Journal

Mar 26, 2024

One of Roanoke's classic routes, Tour de Dirt features a huge collection of the area's finest dirt/gravel roads and a stout elevation profile.

Jan 09, 2024

A brief hike in the rain on one of my favorite local trails for some coffee outside and to enjoy the sounds of rain in the forest.

Dec 21, 2023

An overnight December bikepacking trip near Snowden, Virginia along forest roads and jeep trails.

Dec 20, 2023

A few snaps from activities this past fall captured with my Canon point-and-shoot.

Oct 10, 2023

Wilderness with a capital W. Backpacking in Cranberry is always a treat. Read on to find out how this recent trip went.

Sep 05, 2023

Turns out the Canon G9 is still a powerful little camera even in 2023. Here are some recent experiments with that camera.

Jul 07, 2023

A story about a bear and a hernia. 2 things in life that can force you to take a pause.

Oct 03, 2022

A few words and images to describe my experience at the 2022 edition of Grindstone 100. It was an awesome event put on by a top notch organization.

Mar 23, 2022

There is a thread that weaves its way all the way across North Carolina called the Mountains-to-Sea trail. We used a tiny bit of this thread to connect Stone Mountain State Park and Doughton Park.

Nov 20, 2021

The George Washington National Forest, located in Virginia, has quickly become my new stomping grounds and the draw of the quickly changing fall leaves pulled me in yet again for a solo autumn trip.

Aug 02, 2021

Snow covered trails, technical rock scrambles, an adventure trail run, bitter cold and 1 amazing sunrise. This adventure checked all of the boxes as far as the perfect winter trip.

Sep 13, 2020

After a few months of lockdown, it goes without saying that we were itching to get out and do some kind of responsible and socially distant fastpacking trip. Wild Oak is the perfect venue for such a trip.

Feb 11, 2020

Exploring new territory. Braving the cold. Embracing the silence. Total wilderness immersion. 3 days scouting through the Cranberry Wilderness did not disappoint.

Dec 03, 2019

Gravel roads, creek crossings, single track, tons of elevation gain, and gorgeous fall colors. This race has it all.

May 06, 2019

With 649 miles and over 35,000 ft. of elevation gain in my legs from running, hiking and cycling in 2018, I had certainly put the time in. Would it be enough to finish PM2HR? We would soon find out.

Nov 10, 2018

Beautiful terrain, physical challenge, and route planning logistics. The Wild Oak Trail presented the perfect mix for this weekend adventure that turned out to be sublime.

Aug 13, 2018

Four soggy days in this national treasure only left us wanting more. Here are a few words about this recent adventure with friends.

Feb 28, 2018

A weekend adventure in along the Iron Mountain Trail near Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area.

Nov 17, 2017

This fall I was fortunate enough to squeeze not 1 but 2 backpacking trips into my busy schedule. For this trip, I headed up to Mt. Rogers for some hiking and trail running.

Oct 13, 2017

Autumn and backpacking go hand in hand. I always try to get a fall trip together and this year was no exception. For this trip, I brought my brother-in-law, Craig along.

Oct 22, 2016

A speed hike would be fun and I was definitely trained up for it. But my brain needed the kind of hard refresh that only slow autumn miles on the trail can provide.

Feb 23, 2014

This year, our February trip found us in the Dolly Sods Wilderness in West Virginia where the trails are not blazed and the wildlife is abundant.

Nov 11, 2013

A collection of photos from a recent trip to hike in the Roan Highlands along a section of the Appalachian Trail.