I guess I ought to say a little about myself because there may be some of you that stumble across this site and not know who or what I am about.

In 2004 I started a thru hike of the Appalachian Trail. This trail runs from Maine to Georgia if you are going southbound. I was a NOBO (northbounder) so I started in Georgia. In '04 I only made it to just past the halfway point when I developed a hairline fracture on my right leg. That knocked me off the trail for that year and I spent 6 weeks in a boot cast.
In 2005 I started all over again from Georgia (March 15) and on September 28th I summited Mt. Katahdin,t he northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail. The year and a half I spent doing this changed my life in more ways than I can possibly describe or even hope to describe in words.

Before I started hiking the AT I was a desk jockey. I worked with a clinical research firm and life was good. Great friends and good times. The firm closed its' doors and I remember my first thought .. "Oh my God, I have to get another job" After the first couple of days of panic I started to entertain the thought of hiking the AT. It had been something I've thought about and tucked in the recesses of my head ever since high school.

Needless to say the idea took hold and since 2004 I have never looked back. I work now for the next adventure and that brings me to where I am now. In 2006 I did The Long Trail in Vermont. In 2007 I worked as a backcountry caretaker in the White Mountains of NH. In 2008 I did 1000 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail before injury forced me off. In 2009 I went back to the Whites and will do so again next summer.

All of this is leading to the grand adventure in 2011. As I mentioned the whole concept gelled around the comment that Ashley (Ash for short) made one evening while I was up visiting at Mizpah Hut. and I have to thank her for it. I may even persuade her to write some stuff up on here also. (hint, hint, Ash:)

If all goes according to plan we will hiking the Te Araroa Trail. The Te Araroa is supposed to be officially completed sometime in late 2010. It runs close to 1000 miles and traverses the length of the country on both the North and South Islands. We are also reruiting so if any of you wants to come along please jump on in :)

Welcome

Hello all. Welcome to my new blog. As many of you may know I have posted a journal for all my long distance hikes but I am going to a blog now for various reason. I want to post things about what I am doing and what I am preparing for and the Trail journal spot is, in my opinion, a place to log the account of your hike and not general stuff prior to the actual hike. There are also some shorter hikes I will be doing, ones that only take 2 to 3 days but may be worth writing about. For those of you that have followed me before I hope you all enjoy reading this blog.

I am back in Florida after spending another season in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It was another great summer at the Liberty Springs tentsite and I do plan on going back again for another season next year. In the interim I am working and saving for the "big adventure", one that I have always wanted to do and it came about on a general comment made by a friend, "Well, if you come hike with me in New Zealand I will hike the PCT with you."

That set the adventure in motion. Right now the plan for the "Endless Summer" is to go to New Zealand in Jan of 2011, stay for 3 months and then come back and start the PCT in April of that year. I do have some unfinished business with that trail :). All the work in the next year goes toward saving for this adventure so stay tuned as I post more on the progress of this journey.