I owe it all to my dad...

When I was 13 years old, my dad introduced me to backpacking. And not with an easy overnighter, either. My first backpacking trip was a 70-mile trek along the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail in southwestern Pennsylvania. We carried 60-pound packs loaded with steel pots, pans, plates, and bowls, ate some truly miserable backpacking meals, and woke up cold every morning in our lean-tos. But somewhere along those 70 miles, I learned about self-reliance, perseverance, and, most importantly, how to connect with nature—something I knew almost nothing about before that trip. We saw wildlife I had never seen in the wild, stood at overlooks with views stretching for miles, and ended each day sitting around a campfire talking. It was awesome.

From that point forward, I began exploring the outdoors again, reconnecting with nature through backpacking and day hiking. The trail became my refuge and my solace. It was then—and remains to this day—the place where I feel most at peace. It's where the noise of everyday life fades away, where life's stresses seem to disappear, and where I feel most like myself.

Over the last decade, I've spent more than 20,000 miles on trails, exploring some of the most beautiful places in the country. I've hiked or backpacked through nearly 50 national parks, spent nights beneath some of the darkest skies imaginable, watched countless sunrises and sunsets from places I never dreamed I'd see, and made quite a few friends along the way. And while backpacking may no longer be in my dad's wheelhouse, we still make it a point to take an outdoorsy trip together every year.

One of those trips came in 2017, when we spent two weeks traveling west to see the total solar eclipse in Oregon. Along the way, we spent several days exploring southern Utah's Mighty Five national parks. While we were at Bryce Canyon, my dad kept commenting on the distinctive scent of the ponderosa pine forests surrounding the canyon. I don't know why, but that small detail stuck with me.

Years later, when it came time to create a logo for Great American Hikes, I chose a ponderosa pine cone. It's more than just a logo. It's a tribute to my dad—the man who took a 13-year-old kid into the woods carrying a ridiculously heavy backpack and, without ever realizing it, planted a seed that would take 25 years to grow.

That trip ultimately changed the course of my life. It gave me something I would lose for a while, eventually find again, and never want to let go of. A love for the trail. A connection to the outdoors. And a place where I know I can always find a little peace.

I owe it all to him.

Unfortunately, it would be my first and only backpacking trip for the next 25 years.

After life threw me a bit of a curveball in my thirties, I found myself searching for something that could bring a little happiness back into my life. For whatever reason, I started thinking about that backpacking trip with my dad and remembered just how happy I had been out there. So I bought some new backpacking gear, and two days later, I was back on the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail for an overnighter.

Walking those trails again brought back memories of the time I'd spent there with my dad all those years earlier. But it also lit something inside me that I hadn't felt in a long time.