… it would start in an auditorium. Of course it would. And you are there, sitting in the audience, right? But the whole point of the talk is to get you out of your seat and out into nature … walking! Below is a written version of the message–not a…
… it would start in an auditorium. Of course it would. And you are there, sitting in the audience, right? But the whole point of the talk is to get you out of your seat and out into nature … walking! Below is a written version of the message–not a…
I would appreciate feedback and will be seeking it. I’m announcing that I intend to develop and offer a comprehensive course on Day Hiking the Appalachian Trail, with application to any long-distance trail, and with emphasis not just on logistics, preparation, and execution, but on getting the most out of the experience–how to find peace…
Footprints in the Wilderness: Over the past twelve years, I’ve come to understand how transformative hiking in wild places can be. There’s the pure joy of being in the place, in the moment. There are the well-documented health benefits, both mentally and physically. And there are the connections, to people and to nature, to wild…
Time to talk out my future options and plans. What comes next? Another long distance hike? In the past twelve years, since I got my first GPS unit, I’ve recorded 20,000 hiking miles and counting. I’ve hiked from Katahdin in Maine to Key West, Florida, the Appalachians to the Outer Banks via NC’s 1100-mile Mountains-to-Sea…
Nothing announces the arrival of spring like Cherry Blossoms. This year on the Mall and Tidal Basin in Washington DC, peak bloom of the hundreds of Japanese hybrid Yoshino Cherry trees was early–March 21st. Yoshino Cherries are world-famous for their abundant thick clouds of bloom. Out in the woods, our wild cherries make a more…
Dutchman’s Breeches came into bloom today: The vast majority of the tree species have bud tips that are popping open and turning green. There’s a faint color cast painting the fringes of the forest trees as seen from overlooks and viewpoints all over the valley. At the cloister proper, the majority of the young Tulip…
I’ve taken dozens of videos all around the remote undeveloped valley in which the Cloister at Three Creeks sits, but this video focuses on its most outstanding feature–a world class waterfall, or series of cascades, dropping roughly 400 feet off the east side of Virginia’s rugged Blue Ridge Mountains. The terrain is so steep and…
On Sunday, 20 March, at 11:33AM Eastern Daylight Time, the sun passes directly overhead at the equator, saying farewell to the Southern Hemisphere and coming northward to warm our half of the world for the next six months. It’s called the ‘Vernal Equinox’ and it marks the official (technical) start of the spring season. Here…
There were so many new spring wildflowers blooming today, March 17th, St. Patrick’s Day, at the Cloister at Three Creeks that it is getting hard to keep up with them all. This may be the last post that even tries to be comprehensive in its reporting of every new thing that makes its appearance. Even…
I continue patrolling the environs around the Cloister at Three Creeks in search of signs of spring and commenting on anything else I find to be of interest. Well, I found two new wildflower blooms, though one is not a native. But the most unusual encounter today is the distinctive ‘graffiti’ left prominently in the…