So I went camping with my sister and family over the weekend. As usual, we gobbled up the s’mores by the campfire prior to winding down.
In the morning, as my brother-in-law prepared breakfast, he removed the box of graham crackers from the food bag. When he did he found a little ole spider hanging out in the corner.
Naturally, we removed the spider from its new-found home, placed it in my niece’s butterfly container, and took a bunch of photos.
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I enjoy camping in “the nature.” Pitch a tent, start a fire, and wait for darkness (and s’mores). On a recent trip to Hagan Stone Park in Pleasant Garden, NC something interesting accompanied the sound of owls hooting and crackling wood—music.
Off in the distance we could hear the makings of a bluegrass band: a mandolin, banjo, 2 acoustics, Dobro, and a
bass fiddle.
Earlier this year I set out to accomplish two running goals: a barefoot half marathon and a barefoot full marathon. I started training on 2/13 with a target of 212.5 miles. 12 weeks later I logged 260 miles (104 barefoot). Here’s how the Indy Mini-Marathon went…
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Each year for the past six years I’ve been Googling “wedding anniversary gift guide by year” and each year I have to wade through a fillion websites to find the list. Not any more. I culled the Internet and created this post as a reference. More for me than for you, but you’re welcome to use it. And if you have no idea what this whole buying of wedding gift business is, here’s the short version.
Some time ago you got married. Be it last year or 50 years ago you are obligated to buy your spouse a gift. Thankfully, there are options. You can follow Emily Post’s etiquette guide created back in 1922 and get your hubby a traditional gift, you can opt for a more modern approach, or you can go with jewelry and/or flowers.
Bottom line. Ladies and dudes, you need to get your lifer a gift and here’s a list to make it easy.
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In the 20+ years I’ve been running today marked the third time I’ve run a race without being anywhere near my fellow runners. The concept is called virtual running. The race I ran is called an #Anywhere5K.
What makes this particular race special is that together with a few friends we organized, promoted, and hosted the race. We invited the world and about 40 showed. From New York to California. From the Australia to the Philippines to Lithuania to Singapore to the UK. Runners really did run the Inaugural #Anywhere5K from wherever they were.
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On my last backpacking trip, as I made my way to Cold Mountain one of my aluminum Black Diamond trekking poles snapped. The cause baffled me. I planted the pole in the mud, leaned forward, and as I did the pole just went. With over a day and half of hiking to go, I stopped and made a hiking pole from a fallen branch.
The following day I needed to put the stick away, but it was wood and much too long to do anything with so I was forced to carry it. As I walked back, ideas for how to make a trekking pole started popping in my head.
If you’re interested in making your own, keep reading. It’s actually pretty easy. You’ll need a few things, some tools, and about an hour to do the brunt of the work.
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In 2010, my buddy, Coop, and I met Chris, a fellow backpacker, at the base of Shining Rock in North Carolina. At the time, Chris had just turned back due to extreme winter conditions, and we were looking for a place to camp before the sky went dark and we froze to death. After surviving the night, the three of us exchanged contact information and suggested we get together again in the future.
This past weekend, almost two years later, the three of us realized the suggestion. Coop and I started at Sam Knob via the Flat Laurel Creek trail off of NC Highway 215/Lake Logan Road on Friday, ran an impromptu 5K to the top of Sam Knob’s 6,055′ peak, and Chris joined us on Saturday morning at the Black Balsam Road parking lot en route to Cold Mountain.
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