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: 12.9 Trip Miles: 23.7 Mostly sunny and breezy, high 77, low 53, dry. Up at 7:00. Probably got 5 hours of sleep. Put on hiking clothes and a long-sleeve camp shirt. Walked over to the shelter and made tea. Had a Stinger Waffle with Justin’s Almond Butter for breakfast. Wrote yesterday’s blog and started on today’s. That killed an hour. People were gradually getting moving and heading out. A guy came into camp at 8:00 who has been running the trail south from the NC line since 8:30 yesterday morning. He just set the Fastest Known Time (FKT)…
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Today’s Miles: 10.8 Trip Miles: 10.8 Sunday, April 14, 2024. Mostly sunny and breezy, high 73, low 53, dry. Up at 7:30. Pitcrew and I had a nice buffet breakfast at the lodge. Enjoyed my last good meal for about a week. Got packed up and reassessed the plan for today. Checked out and Pitcrew drove me down to the top of the waterfall parking lot. We said our goodbyes and I headed north on the AT approach trail at 10:10. Perfect weather today. The 8 mile approach trail is basically uphill the entire way. Didn’t listen to any music…
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Saturday, April 13, 2024. Pitcrew and I drove from Maryland to Gatlinburg, TN yesterday. We have been to Gatlinburg many times before and enjoy it. Drove through lots of rain storms and high wind. Rain stopped a little bit before we arrived. Said goodbye to the dogs (Sky and Pen) for six months yesterday morning. I find it interesting how emotional that was. Ever since Andrea died almost three years ago, my emotions have been so much more intense than ever before in my life. Mainly emotions around separation, loneliness, sadness, etc. I thought that would calm down over time,…
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Saturday September 2, 2023. Up at 6:45. Noisy neighbors. Called Pitcrew at 7:15. I’m only hiking 2.5 miles today and she will pick me up. Asshole neighbors partying till midnight. Rude Amish hikers arrived at 10:00pm shining lights into shelter, talking loudly, making tons of noise. Woke up at 6:30 to 4 middle-eastern hikers making breakfast, using shelter as storage, talking loud, and being obnoxious. Hiked to parking lot about 2.5 miles away on PA 850. Got there at 9:25. Pitcrew picked me up at 10:00. Decided to call the hike early mainly due to the timing. If I went…
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Friday September 1, 2023. 57 degrees, 65% humidity, sunny Up at 6:30 to get me and my gear ready. I’m nervous about today. 14.5 miles to shelter with MAYBE crappy water near shelter. I think I’ll bring an extra liter bought at store to be safe. Overall, about 26 miles to go for the rest of the trip. Angie drove me back to Boiling Springs. Worried about water so bought a liter at Rutters. No water for 13 miles today. Got some trail magic at a road intersection. Made 3 mph for first 6 miles. First 12 were easy, just…