Hi! I am Chuck, also known as Orange Man. Welcome to The Retired Hiker, a blog about my life in retirement focusing on hiking, long-distance backpacking, and the adventures of Dana (a.k.a. Pitcrew) and Chuck in our Travel Trailer.
I retired after my wife died in 2021 and jumped into hiking and long-distance backpacking as a way deal with what I call “Life Part II”. I have thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail and have a multi-year plan for the Pacific Crest Trail, the Colorado Trail, and numerous other long-distance trails.
As a reward to myself for completing the Appalachian Trail, we purchased a Travel Trailer in late 2024. I base out of the trailer on short multi-day hiking trips. Dana and I take the trailer on long weekends and week-long regional trips. Our plan is to tour the country in the trailer once Dana retires in a few more years.
Until a that time, I plan to do as many long-distance hikes as I can manage while not completely abandoning Dana for the trail! Hence our blog’s tagline “Side Trials of Retirement Bliss”.
Recent Trail Journals
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April 26, 2026. Rainy, windy with gusts to 35 mph, 34 going up to 38, feels like 24 degrees. Up at 6:30. It’s cold, wet, very windy, and miserable. It won’t warm up much if any today. We have 12 miles to town with the first 9 uphill. I figure this will take at least 7 hours. Last night was miserable. Rain on and off, freezing temperatures, and crazy wind. The wind buffeting the tent made it almost impossible to sleep. The rock trick worked to keep the tent up until about 5:00 a.m. when my tent collapsed again. Crawled…
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April 25, 2026. Sunny and mid-40s going up to mid-50s. Up at 6:00. Slept really well. Surprisingly so for the first night on the trail. On the trail at 7:00. We had a tough climb out of Hauser Creek first thing. I struggled and had to make frequent stops. Still feeling that 11lb water carry in my hips. We reached Lake Maurena campground at 9:25. Brad beat me here by 15 minutes. I wasn’t as slow as I thought! There was a big trail magic event at the campground! We stayed for an hour. I had coffee and bagels and…
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Today’s Miles: 15.4 Trip Miles: 15.4 Friday, April 24, 2026. PLACEHOLDER FOR FIRST DAY Technical Notes:
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Shuttled from San Diego to CLEEF campground. Started making friends and getting ready to start hiking to Canada tomorrow.
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Today’s Miles: 8.73 Trip Miles: 36.52 Day 3 – Four Pines Hostel to Pickle Branch Shelter Tuesday March 31, 2026. Up at 7:30. Sunny going up to mid-70s. I slept very well. My heels are hurting this morning but the rest of me feels decent. Thought I would feel worse. Should be a good day! The hostel crew made us a nice breakfast. I decided that my pack was way too heavy due to excess food. I sorted my food bag and left a lot of food at the hostel. I left 2.5 lbs of food! That leaves me 3.5…
Recent Blog Entries
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Traveling from Maryland to San Diego to start the PCT. Saying goodbye for 6 months is very difficult.
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Overview of the PCT including permitting, terrain, resupply, gear, and schedule.
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Why am I doing another thru-hike after swearing to my girlfriend I would not do this to her again? How do I view my PCT hike different than my AT hike?
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Overview of my gear for my PCT thru-hike. My starting base weight is 19.45 lbs and my total starting weight is 27.78 lbs.
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Unlike the Appalachian Trail and many other trails on the east coast, the PCT requires a permit to hike the trail. “If you plan on hiking or horseback riding 500 or more miles along the PCT in a single, continuous trip, the Pacific Crest Trail Association can issue you an interagency PCT Long-distance Permit.”