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Everyone should enjoy a midlife retirement.  I am going to take my second midlife retirement in order to change my entire life, I’ll be 34.  I’m working on my second midlife retirement, I hope you are already planning for one too.  If one of us needs to get our priorities straight, I hope its not me.  Retirement is a relative term.  You don’t need to be old or wealthy (notice I didn’t say rich) to retire.  I would have to agree that traditional retirement is entirely wasted on the elderly.  No offense to the aging readers, but no one ever really complains about improving their life too soon.

Retirement is a time to enjoy the things you miss out on when work gets in the way of life.  It’s a time to grow and reflect on what’s important and where your life is headed.  So why wait until you are nearing the end of your path to do so?  You do not need to wait until you are old with a big fat bank account to retire.  You do however need to have some sort of cash flow either savings or a part time job.  I opted for the “eat into my savings” route on my first retirement, and had a little extra cash flow as well to help.  I also minimized my expenses as much as possible.  I slept on a 30 year old cot or an air mattress for 10 months during my first go ’round.  I also drove 140 mph on the Autobahn, went to Oktoberfest in Munich, visited France, home brewed beer, rafted class 5 rapids, spent weeks at camp hunting and fly fishing until my arms fell off.  This time I’m going hiking.  How will you change your life today?

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This time around I won’t have the luxury of having that extra income.  It’s hard to have an income when you live in a tent in the woods and carry all of your belongings on your back.  Your fulltime job is hiking, with a part time job of eating.  I need to save enough money to support myself and now a new puppy.  The cutest puppy ever created to be more accurate.  Fortunately for me I can easily reduce my monthly expenses to the bare minimum while on the trail.  No rent, no mortgage, no car payment, no electric or cable bill and no dependents (aside from Quin the aforementioned puppy.)  Besides food, transportation, college loans, a cell phone payment, possibly a dog trainer, and some gear replacement there isn’t much else that’s going to eat away at my savings.

OTP benchYou have got to come up with a plan for midlife retirement.  Failing to plan is planning to fail.  Please, stop using Gofundmy-vacation.  It’s easy to spend someone else’s money and forget all the hard work it took to get and spend it unwisely.  Come up with a financial game plan, then stop spending money you don’t need to spend.  Cable bills, parties, booze, going out to eat, cell phones, new clothes are all things to say goodbye to.  I’m not saying don’t enjoy life, in all honesty I spent $125 on dinner last night at Parts and Labor in Baltimore, it was amaze-balls, and absolutely worth it.  But, this was the first time I had gone out to eat in longer than I can remember.  I also worked a 12 hour shift the day before at my part time job, after working 50 hours at my real job all week.  If you want something big, start hustling, now.

There is no right time for a midlife retirement.  There are no right or wrong career moves.  It’s never too soon to make your life more amazing.  Sometimes you just have to set a date and know that’s how long you have to get your shit together.  

What do you think?  Do I have it figured out or am I missing something?  Or am I looking down from 70,000 feet hoping my parachute opens?  What are you willing to give up to be happy?  Leave your comments below!

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As I stated in my previous post A New Journey Begins I am ready for my next adventure in versatile hunting dogs.  On March 25th the G litter at vom Schlussstein Drahthaars graced the world with their glorious presence after a long night of delivery.  This was Emma’s first litter after recently running the Armbruster in Gettysburg PA.  This is where Jeff met the future sire of this litter,  Aragorn(Bodey) out of Donny Zarra’s vom Grimm Haus kennel also in PA.  If you are interested in a puppy please don’t hesitate to contact Jeff Green at jeff@green-ranch.com. 

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puppies

Inside the house it was almost feeding time, and as the puppies woke up we talked about size and personalities and of course how soon I can take mine home.  These puppies are clearly well loved by all members of the Green family, both 4 legged and 2.  With a litter of 7 males and 4 females there are plenty of mouths to feed and bellies to rub.

