Category: The Moosilauke Letters

Mount RogersVirginiaJuly  2014 We take a short rest at the junction where the Appalachian Trail meets the Virginia Highlands Horse Trail.  We get to chatting with another couple of hikers.  These two are checking their maps, looking around, squinting, scratching their respective heads.  They are trying to decide how strenuous the hike up Wilburn Ridge… Continue reading Theory of Universal Compensation

Monongahela National ForestWest VirginiaJuly  1992 Another time in Dolly Sods as I am making my way up the trail a few days after a storm, I come upon a downed tree.  A tall, muscularly chiseled woodsman is chopping through the log which is blocking the trail.  He’s using an ax.  His flannel shirt lay on… Continue reading My Man

Monongahela National ForestWest VirginiaJuly  1992 A German family settled in this area in the 1700s.  Their family name was Dahles, pronounced “dollies.”  “Sod” is a term for an open grassy meadow.  Hence this place became known as Dolly Sods. I had been on the trail for several days when I came to a clearing.  Some… Continue reading Dolly Sods

the Appalachian Trail To walk;  to see and to see what you see. Benton MacKaye said this, commenting on the ultimate purpose for hiking on the Appalachian Trail.  MacKaye was an early 20th century forester, conservationist and visionary, one of his visions being the Appalachian Trail.  He is the guy who dreamed it up. I… Continue reading By Shank’s Mare

Quebec Run Wild AreaPennsylvaniaMay  1999 The Quebec Run Wild Area is on the eastern slope of Chestnut Ridge in southwestern Pennsylvania.  In order to retain the wild and natural character of the land, the area permits no development of a permanent nature.  How wild it is however, we are about to discover. The forest is… Continue reading A Little Bit of Discretion

North CarolinaJune  2015 Halfway from Charlotte to our destination in the Great Smoky Mountains, we pass the village of Flat Rock.  Carl Sandberg lived here, as fine a writer and poet as ever wrote and poeted.  Here is Happiness… I asked professors who teach the meaning of life to tell me what is happiness.And I… Continue reading Carl Sandberg

MassachusettsMay  2014 Before we get to our summit hike on Mount Greylock, we drive through Springfield, Massachusetts, home of the Basketball Hall of Fame.  Lisa and I try to name all the professional basketball players we can think of.  Lisa scores big, naming many, many more than I do. “Oh yeah?” I challenge her, trying… Continue reading Bunny Levitt

New Hampshire/VermontAugust  1983 Marc was my boss at the Co-op in Pittsburgh.  That’s how we met.  Our friendship has lasted far longer than any employment relationship. Somewhere along the way, Marc moved to a cabin in the woods of New Hampshire.  A city boy he’s not. Lisa and I visit with Marc and his wife… Continue reading The Cornish-Windsor Bridge

Quebec Run Wild Areatraining hike2015 On the trail we notice up ahead a group of young men and women dressed in their ACUs, Army Combat Uniforms.  Technically, the term fatigues is no longer used, so ACUs it is.  These folks are clearly engaged in some kind of training.  All the firearms I see are holstered… Continue reading Cop Speak

Black MesaOklahomaMarch  2013 Just 137 miles east of Black Mesa as the crow flies, or 161 miles as the crow drives, but still in the Panhandle of Oklahoma, is a town called Beaver.  Beaver is — did you know this? — the Cow Chip Throwing Capital of the World.  It is here in Beaver, Oklahoma, that the… Continue reading Cow Chip