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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Monday July 17, 2023. Sunny, 89 degrees, very humid, smoky from Canadian fires. We dropped off my truck at Bear’s Den parking lot and Pitcrew dropped me off in Front Royal on Rt 522 at 4:00pm. Hiked north 5.46 miles to the Denton shelter. Arrived about 6:40. Set up camp. Decent tent sites and a nice shelter. Topped off water at spring. Slow flow but not too bad. The local ridge runner was camping there. Had a good conversation with him. A father and son showed up later. Had a late lunch at 3:00, so had a light cold dinner.…
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Wednesday, June 21, 2023. Overcast, 62 degrees going up to 75, and increasing rain all day. Woke at 6:30. Charger at 62%. No rain last night!! Fairly decent sleep for the trail. Up at 7:00. Got human by 7:30. Packed up and eating breakfast at 8:00. Cold breakfast today. Bagels and nut butter. I woke up all antsy and stressed. It’s 19 miles to Pen Mar Park and one massive uphill in last 6 miles. Gonna rain all afternoon. Given my foot and pack issues yesterday, I am calling it early. Also, heavy rain all day tomorrow. Going to go…
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Tuesday, June 20, 2023. Up at 6:20. Extremely humid, 64 degrees going up to 78. Cloudy with chance of showers on and off. I might have gotten 90 minutes sleep. Tent a little damp by the doors. Mainly splash water bounced through doors. Not sure what to do about that. Shirt from yesterday damp. Heard back from Zerodayhostile in Pen Mar. Room reserved for Wednesday night! Started packing while breakfast cooked. Boiled water for 4:40. Had a dehydrated breakfast skillet (510) plus dehydrated sausage (240) and tea. Good! Ate at 7:25, finished at 7:50. Great trail magic at Reno Road.…
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Monday, June 19, 2023. Overcast, 85 degrees and humid. Day 1 of my first shakedown. Carrying my Six Moons Designs Swift X pack with the Vest Harness. Ate a big lunch with Pitcrew at 2:00 at the diner in Frederick then drove to trail head. Pitcrew dropped me off for the start of a 4 day hike on the AT. Started hiking at 14:40. The climb up to Weaverton was a lot harder with 33lbs! Lots of day hikers. From top of Weaverton to Ed Garvey shelter I only saw one day hiker. There were 2 section hikers at the…