More »Return to the 100 Mile Wilderness
In August 2009, I set out to hike the 100 mile wilderness in Maine. This is the last big section that AT thru-hikers have to hike before they arrive at Baxter State Park, home of Mount Katahdin, the northern terminus of the …
Read More »Climbing Mount Katahdin
I didn’t intend to climb to the summit of Mt Katadhin this week, it just sort of happened. But that’s ok, I needed to hike to the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail eventually and things just worked out. Hike: Mount Katahdin …
Read More »The Sound of Cicadas
When I was growing up, I used to listen to the sound of the cicadas in our back yard. It’s the sound that I associate with the hot days and evenings of summer. Yesterday morning, as I was hiking the last few …
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