June 9, 2013

Manly Excuses to Get Out of a Nasty-Weather Hike

June 9, 2013 There is the hard-core hiker who keeps an eye on the weather channel, waiting for the worst possible conditions before heading out to the trail. He might be heard saying, “Hey, an ice storm is coming! I can try out my new contour-hooded sleeping bag with Techloft Insulation good to 20 degrees below zero and my ice cleats with tungsten carbide studs.” Or maybe, “They’re predicting 12 inches of rain. Great! I’ll break out my 20 denier nylon rain jacket with 15.5-inch pit zips and my downpour wide brim rain hat. Just …
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May 1, 2013

Metamorphosis of a Name

May 1, 2013 Bonnie and I are both mourning the passing of Wally and Eddie’s friend Lumpy of Leave it to Beaver. To me, he was the perfect third musketeer of that trio. Lumpy. What a name. However, I’d take it any day over what his dad called him–Clarence. My parents named me Clarence, too. It didn’t bother me through my elementary school years since everyone called me Butch. I loved being Butch, especially when I got into trouble. Lectures beginning with “Butch” just lost some of their sting. Until around my twelfth birthday, I …
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John, the Human Lightning Rod
April 17, 2013

John, the Human Lightning Rod

April 17, 2013 We never know to what heights a friendship may take us . . . We were three days into our annual fall BTA (Buckeye Trail Association) backpacking trip. Children again–five strong–who still loved to hike and camp in the woods with our buddies. Our fall hikes take us off the BT into new territories. This year John was leading our little band of explorers on the North Country Trail through the Allegheny Mountains of northern Pennsylvania. This far into the journey, we explorers were noticeably tiring. The valleys and vistas were exquisite, …
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March 29, 2013

Big Show in the Sky

March 29, 2013 As far as I know, there were no deaths when the school-bus sized meteor rained fireballs and stirred up a massive shock wave in the atmosphere over central Russia. That’s a huge relief. I’ve seen videos that were captured–that was no puny asteroid. As I watched the news reports, I was reminded of another amazing celestial event, one that I witnessed decades ago. Come to think of it, it was served up from that same side of the planet. It happened on a warm and carefree August evening. The year was 1986. …
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March 15, 2013

The BT Hiker Weight-Gain Plan

March 15, 2013 The other day I saw a TV commercial about diet and weight. What really grabbed my attention was that they were charging $19.99 for a bottle of tablets to make you gain weight–No, wait! If you ordered right then you could get a second bottle free (except for shipping and handling) and gain twice as much. Happy, non-paid non-actors proudly showed their new, curvy physiques, all thanks to the high-calorie weight-gain tablets. You can go that route if you want, or you can do what I did: hike the entire 1,444 miles …
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March 2, 2013

The Joy of Walking–Whether a Step or a Mile

March 2, 2013 I got a lump in my throat the other day while watching a TV special about amputees from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Especially the leg amputees. They had been fitted with prostheses and were celebrating each step they made on their new legs. I was celebrating right along with them at home. I well know how important walking has been to my own family. Just going back as far as Grandpa. Every day he could be seen walking the roads of Dorset Township, and quite often his shrimpy little grandson would …
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