Monthly Archives: July 2012

Old friend from the Appalachian Trail

I Had the chance to hike with my friend Chris Darby on Sunday that I hadn’t seen since 2007 on the Appalachian Trail. My hiking friends might know him as “Lifesaver”. He is in Santa Barbara visiting family who happen to live right down the street.

Chris at the Tunnel Trail Junction.

We hiked up Rattlesnake Canyon and over the Connector Trail to the Tunnel Trail Junction. While resting and having lunch in the shade of some oak trees, a road runner came sprinting up the trail. It hung around for a minute before continuing into the chaparral. We missed a photo on account of not wanting to scare the creature off to quickly.

This is the first time we had seen each other since we were hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2007. The last I had seen “Lifesaver” he was hiking big miles with his father’s old Kelty backpack and charging toward the northern end of the trail in Maine.

Tin Can Flats in Rattlesnake Canyon.

This days hike was much more relaxed as we spent the afternoon discussing long distance hiking and another favorite subject of ours, music. Chris has spent many years the Chicago band “Them Damned Kids” as well as doing solo tours across the country.

You can check out some of his music here:

http://www.reverbnation.com/chrisdarby

Chris (Lifesaver) and John (Calmwater)