<– No, not this guy. MacGyver is my trail name. –>
In accordance with trail custom, a fellow backpacker gave me my trail name. Eventually it stuck. If you want to know how I earned it, you’ll have to hike with me someday.
I backpacked a little with my family as a teenager in the [unintelligible decade], and I decided to give it another go when I joined the DC UL Backpacking group in 2010. My first outing in many years was a winter backpacking trip (it happened to be winter, and I was anxious to get out, so why not?) and I have learned so much from this fine group in the years since. I try to give back by leading trips on occasion and by answering newbie questions, but I still get more than I give as a result of being part of this group.
I decided to take a break from adulting for 2018 and build more life stories worth telling. A large part of that was thru-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. Despite returning to the realities of working for a living, I strive to continue the mindset of exploration, even if I can’t do a long thru-hike every year. Most of my stories will come in the form of backpacking trips, but there may be some tangents to explore along the way.
Over the years, I have managed to rack up a fun list of trails conquered:
- Larapinta Trail, Australia – 143 miles – 2021
- Pacific Crest Trail – 2652 official miles (more with fire detours and road walks to/from towns) – 2018
- Mid State Trail, Pennsylvania – 327 miles (section hike) – 2017-2018
- O Circuit, Torres del Paine, Chile – ~80 miles – 2018
- Full Massanutten Loop, Virginia – 112 miles – 2016
- West Highland Way, Scotland – 100 miles – 2016
- Appalachian Trail Four-State Challenge, WV to PA – 44 miles (in one day) – 2015
- GR20, Corsica, France – 112 miles – 2014
I backpacked more than 3,000 miles in 2018. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to beat that. But who knows?
Happy trails!
MacGyver's Travels 