Based in South Carolina, I’m an experience camper and hiker and love the mountains and outdoors! I’ve been camping and hiking for over 20 years, teaching and training and learning as I go. This blog will be full of stories about my adventures, mishaps and discoveries in the wilds of South Carolina, near by mountains, and around the world. I look forward to sharing my love for outdoor adventure with you!
A little bit more about me-
Hiker, camper, International paintball player, sailor, builder of boats and tanks, I have traveled lands of many countries and seas of many oceans. I was born in the North, raised in the South. As a young youth I traveled with my family as we traveled and camped across Europe in a VW bug. I think this traveling, seeing new places, and meeting new people was probably instrumental in developing my later interests. As teenager I even lived in Jamaica for a short time and even worked on an Irish dairy farm for one summer (I hear the wanted posted have finally come down now). As a young adult I joined the U.S. Coast Guard and traveled around the country. Most of my military duty stations were on the East coast of the United States but also included some time in Alaska and on the Gulf coast.
Finally settling in South Carolina and after serving over 27 years in the Coast Guard, I went to worked as a hospital healthcare facility manager and a few other jobs. Over all this time I have been volunteered as a leader with both the Boy & Girl Scout programs for over 25 years. I camp and hike regularly and I am the high adventure trek leader for our local scout troop. In my past have hiked through Florida’s Ocala forest in the middle of summer (don’t) and broke my leg on a mountain in New Mexico hiking with my brother (not recommended – the broken leg, not the hiking with my brother, that was good – except for the broken leg). In 2020 I really got back into hiking and have been section hiking the Appalachian Trail since 2010 including writing trek program planning guides for our unit.
Since settling in South Carolina, I have hiked, camped, and paddled all around the state. Working with my local youth summer camp, I developed a trek program and led week-long 50-mile canoe camping trips on the state’s rivers and lakes. Teaching both adults and youth, I’ve working as a volunteer staff instructor for training summer camp staff in outdoor programs. I find enjoy teaching and am also an adjunct instructor at a local college in my spare time. Volunteering and teaching is both a social and creative outlet of sorts. Working with others helping them to learn about and fostering a respect for the outdoors is kind of like a financial investment plan. You pay in a little bit and often for a long time, but at the end the return is so rewarding.
Once, sitting on the rocky side of a mountain, after a series of several hard up-hills grinds, Hobbit (who was my hiking buddy at the time), pondered if it was all worth it. Did I think we were really going to make a difference in their lives (the “they” were a group of young hikers with us)? At the time, as I was wiping the sweat from my eyes and trying to catch my breath, I think I panted words to the effect “I hope so.” Looking back, I can honestly say “Yes.” For me, the pay-in has been helping to Introduce people to outdoor skills and self-sufficiency, the return on my investment has been watching them grow and develop a deep appreciation for the world around us, and then head out on their own.
Which brings me here, to my blog “every bit the journey.” I find I like writing and sharing stories, “tales from the trail” if you will. This provides me with a larger more formal outlet I think. My only real goal, is to share and entertain with what I have done or will do, maybe even pass along a little of what I know.
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