So I sat on my fanny for five gorgeous, sunny days that were supposed to be a vacation last week. I was figuring on getting in some hikes and maybe a camp-out till the Festival of Phlegm came to town.…
Trails
Mother’s Day at Grant County Park
by tmangan • May 14, 2006 • 0 Comments
So it’s Mother’s Day and how’s this for luck: My mom lives 2000 miles away so I’m free to spend the day on the trail. The Diablo Range (official title of the hills east of San Jose) is still mostly…
Joy vs. Dread on the AT
by tmangan • May 14, 2006 • 0 Comments
From the Georgia to Main blog, kept by a thruhiker named Dirt Diva, somewhere in Virginia: Examples of sensations that bring dread: (1) the smell of damp, dirty socks in the morning (putting them on is a must no matter…
New York Times discovers Damascus, Va.
by tmangan • May 12, 2006 • 0 Comments
Pretty soon they’re gonna be calling it Trail-A-Palooza. From May 19 to 21, Damascus will stage what has become probably the largest single gathering of hikers anywhere: an annual festival called Trail Days. Last year, despite a steady rain, an…
Ouch!
by tmangan • May 9, 2006 • 2 Comments
John Fedak busted an ankle in Yosemite over the weekend. I was heading up towards Vernal Falls in the late morning after having scrambled up to Sierra Point earlier in the day. The usual water fountain near the bridge wasn’t…
Hiking at Starved Rock State Park
by tmangan • May 8, 2006 • 0 Comments
A state park north of my hometown (Peoria, IL) is probably the first place I ever went on a hike. It’s called Starved Rock, so named because of a scrum between two warring Indian tribes that ended with one tribe…
Yet another Henry Coe hike
by tmangan • May 8, 2006 • 0 Comments
This week’s hike will only seem like a rerun. The pictures were all taken yesterday, but it has many things in common with previous hikes, primarily that it was at Henry Coe State Park (four weeks in a row; where…
AT dispatches
by tmangan • April 24, 2006 • 1 Comment
Handlebar, at mile 409.3 Some days the trail is good with few roots and rocks in the tread and I go into auto-pilot hiking allowing my mind to wonder. Today was one of those days and I really got to…
Another AT dispatch
by tmangan • April 19, 2006 • 0 Comments
Little Wing, at Standing Bear hostel, Hartford, TN This place is a riot. Very rustic, sort of hippy/hiker charm with techie touches. In this building that looks like an old wooden tool shed that you’d find behind an 1800’s era…