My Christmas trip to the Adirondacks could not be topped. The trails were quiet and Jordan’s marriage proposal just below the windy summit of Mount Marcy was more than I could fathom in my wildest dreams. Yet, in the days following that trip, I was left with a nagging feeling of failure. The mountains had served us a heaping slice of humble pie, but I was still hungry. In my inbox I found an email from Pat from two years prior outlining a Marcy-Skylight-Gray route from Tah

Dear National Park Service, Let me begin by wishing you a happy belated birthday! One hundred years is no joke! You’re in good company with other centarians Speedo, the Panama Canal, and Merrill Lynch. Surviving, let alone growing and thriving, over the course of ten decades is no easy task. Congratulations and Godspeed. NPS, I sent your present last summer and for the first time ever bought an annual, America the Beautiful Park Pass. The pass paid for itself a few time

The perfect trip for new hikers, kids, and first-time backpackers, Black Mountain is accessible, easy to navigate, and a relatively short hike for big views of Lake George and Vermont's Green Mountains. The NYSDEC trailhead off of Pine Brook Road (43.611765,-73.493109) offers ample parking and a trail register. Most visitors to this trailhead are completing the Black Mountain Out-and-Back or the circuit described in this post. The Out-and-Back variation is approximately on

The Three Ridges along the AT in Central Virginia is touted as one of the most popular circuits in the Mid-Atlantic. With frequent and expansive views of the Blue Ridge Mountains, ample camping, and terrain that is just rugged enough to whet even die hard backpacker's need for a little challenge, it is easy to understand why this ranks as a regional favorite. At the end of 2015, Jordan, Jeff, Elisabeth and I planned to backpack the Three Ridges loop with the addition of Spy

Things aren't always as they seem. And that's okay. The Google reviews gave Delaware Seashore State Park 4.0/5.0 stars. That was good enough for me to book a campsite at the park for Friday and Saturday nights. Despite spending much of the past five years here in the Mid-Atlantic, I haven't had much occasion to wander to the Eastern Shore. The over-crowded, over-sugared, and kitschy scene in Ocean City has never lured me to the beaches. But, the forecast was conceived for