Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6 August 26, 2015 The Final Leg When I was still in school, Dad took me to see the giant coal shovels operating in eastern Ohio. They had names like Silver Spade, GEM (Giant Earth Mover or Giant Excavating Machine) of Egypt, and Mountaineer, all of them now extinct. The AEP (American Electric Power) has reclaimed 60,000 acres that were strip-mined by these and other shovels into an outdoor recreation area known as ReCreation Land. They planted over 63 million trees, created hundreds of …

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 7 August 16, 2015 Hot Meals and Cold Nights Halloween night I slept like a barn owl after a high-mileage night of hunting. I awoke early, feeling a little ashamed that I had fallen asleep and missed the Great Pumpkin. Of course, he might have cancelled his appearance due to the weather. But the sleet and wind had subsided, and it looked as if we had dodged one more weather bullet. George, Jim, and I all wondered how long our good fortune would last. …

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 April 12, 2015 A Nineteen-Mile Test of My Hiking Legs The sky over Ring Mill the night before had been crystal clear, great for watching the space shuttle make its way across the vast, starry expanse.  But that same clear sky had also drawn the coveted warm air upward, causing us to spend an uncomfortably cold night. Just after sunrise we layered up and ate breakfast in the shelter, grateful for the roof that separated us from a thick layer of frost. Steaming …

Part 1, Part 2, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7 March 14, 2015 To the Forest’s Edge Sometime during the night, I awoke to a loud yelp, unlike any I’d ever heard before.  A second or two passed before I realized I was being treated to my first coyote serenade. Sounded like it came from the road, only a couple hundred feet from the shelter. The concert ended as quickly as it had begun, followed by barking from the top of the ridge. I figured that had to be Michelin Muncher (see Part …