Author: CW Spencer

Finish Line . . . or Mirage?—Part Two
September 17, 2019

Finish Line . . . or Mirage?—Part Two

by guest blogger Bonnie Spencer   Part 1, Part 3 September 17, 2019 Day 7 (Monday): BT crossing on Black’s Run Road to east of Bentonville (13.5 trail miles) CW has his surgery date. It’s still a couple weeks away, so we’re going to get more miles in until then. However, CW and his hernias are going to greatly limit how much they walk. Because of all his extra hiking with friends, CW has only a few miles in our last two sections that he hasn’t already hiked a second time. In West Union, some …
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Finish Line . . . or Mirage?—Part One
September 7, 2019

Finish Line . . . or Mirage?—Part One

by guest blogger Bonnie Spencer   Part 2, Part 3 September 7, 2019 CW and I have been hiking the Buckeye Trail together since the fall of 2015. Since the trail is a loop, we spent nearly 550 miles of it walking away from the finish line before changing direction back toward our goal. Steadily, we’ve made progress, and that goal is finally starting to come into focus—at least in our mind’s eye. When we began, CW’s idea was to do 10-percent hikes. That meant we would complete the BT in ten long hikes. The …
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A Warrior Hike on the Buckeye Trail
May 29, 2019

A Warrior Hike on the Buckeye Trail

May 29, 2019 Veterans Chad and Luke looked more than ready to begin their 1,400-plus-mile hike on Ohio’s Buckeye Trail. They appeared to be enthusiastic, fit, and equipped with all the latest gear for carrying out their current mission. What you couldn’t see about them, though, is just as important in their story. Returning soldiers carry memories of past missions that took place overseas. Surviving the war was one thing, but surviving the after effects is another. Chad and Luke are on a Warrior Hike this year, one of three Warrior Expedition programs. While their …
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Hiking as Cloud Gazer—Part Three
May 4, 2019

Hiking as Cloud Gazer—Part Three

by guest blogger Bonnie Spencer   Part 1, Part 2 May 4, 2019 CW and I are back to hike the Sinking Spring section of the Buckeye Trail. We just finished Scioto Trail Thursday. I’m used to having up to a week between sections. That gives me time to get a blog posted and catch my breath. This time, though, the most I could hope for was three days because we need to get the rest of our hike completed next week. Friday evening CW looked at the 10-day forecast and saw that next week …
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Hiking as Cloud Gazer—Part Two
April 27, 2019

Hiking as Cloud Gazer—Part Two

by guest blogger Bonnie Spencer   Part 1, Part 3 April 27, 2019 CW and I took a week off from hiking. It was a much-needed rest for me, and we were able to take care of things requiring our attention at home. Now we are refreshed and ready for phase two: hiking the Scioto Trail section of the Buckeye Trail. We drove up to Xenia last night. We’ll hike three days this week and return to Xenia each evening rather than stay in a motel.   Day 8 (Tuesday): Stoney Creek Road in eastern …
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Hiking as Cloud Gazer—Part One
April 9, 2019

Hiking as Cloud Gazer—Part One

by guest blogger Bonnie Spencer   Part 2, Part 3 April 9, 2019 It has been a goal of mine to have a trail name before I finish the Buckeye Trail. CW and I have hiked over a thousand miles together on the BT now, and I still didn’t have one. Since we hope to finish in the fall, time is running out. So CW helped me come up with Cloud Gazer. I love watching the clouds. White puffy ones look so soft and pure. They warm my heart. But others can grab my attention …
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