I want to let everyone on here know that I will soon be away from the internet, for most of September. For our fifth wedding anniversary, Emily and I are using up all of her paid vacation days to attempt a thru-hike of the Allegheny Trail.

Not to be confused with the Appalachian Trail or the Great Allegheny Passage, the Allegheny Trail is a 300 mile hiking route that stretches from the PA border of West Virginia to the VA border. We plan to finish in three weeks. I will be bringing my phone primarily for emergencies, as well as a section where the trail isn’t finished that I might need to call someone nearby to drive us from one section to the other, unless we decide to walk the gap. I might turn my phone on in a non-emergency setting during our scheduled resupply days at certain towns, but if I do that, the most I’ll probably do online is delete junk emails and perhaps post on Instagram—but don’t hold your breath. If anyone comments, tweets at me, emails, or whatever, don’t expect a prompt reply. In fact, though we plan on getting back for the last week of September, my inbox will probably be so swamped (mostly with junk) that it will take me a while to get back to anyone who has tried to contact me. If you email and don’t hear back after the second week of October, try contacting me again (I might have lost your message in all the junk email I’m sure to get, and accidentally deleted it).
For more information on the trail Emily will be backpacking, peruse these websites:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegheny_Trail
https://www.wvscenictrails.org/
Emily and I also went to the WV State Fair this summer and I got some cool pictures. Some of them are kinda creepy so I thought somebody out there might like them.

I love the lights of the carnival, and stuck around until dark primarily just to see it. A raptor specialist came to show off his birds. Owls are my favorite animals (and the novel I’m working on features a pretty creepy barn owl), so this was the highlight of my day. There was a tiger show, but it was so crowded (and I’m not a very tall person), that I missed most of it.
I’m excited but nervous about the trip. I’ve still been feeling some pain from an injury I got cross country skiing last winter. But most likely, a trip like this is now or never, so I bought myself a brace and have been wearing it for a couple days and it does seem to help. Pray for me and my leg, as we need to average fifteen-mile days to complete the trail in time.
Here are some parting pictures for you, of my chickens and the camp’s goats this summer:

 
Going “radio silent” (or internet silent, I guess?). Later.