Six years ago, my friend Shellie and I followed through on a promise to hike the entire New Jersey section of the Appalachian Trail (“AT”), thinking that it would be a simple endeavor. We soon learned that New Jersey is longer than wider; the trail measured 72 miles, and when done, in single day hikes of 7-10 miles, would take us four years to complete. A feat that we finally accomplished two summers ago! Happily, the journey gave us many gifts. First of all, we both fell in love with the AT. We quickly learned to trust and treasure the perfectly placed white blazes and the carefully crafted footholds through…

This post is dedicated to one of our favorite Senior Rippers, Charlie Dixon, from Buck Hill Falls, PA, who passed away this week from complications due to Covid-19. Charlie always lived life to its fullest, with a smile on his face, and an encouraging word. We will miss him dearly. Good fortune blew a small group of “Rippers” to the base of Powder Mountain Ski Area on a warm Sunday afternoon.  Our intention was to mountain bike, but the parking lot was deserted. Two loose dogs led us to an open door where fortunately their owner knew enough to point us up a newly paved road. We landed on top…

Well folks, here we still are, at home waiting for all the scientists (I do believe in science) in the world to come up with a way to control Covid -19. Unfortunately, my attempts to drum and strum my angst away hasn’t really been enough, but happily, being outdoors has. My afternoon outing is the highlight of my day, and social distancing is a breeze in our mountain landscape. I like to consider it my “Geography of Hope” a term coined by one of my favorite authors, Wallace Stegner in his famous Wilderness Letter, written in 1969 in support of land preservation. What has made it even better, is the…