CDT: Dedication to my Dad

I dedicate my CDT hike to my dad who passed away last week at the age of 88.

I have been reminiscing about his life and quite a few memories center on our outdoor expeditions over the years. My dad took my brother and I on our first backpacking trip into the Grand Canyon. We followed up with epic trips into the Superstition Mountains and Sycamore Canyon near Sedona AZ. My dad and I both laughed recently about the heavy packs and canned food we enjoyed on these trips. They were not ultralight affairs!

I drank from my first cow pie infested pond on a hike with my dad when I was 13 years old. Who knew I would be doing the same thing on the CDT almost 50 years later?

Dad was a huge supporter of my long hikes and followed along on my messages and journal entries every night. If I forgot to message or was in the trees, he would be the first to call Mrs. Haze and ask if she had heard from me. On zero days, I so enjoyed touching base and filling him in on my progress.

Dad, I miss you very much but am comforted you had a quality, full, rich life to the end. Rest in peace!

One of Dad’s favorite stories was about a camping and fishing trip he and Mom took with my twin boys to the Black River in Arizona. What an adventure!

After a day’s fishing on the river, they propped their fishing poles on the trailer before they went to bed. The old worms still on the hook. My boys are now catch and release only, but back then worms were the ticket.

The next morning, Dad and the boys bounded out of the trailer and found one of the fishing poles on the ground and the line run out. What to do but grab the pole and reel in the line, a little land fishing before breakfast! To everyone’s surprise, they reeled in a dead skunk. Unfortunately, didn’t put up much of a fight but what a stink.