When you arrive at Green Ranch, more times than not, you’re greeted by 1 or more Drahts running inside the fenced yard and spinning in circles out of sheer joy of visitors headed in the driveway.  You can tell these dogs are valued members of the family.  This day we were greeted by momma Emma, gramma Ava and great grandparents Ceasar and Katie.  The new puppies inside sleeping making the 4th generation of family in a very love filled home.  To me this is a huge statement to Jeff’s dedication and love to his dogs, 4 generations under 1 roof, amazing.  Grampa Brutus(Jacob vom Buffeltaler) also lives just down the road.  There is no shortage of water soaked beards or hunting buddies at Green Ranch.

Jeff explained he recently rehomed Drake vom Schussstein after bringing him back to the ranch from the previous owner.  Drake had been there for a few of my visits and I know that his new home will be more than pleased with this great dog.  Fia is another draht at Green Ranch I have grown fond quite of, for our limited interactions.  She is a very energetic pup from Jeff’s F litter.  Fia sustained a broken leg as a puppy and has yet to leave her home at Green Ranch.  She is a great hunter and a loving dog.  Her leg injury has given her a special place in my heart after seeing Django hop along down her recovery path from her accident as a pup, never fully recovering.  I need to get some more info on Fia and some pictures to help her find a new home.  She would unquestionably make a great partner for any hunter.

Jeff and I spent some time looking at his game birds, and pens.  I told him I needed some guidance on what I would need to keep a few birds on hand for when my pup is ready to come home and start her training.  If you have a question about birds or keeping them Jeff is the guy to ask.

I am excited to have the chance to visit with both Emma and body in the coming weeks(and the puppies) at Green Ranch.  I’m sure we will have great stories to tell about the great hunters in this litter.  enough with the words, enjoy the puppy pictures!

All lined up

lined up

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basket of puppies

blue male  cream girl emma and male female male & female male 2 male 3 male nose

red maleorange male 2

purple femaleorange male peach female pink female puppies grey puppy pile

chow time

pink female 2

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cream female 2purple female 2 red male 2

This is a tiny little male that’s just plain awesome!red male 3

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emma feeding

The 7 males

the boys

 

The 4 females(I can’t wait to bring one home!)

the girls

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Saturday I picked up in Pine Grove Furnace and headed south towards Caledonia State Park, a 20 mile stretch I had not previously hiked.  After a “quick trip” completely out of the way to REI.

The past few hikes I began having trouble with my right knee,  especially when going down hill.  To date I had not hiked with trekking poles but was noticing the more I read about hiking the more popular they became, nearly all long distance hikers were using them.  By reducing my pack weight from a staggering 35+ lbs last year, to a base weight of 15 lb, I know that will help as well.  I finally conceded carrying 2-4 beers at a time just wasn’t worth it.  Maybe Santa will bring me a Backcountry Beer kit! I end up getting a good deal at REI on a pair of Black Diamond Z-poles Ultra Distance.  I’ll admit they are kind of awkward at first.  Trying to figure out a rhythm and how to properly use them took a little bit of time for me.  But with anything, practice makes perfect and in no time I went from a trail bumbler & stumbler to a trail ninja.  My arms could now help me pull my feet uphill.  As quick as I could move my poles I could move my feet and climb hills with ease.  I also added an additional mile per hour to my speed.  I took a pretty decent slip on Sunday and had I not caught myself with my pole my ankle would have been a pile of spaghetti.  I also noted at least 90% of the people I passed or met on the trail were using trekking poles as well, clearly I was now one of the well informed.

 

I made it to the Birch Run shelter in plenty of time to relax before the sun went down.  As I approached I notice a group of 7 already sitting on the porch.  Mostly college aged kids with gigantic backpacks.  5 of them were together in one group, the other was a pair of hammock campers. As we spoke the group of 5 said were heading out shortly to camp closer to their car after a 7 day trip.  They were unprepared at best.  Each had their own pack full of food and water, their own hammocks and 1 tarp between them.  4 had yoga mats and one was with without a yoga mat or an under quilt for his hammock.  He complained of cold sleepless nights.  thanks captain obvious.  He was also wearing a pair of jeans and a recently found sweatshirt with a large burn hole on the back.  He is going to be an engineer after graduation.  He already is an idiot.  Aside from their 5 hammocks they also carried a 4 person tent which they apparently had yet to use.  The idea of stacking hammocks in trees was “cooler” than keeping warm in a tent.  If they had spent more time planning their trip in regards to actual safety instead of safety meeting supplies(which they still had PLENTY of) they might have gotten some decent rest.

