What It’s Like For a Mule to Nibble Your Beard

One of the best things about being on a mule ramble is to have time to hang with your mules – really hang with your mules. In some cases, they interact with you in ways that they don’t back home. In this case, mule Brick decided she wanted to nuzzle my beard. She’s never done that before. It tickles and it would be great if, once in your life, you could experience it, even if you don’t have a beard.… Continue reading

Atlas Obscura Releases Podcast About my Time in the Doldrums

What’s it like to float alone for a week in the Doldrums, one of the remotes stretches of ocean on planet Earth? This week Atlas Obscura released an interview I did with co-founder Dylan Thuras about my experience exploring the Doldrums in my sailboat Sea Bird. You can listen to the interview here.

The Doldrums: that place made famous by the “The Rime of the Ancyent Marinere” (yes, Samuel Taylor Coleridge spelled it that way when it was… Continue reading

How I Rode my Mules up the Virginia Highlands Horse Trail

Hey, I drew you a map of my first five days riding my mules Brick and Cracker up the Virginia Highlands Horse Trail.

A very rough map I sketched of my first five days riding the Virginia Highlands Horse Trail with my mules Brick and Cracker.

I sketched the map into Katie’s notebook. Her parents, RJ and Christina, invited me for supper while I was camped at Fox Creek Horse Camp. Here are some photos of our time together.

Pondering… Continue reading

Scenes From a Grayson Highlands Mule Camp

I recently wrote of catching up with Badger, the Baron, Jimmy Dean and Sleeper at the Scales camp on the Virginia Highland Horse Trail. They taught me how to speak AT lingo. Here are some more photos from that gathering you’ll enjoy.

Jimmy Dean and the Sage (their AT trail names) hanging with Cracker (aka Crab Man)
Cracker enjoying a drop-in visit (Scales camp, Virginia Highlands Horse Trail)
Mile2Go: He’s hiking sections of the AT and works in tech… Continue reading

Meet my New Neighbors While Riding the Virginia Highlands Horse Trail

My mules Brick and Cracker are riding the Virginia Highlands Horse Trail. Meet my new neighbor Ms (or Mr?) Fly. How could I ever get lonely out here?

Get A Free Copy of my New Photo Book 19 Million Mule Steps

I’d love to give you a heads up when my new book Two Mules to Triumph, comes out. Two Mules to Triumph is about riding my mules Brick and Cracker 2,300 miles from North Carolina to Idaho. Just… Continue reading

How to Speak AT (Appalachian Trail) Lingo With Sleeper and His Tramily

What’s your trail name? Who’s in you’re tramily? Mules Brick, Cracker and I had a damn amusing encounter with some hikers on the AT (Appalachian Trail) this week. Meet Sleeper, Jimmy Dean, The Bard and Badger. They’re going to teach you the lingo you’re going need to sling if you ever hike the AT.

Sleeper, Jimmy Dean, The Bard and Badger hangin’ with Cracker (Scales Camp, Grayson Highlands, Virginia, Virginia Highlands Horse Trail)

AT Lingo With Sleeper, Jimmy Dean,… Continue reading

Join my Mules For a Cup of Coffee Cooked on Our BioLite Wood Stove

Howdy. Instead of carrying a conventional camping stove on my mule ramble up the Virginia Highlands Horse Trail, I used a BioLite wood stove. It uses sticks instead of gasoline or propane. Click on the video below to join me for a cup of wood-brewed coffee.

For an in depth review of what it’s like to spend a month cooking on a BioLite wood cook stove, check out this review I wrote. It’s called Now We’re Cooking With Wood… Continue reading

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Get A Free Copy of my New Photo Book 19 Million Mule Steps

I’d love to give you a heads up when my new book Two Mules to Triumph, comes out. Two Mules to Triumph is about riding my mules Brick and Cracker 2,300 miles from North Carolina to Idaho. Just sign up for my newsletter (details below) and I’ll even give you a link where you can download a free copy of my award-winning e-book 19 Million Mule… Continue reading

Overcome by Rain in Elk Garden While Riding the Virginia Highlands Horse Trail

It ain’t always sunny in Elk Garden… Here’s a soggy update from my soaking wet mules in Elk Garden, Virginia. We were out riding the Virginia Highlands Horse Trail when a spring thunder storm overtook us.

Get A Free Copy of my New Photo Book 19 Million Mule Steps

I’d love to give you a heads up when my new book Two Mules to Triumph, comes out. Two Mules to Triumph is about riding my mules Brick and Cracker… Continue reading

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