About Northeast Hikes

“So, what are you going to hike next?”

At the time it seemed a funny question. We were basking in the morning sun atop Katahdin, my brother Brad and I having just completed a three-week section hike of the Maine Appalachian Trail. We’d persevered throughout Maine’s notoriously rugged terrain, kept our wits (barely) during a severe thunderstorm on Saddleback Mountain, and somehow managed to decline the romantic advances of a particularly randy moose, to accomplish what to us was the hike of a lifetime.

Even so, we were acutely aware that our hike paled in comparison to that of the AT thru hikers with whom we were sharing their celebratory champagne. Which is why I was a little taken aback when Floweasy, the mild-mannered leader of the pack who’d just completed the Appalachian Trail for a second time, also had the Pacific Crest Trail under his belt, and, quite frankly, was nothing short of a trail ninja in our eyes, asked what was next.

Not that the question should have been such a surprise. A week prior an AT section hiker named Philly Mike had asked if we planned on completing the entire trail. As a Maine native that grew up on a healthy diet of hiking, hunting and fishing, I’d long dreamed of completing the state’s section of the AT. After two years of planning, and three weeks on the trail, Maine was it. Mike smiled at my tunnel vision. “You’ll get the bug,” he said, “and you won’t be able to stop. Just wait and see.”

Prior to embarking on our Maine trek I’d begun blogging. As a Web development professional, it was something I’d started to keep up with best practices so as to better educate my customers. The initial post topics were a mishmash of whatever caught my fancy, from Web communication tips to a day-by-day account of our Maine section hike. The copywriter in me, however, wanted to be more focused, and for the site to be of interest to people other than those I call ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad.’

Long story short: Philly Mike was right. I’d caught the hiking bug and Northeast Hikes has been along for the ride ever since. These days I always have the next hike in mind, along with the one after that. I don’t proclaim to know everything there is to know about New England hiking, nor can I pretend to be a badass ultra-lighter. On the contrary, I trust you’ll find the posts on this site are written with wide-eyed enthusiasm.

The ongoing goal of Northeast Hikes is to play a role in the greater hiking community, to provide information and encouragement to help you plan your next northeast adventure, and above all else, to have fun doing it. I hope you enjoy the site, and I encourage you to contribute by adding comments on posts, or to share your photos and experiences—known as trail dirt here—on Facebook, Twitter or Google. Let’s build this site together.

Thanks for visiting.

Happy trails,

Daren