I was joined by two other hikers in the Bird Run shelter that night.  honestly they were pretty nice guys, both recent college grads, one debating which law school he was going to attend.   They were both generous with their offering of food or water.  However hanging a pair of hammocks in the middle of the shelter is a bit lacking of courtesy to others.  the group of 4 men had set up shop across from the shelter by this point and weren’t interested in fighting for shelter space.  I thought it quiet odd that the hammock guys thought it prudent to hang their food bags on the bear bag pole shortly after making banana pancake’s in the shelter, and spilling pancake mix on one of the bunks.  Although genuinely decent folks, this is why we can’t have nice things.

Sometime in the middle of the night another hiker slid into the shelter and pulled out his bag.  I spoke to him in the morning and he explained he was at the last road at sunset and decided to push on.  He passed no less than 5 campsites to get to the shelter.  He was wearing gym shorts and insulating bottoms.  Admittedly he froze the entire night.  He set off to warm up in his car another mile and a half down trail, after declining a hot cup of free coffee.

I made my breakfast, enjoyed a pair of vanilla cappuccinos and left the shelter by 8.

Edit  Edit

I met Rev C and Shakedown Cruise a few hundred yards from the quarry Gap shelter where they had stayed the night prior.  They’re on their first half of their flip flop heading NOBO our of Harpers Ferry.  We chatted mid trail for about 20 minutes before I wished them luck with their hike and good health.  They had short attainable goals for the first few days/weeks.  Based on their attitudes alone, I know they will finish their hike successfully.  I told them I was jealous of their adventure and we parted ways.

 

 

 

 

 

As spring is arriving I am beginning to see more hikers on the trail which is a double edged sword.  More folks to talk to but also more people to watch out for.  If there’s one thing I learned this weekend it is how unprepared some people really are for the chilly nights.  If any one of those people would have gotten wet they would have been in some serious trouble.  It was below freezing Saturday night on the mountain.  Trade the hippie lettuce for long johns kids.

 

 

I’m a person freedom guy. Its your body, it’s your choice when it comes the hippie lettuce.

Trip miles: 20

AT miles YTD: 84.3

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120A year ago(2/8/14) I had a tear-filled goodbye to my beloved beardy dog, Django, due to kidney failure.  To say that she was my best friend would not begin to do her a service.  For 5 years of my life I got to enjoy her as my shadow.  It was well known that if you were to invite me anywhere I would be bringing her along as well.  Fishing, camping, hiking, rafting, dinner, drinks, we were inseparable. Django was a Deutsch-Drahthaar (more info: here) versatile hunting dog.  I am of the opinion these are the greatest versatile hunting dog available today.  My style of hunting is varied as you will come to see each season.  Please take a moment to visit the VDD-GNA website to learn more.  Django was absoutely awesome, the end.

Flash forward to this year and I have finally made it to a point that I am ready for a new adventure in bearded dogs.  I developed a great relationship with a Drahthaar Breeder, trainer, and also pheasant farm owner/operator Jeff Green.  Talk about a great friend to have for a versatile dog owner!  Jeff runs Green Ranch(info) and vom Schlussstein Drahthaar Kennel(info) in Everett PA.  Not only is he all those things, but he also is a great person, all dogs love him, and he loves the dogs.  I think the dogs know he’s THE PHEASANT GUY.  Jeff recently bred his dog Emma and she is due this March.  We spoke and I will be taking a look at the females that come from this litter.  This will be vom Schlussstein’s “G” or 7th litter with all puppies being named with the letter G as their kennel name.  Many people opt to choose a call name as I did with Jennie vom Buffeltaler(Django).  The puppies should be ready to bring home the 3rd week of May and if I choose a pup I’ll be taking the week off to bond with her in her new environment.

The excitement is building!

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One thing I have been constantly reminded of throughout my life is that “patience is a virtue” typically followed by “we do not possess.”  This statement rings true with myself especially in regards to this journey of 5 million steps.  The anticipation has been killing me through this epic winter cold in PA. Waiting on spring is an understatement.