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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Today’s Miles: 11.4 Trip Miles: 192 “A foggy day, in London town, it had me low, and it had me down” – Frank Sinatra Patchy fog and a slight chance of rain showers before 7 a.m., then areas of fog and a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m., then patchy fog and a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 9 a.m. and 11 a.m., then a chance of showers and thunderstorms between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., then showers and thunderstorms likely. Partly sunny, with a high near 65. Southwest wind 5 to 10…
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Today’s Miles: 8 Trip Miles: 180.6 “Smoky Mountain rain keeps on falling …” – Ronnie Milsap A chance of rain before 8 a.m., then patchy fog and showers and thunderstorms. Cloudy, with a high near 61. South wind 10 to 15 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three-quarters of an inch possible. Up at 7:20. Walked to the restaurant and ordered breakfast at 8:00. Walked down to the store/office and checked out. Waiting on the shuttle to take me back to the bathroom by the marina where I stopped yesterday. No cheating on…
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Today’s Miles: 5.2 Trip Miles: 172.6 A chance of rain showers between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., then a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly sunny, with a high near 67. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Up at 7:00. Drizzle. Packed up camp, then went to shelter to eat and finalize organizing my backpack by just after 8:00. I carry an ultralight umbrella and have had good luck with it for the past few years. Ever since I got my backpack properly fitted back at Mountain Crossings, my old setup is not working. The umbrella is attached to my left…
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Today’s Miles: 15.4 Trip Miles: 167.4 Sunny, with a high near 82. Southeast wind 1 to 6 mph. Up at 6:50. Nice morning, but it’s going to be hot today. One nasty climb right out of camp, then another in 8 miles…call it noon. Overall, I’d like to do 15.4 miles today in order to be close enough to Fontana tonight to get in by noon tomorrow. And tomorrow starts 5/6 days of rain. Lovely. A note on heat. Being from the mid-Atlantic, I don’t mind the heat very much. It’s the humidity that I hate. But I’m used to…
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Today’s Miles: 7.10 Trip Miles: 152 Patchy fog before 9 a.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 68. North wind 2 to 7 mph. Played with YouTube since my videos are too big for Trailjournals. Added YouTube videos to the last three days’ blogs. Showered, ate, packed, and headed out a bit before 10:00. Mike left early, and we will meet up at camp. Got 7.1 nasty uphill miles to climb out of the NOC to Sassafras Gap. Hope to be there by 5:00. 11:00 granola break. Beautiful day. Mid-60s and breezy. Not another person out here. Stopped at 1:00…