Trailing Off: Crossing the Bridge From Rat Race to Retirement on the Colorado Trail

Have you ever wanted to just leave your job, house, and checkbook behind and disappear into the woods for a grand adventure? I did too. For twenty years. For me, in 2021, this idea went from a dream delayed to a dream fulfilled. Trailing Off is the story of my personal transition into retirement. For me, this transition was one crazy summer of living on the Colorado Trail for seven weeks. I hiked five hundred miles, saw some of the most gorgeous scenery in the world, met many free-spirited people, and learned a lot about myself along the way. I wanted to write this book as a record of the summer I finally lived the life I always wanted to live. It was not always an easy journey. I'm a grandfather. I have bad knees and arthritis in my back. I've certainly never been a professional adventurer. But for one summer, I was out there. This book is an honest account of what trail life was like for me. This account relies on both words and pictures. The words describe daily difficulties and triumphs, as well as thoughts about hiking, life and relationships that I had along the trail. The pictures describe the beauty and majesty of the trail that my feeble words could not. It is my hope that this book might inspire others to turn dreams delayed into dreams fulfilled.