This will be the last GWL blog that I write. If you came here looking for something uplifting to put in your day, I’m sorry but this will be disappointing. About 700 miles into our hike at the beginning of April, we finally found ourselves in a new hub city, Las Vegas. We had been […]
GWL '20
Our Very Own “Trail” – The Good Western LoopHello world! Man, these past few months have been a RIDE. I hope you’re all holding on as tight as you can. Me? Weeellll, I kind of lost track of this whole blogging thing. But not to worry! Better late than never right? These next two posts should have been uploaded way back in April, […]
GWL '20
The Grand FinaleI will never forget the first time I saw the Grand Canyon. We woke up and got walking around 4 in the morning that day, hoping to catch a sunrise. We walked along the deserted road that rides the rim of the canyon, under the cover of the surrounding trees and darkness. Slowly, the world […]
GWL '20
Misconceptions of a NorthernerWhen I came to Arizona in March, I had a few ideas of what I thought it would be like. Most of these ideas were influenced by spending my whole life in New England. For starters, I thought Arizona would be sunny all the time (wrong). I thought it would be dry (also wrong). I […]
GWL '20
Payson to Pine: A Saga of Rain and HailIt was dark. The kind of inky black dark that feels suffocating. Maybe that was coming from my tarp though, as the wind pressed on its sides so heavily it caved onto my exposed face. Driving rain was being held off by my umbrella in the entrance to my trusty shelter. As I lie there, […]
GWL '20
Here We GoOn March 4th, I took my first steps on the Great Western Loop. We started at the Picket Post Trailhead on the Arizona Trail, hiking NOBO towards the Grand Canyon. I’ve only ever seen the Grand Canyon in pictures. Looking forward to that, plus all of the other things I’ll get to see and experience […]
GWL '20
The List of Firsts, Part 1Hello from Arizona! This week I’ve been taking it easy. I’m kicking back at a relative’s house while I wait for the rest of The Push Beyond gang to get here on March 3. I’ve been doing some cool day hikes, but aside from that there really isn’t much to write about. You know how […]
GWL '20
Fear and Monsters of the DesertThe four of us stood in a line next to Route 180 heading west. We smiled hopefully as cars wizzed past our outstretched thumbs. I shifted my weight back and fourth on my sore feet. After road walking a 6 mile section of “trail” southbound out of Silver City, my body was fed up. Thankfully, […]
GWL '20
How to (Not) Ford a RiverI stood on the shore of the Gila River with Timber and Coins, nervously watching as Google, the tallest of us, attempted to ford the swollen river. It was at least 20 feet across. We couldn’t see the bottom due to silt stirred up by recent rains, and just down stream the water churned into […]
GWL '20
Desert ShiverI came to early in the morning, as usual. Eyes still closed, my first sense to fire was hearing. Something was pinging off the hydrophobic surface of my tarp. It wasn’t rain. Rain made more of a “splat!” sound. My next instinct was that it was something falling from the trees. Back home, needles falling […]
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