There’s been a buzz about the trails community since the Great Allegheny Passage Conservancy released its latest economic impact report. It’s the first economic impact study on the GAP since the trail was completed in 2013. The economic growth is impressive: the GAP Conservancy attributes $74 million in direct spending (2019) to GAP trail use, […]
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Shoulder Season Bike Touring Calls for Preparation, Trail Angels, and Grace
Thoughts on fall bike overnights I’m part of a Facebook group that’s dedicated to the Great Allegheny Passage and C&O Canal Towpath. The group has more than 14,000 members, many of whom are planning and celebrating their trail trips and offering each other support along the way. It’s fun to see how many people are […]
Fancy Like a Hometown Diner?
The importance of supporting local businesses I’m not one to keep up on modern country music or TikTok dance sensations. If not for my cousin’s recent wedding I would be totally out of the loop on Walker Hayes’s song, “Fancy Like” and the dance it inspired. But seeing a bunch of people line up and […]
“Taking Heart” in Responses to Deciding on Trails
The final section of Deciding on Trails is titled, “Taking Heart in Trails.” A little over a month since publishing, I can say that I have taken heart in the positive response to the book.
Community Pain Points in the time of COVID
I have a lot of thoughts (and questions) around how trail communities – how any community – will recover from the pandemic. But in this moment, I simply want to acknowledge what a difficult time this has been for people.
Getting Outside in a Time of Social Distancing
Life has changed pretty significantly over the last couple of weeks. I sense that we’re all doing the best we can to get by despite the very real hardships that so many of us face. One of the things that’s been on my mind, like many of you, is how safe is it to go […]
Are we Hungry for Thriving Communities?
In her memoir, Hunger, Roxane Gay writes of romantic relationships, “…it’s a shame that the measure is what is not so bad instead of what is thriving and good.” That insight caught my attention because it’s true for so many people. No doubt, we all have friends or family members who stay in relationships that […]
Outdoor Adventures with Your Nervous Dog
Time in the car has a way of connecting us back to our grief. While traveling in Wisconsin recently, I was reminded that I really miss my dog. By this trip, it had been about nine weeks since he died. Quill, a fear-aggressive German Shorthaired Pointer, spent close to nine years hopping in and out […]
Rolling Into Summer Retreat
This very moment is everything I noticed yesterday that I had “Rolling Into Summer?” (with a question mark at the end) on my calendar for June 1-2. That’s because when I first penciled it in, I wasn’t sure that I would go on to host my first overnight nature retreat. Truth be told, I didn’t […]
Cycling Through the Seasons
From maple festivals and everything pumpkin spice to Solstice celebrations and Seasonal Affective Disorder, our lives are very much influenced by the four seasons. Our moods can be impacted by shorter days or, say, by the rainiest year on record (hello, Pittsburgh in 2018). We feel free of winter’s clutches the first spring day we […]
