A Review of “Walking With Spring” by Earl V. Shaffer

Walking With Spring is a memoir by Earl V. Shaffer that tells the story of his hike of the Appalachian Trail. His was the first recorded thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail and took place in 1948. Shaffer had returned from World War II and was looking for a way to deal with the trauma he […]

Journey to Harpers Ferry, WV

The family took a nice trip down to northern Virginia over the kids’ February vacation. Along the way, I took the opportunity to stop in Harpers Ferry and to visit the headquarters of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. The ATC office is considered the midpoint of the Appalachian Trail and is rather significant to thru hikers. […]

Zion National Park – Watchman Trail

We moved on from Bryce Canyon to our next stop, Zion National Park. Zion is different from any other National Park in that it is really only accessible via a shuttle bus that takes you up and down the park. I guess the idea is to minimize the vehicle traffic. While relatively close to Bryce […]

Mossy Cave Trail

We drove north from Page to hit Bryce Canyon and Zion up in Utah. We were quite surprised to run into snow! I suppose it was May and that wasn’t out of the realm of possibility but we weren’t prepared from a clothing perspective. But we layered up and made the best of it. As […]

The Bright Angel Trail

My son and I hiked down into the Grand Canyon on the Bright Angel Trail. We only went about a half mile down the trail but the experience was amazing. It was a series of switchbacks that went down the canyon wall. They were narrow at first but quickly became broad enough for people to […]

Grand Canyon Rim Trail

There isn’t much one can say about the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. The pictures really speak for themselves. Everyone knows the iconic natural wonder of the world. I must say that the Rim Trail is very well done. The trail itself is paved and, as you might imagine, follows the rim of the […]