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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Rim Rock Ranch into the hot high desert. Long dry very hot day.
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Short hike past Old Station to Rim Rock Ranch and Old Station Fill-Up.
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Hot day transiting Lassen National Park and Cluster Lakes.
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Back on trail from Chester. Burn area, blowdowns, and thorns. Nice surprise civilization with beer to end the day.
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Zero day in Chester, CA.
Recent Blog Entries
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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.”
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“… Sometimes the light’s all shining on me Other times I can barely see Lately it occurs to me What a long, strange trip it’s been” – Grateful Dead Before and After I waited 10 months before finally writing up this epilogue. It took me that long to really get a handle on my thoughts and my emotions. I still feel depressed and miss the trail at times. Not sure if/when those feelings will ever go away. I can attest that post-thru-hike depression is a real thing. The first 2-3 days home felt strange but not too much different from taking…
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Today’s Miles: 0 Trip Miles: 2101.5 “Homeward bound I wish I was Homeward bound Home where my thought’s escapin’ Home where my music’s playin’ Home where my love lies waitin’ Silently for me” – Simon & Garfunkel Up at 7:30. Packed up and got my backpack into the duffel bag Dana sent me. Shuttled to the airport at 8:45. Drove from Millinocket to Bangor. I-95 in northern Maine is just a bit less busy than in the mid-Atlantic! Got to Bangor International airport at 10:00. Nice little airport. Got checked in and had breakfast before heading through security. Had a…
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I started my thru-hike on April 14, 2024 with my cold weather gear. I planned to ship the cold weather gear home when I got to Damascus, Virginia. I decided to start my hike without any cap shoes in order to save weight. Overall, my base weight was 21 lbs and my total weight with 4 days of food was 31 lbs. Half-way through the Smokies, I stopped in Gatlinburg, TN on May 9, 2024 and shipped a few items home. Overall I got rid of 2lbs 11 ounces of gear. I did pickup a pair of cheap flip-flops at…
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I get a lot of questions about how this entire thru-hiking thing works and what have I done to prepare for it. As for how I have physically prepared, I have been trying to hike two to four times a week, moderate to difficult terrain, 10+ miles each hike and carrying my full pack for the last twelve months. The remainder of this post is a mini-FAQ.