Category Archives: The Journey

“I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.”
Excerpt from The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost

I am starting this post with the often quoted lines of Robert Frost.
These lines came to mind while I was planning my backpacking trip from my previous post.
As I researched the areas and trails that I wish to explore I came to realize that hiking the trails was not what I wished to do. I wished to explore the forest.
While this may sound like the same thing there are many glaring differences.
The first difference arose when I found out how my travelling companion is viewed. As I wrote, this is to be a journey of me and my dog, Lily. Lily is not an add on to the trip. She is part of the trip.
However I have discovered that trail hiking has a phrase called “dog friendly”. This means these prepared paths through the forest may, or may not allow dogs. And most of the ones that do allow dogs require the dogs be leashed.
I do not mind putting a leash on Lily when there are other people around who might be bothered or dangerous situations she might get into, such as highways. But when I am truly in the forest Lily is not an animal added on to me to be tethered by a strap. She is my companion. In this she should be free to enjoy the forest in her way as much as I am. For her, this includes being unleashed to explore the smells and sights beyond the length of a leash.
As I contemplated this situation something else occurred to me. And it had to do with the road “less traveled by”. I realized I didn’t want to take the road less traveled by. I don’t want to take “the road” at all. I have taken roads, paths and trails all my life. I want to wander the forest. Not just the parts that someone else has decided should be traveled by.
So my journey will not be by the North Country Trail or any trail except that which my feet make.
While I may start on a trail leading from the place I will be required to park my car I will soon depart the trail and travel the forest.
I believe this shall make “all the difference”.…

It’s been a while. I haven’t felt like posting. You might say I just settled in for a long winter’s nap. Day to day in the winter is pretty routine at the cabin. And my daughter came home to visit for a week so I stayed back at the house.

But now it’s time to start making plans and preparations. The plan is for an extended hiking trip in the Allegheny National Forest. Right now I am planning to make it an in-depth redoing of my 30 Days Living Off the Land I first did in 2010. The draft of it can be found here in Word format exclusively for my Pithole.com visitors. This document is exactly the same as the original blog. I am working on publishing it on Amazon when rewritten so it is not yet for sale. I will combine the previous information with a 30 day trek on the North Country Trail through the Allegheny National Forest. Just me, my dog and a backpack. Surviving as much as possible off of the land. Right now I am shooting for mid April. There are many good trout streams along the trail in addition to wild spring greens. Not to mention the northern part of the trail is along the shore of Allegheny Reservoir formed by Kinzua Dam. I will write more on the plans in next couple of months.

For the preparations I have already begun. I have just purchased a 70-100 L expandable backpack and a small tent. And I am walking the woods more each day to get in better shape.

The total distance of the trail inside the National Forest is 97 miles. It could be hiked in several days. I have not decided if I will go the entire length or just find several spots along the way to spend a week or so.

I have had a check-up and hopefully am in good enough shape for the trip. We will see how things work out. I will show the equipment I will be taking in the next few posts.

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