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: 8.6 Trip Miles: 114 “I’m on the top of the world lookin’ down on creation And the only explanation I can find Is the love that I’ve found, ever since you’ve been around Your love’s put me at the top of the world” – The Carpenters Mostly sunny, high of 59. Up at 6:50. Chilly this morning and very damp. The campsite is in a deep hollow with a small stream nearby. It was a letdown last night, but everything is very wet this morning. Almost like it rained last night. Only got down to about 43 degrees,…
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Today’s Miles: 12.2 Trip Miles: 105.4 “Always respect Mother Nature. Especially when she weighs 400 pounds and is guarding her baby.” – James Rollins A chance of rain showers between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mostly sunny, with a high near 55. West northwest wind 14 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Up at 7:30, breakfasted, filtered water, packed up, brushed teeth, took meds, checked in via Garmin, and ready to go. Left camp at 9:30…late start. I feel really good physically and mentally. Still carrying too much food, but plan…
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Today’s Miles: 11.3 Trip Miles: 93.2 “I’m NOT leaving my wingman!” – Maverick Sunny, with a high near 60. Southwest wind 5 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Follow me in near real-time here: https://share.garmin.com/CharlesStump Up at 7:00. Ate breakfast, used privy, brushed teeth, packed up, and headed out at 8:30. Topped off water on the climb up from shelter to trail. The shelter is about .2 miles very downhill from the trail 🙁 Our goal today is to get to Standing Indian Shelter in North Carolina. Today is a very challenging day. Lots of big…
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Today’s Miles: 10 Trip Miles: 81.9 “You load 16 tons, what do you get? Another day older and deeper in debt…” – Tennessee Ernie Ford Sunny, with a high near 60. North northwest wind 7 to 10 mph. Follow me in near real-time here: https://share.garmin.com/CharlesStump Woke up at 8:30. Cold but sunny. Watch at 50% and Garmin at 33%. Charged them both for 30 minutes while I got moving. Hard to get moving this morning due to the cold. Finally got packed up and headed out at 10:15. Back to normal hiking clothes today… convertible pants and long-sleeve heat gear…
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Today’s Miles: 11.2 Trip Miles: 71.9 “… Raindrops keep falling on my head But that doesn’t mean my eyes will soon be turning red Crying’s not for me ‘Cause I’m never gonna stop the rain by complaining Because I’m free Nothing’s worrying me” – B. J. Thomas Rain likely before 9 a.m., then rain showers between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., then rain. Cloudy, with a high near 51. North northwest wind around 12 mph. Chance of precipitation is 80%. New rainfall amounts between a quarter and half of an inch possible. Follow me in near real-time here: https://share.garmin.com/CharlesStump Up…