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
-
Today’s Miles: 19.7 Trip Miles: 665.1 Up at 7:00. Finished packing and ready to go at 7:30. Waiting on the shuttle. It is 64 degrees going up to 85. Clear and nice so far. Got on the trail just after 8:00. Pack is heavy with 4 days of food and an extra liter of water! Gonna be very dry today again. Leaving Pearisburg and crossing the New River at 8:15. Reached Landfill Road just outside town. Lots of warnings about the water here. Go figure. Going up the mountain next to the landfill, we ran into a bear. He just…
-
Today’s Miles: 11.6 Trip Miles: 645.4 Up at 6:45. Got coffee and some Little Debbies. Enough Pop-Tarts for a few days. Mid-70s, clear, and humid. Going up to low 80s this afternoon. We are slackpacking today to finish up the 11.6-mile section northbound into Pearisburg. This gives us a good 19-miler tomorrow out of Pearisburg to either a shelter or a tent site on Peter’s Mountain. I got the shuttle to the trail with Overkill at 7:30. Drove to Sugar Run Road where we got off trail 2 days ago. Started hiking at 8:00. Got some great views from the…
-
Today’s Miles: 0 Trip Miles: 633.8 Up at 8:00. Made coffee and relaxed. Uploaded blogs most of the day. Tried to find decent insoles and failed. Updated schedule through Shenandoah. Did town chores and patched the hole in my CNOC. Got my slackpack packed and ready for tomorrow. We depart at 7:30. Dry stretch of trail, so I’m taking an extra liter of water. Overkill, and I had decent Mexican for dinner at 6:30. We talked over our plans in more detail, including mileage goals, mountains, and water issues. I did my resupply shopping at Kroger after dinner and talked…
-
Today’s Miles: 9.7 Trip Miles: 633.8 Up at 7:00. Out at 8:10. Hot and humid. Stopped at Wapiti shelter at 9:00 for privy, water, and a snack. Back on the trail at 9:30. Now for a big 2.4-mile, fairly steep climb. Yey. Completed the nasty climb at 11:00. It is really humid today. I am soaked in sweat all over, and it’s only early June . Ugh. We have 2.5 hours to go. 4.8 miles to our shuttle. Easy terrain. Headed out at 11:30 after a snack and water break. No good scenery. Hazy and lots of vegetation. Got to…
-
Today’s Miles: 17 Trip Miles: 624.3 Up at 7:00 and on the trail at 8:00. Mid-70s, partly cloudy, and humid today. We passed the 600-mile mark just after leaving camp. Another minor milestone. Made Jenny Knob shelter at 4.6 miles at 9:55. Good time! Had a rest and a snack. Struggled to get water. Very minimal flow, but this is it for miles in each direction. Had to scoop water from little pools in the creek bed. Scooped a little swimming critter into my CNOC. He won’t drink much 🙂 Back on the trail at 11:00. Crossed Kimberling Creek at…