Captain Blue on the Blue Blazes: The First Solo Thru-Hike of Ohio's 1,444 Mile Buckeye Trail

by Andy Niekamp

Overview

Imagine walking 1,444 miles with a backpack carrying the bare necessities of life, 26 maps, and a whole lot of grit.

When three-time Appalachian Trail Hiker, Andy "Captain Blue" Niekamp decided to hike Ohio's Buckeye Trail, he took on the challenge of his life. On this 88-day adventure, Captain Blue found things he didn't know he had: a Buckeye Trail family who assisted and encouraged him; a home state rich with scenic beauty and history; the physical, mental, and emotional stamina to travel Ohio alone and on foot. Readers will enjoy the trail tales of Captain Blue, past and present, and his knack for bringing humor and good-natured reflection to a hiker's experiences in the elements: the cold, snow, wind, rain, heat, and humidity of springtime in Ohio; the physical test of walking for miles every day on a variety of treadways; the unpredictability of nature; and the sincere generosity of strangers.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780990354772
Publisher:	Outdoor Adventure Connection
Publication date:	12/05/2017
Pages:	214
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.45(d)

About the Author

Andy "Captain Blue" Niekamp has been a wilderness adventurer for more than 25 years. This IT professional, turned long-distance hiker has logged over 14,000 miles in more than 30 different states coast-to-coast including 9,500 miles on the Appalachian Trail.

Hiking is Andy's passion and his acclaimed "fountain of youth." He has hiked the entire Appalachian Trail end-to-end four times. While more than 10,000 have completed the Appalachian Trail at least one time, fewer than 12 people worldwide have reported completing the Appalachian Trail four times.

His other long-distance trails include: the Colorado Trail, Vermont's Long Trail, Minnesota's Superior Hiking Trail, Kentucky's Sheltowee Trace, Arkansas' Ozark Highlands Trail, the Ohio To Erie Trail, and Bartram Trail.

Andy is the founder and Chief Adventure Officer of Outdoor Adventure Connection, a backcountry guide service based in Dayton, Ohio. Andy has guided hundreds of people on backpacking trips that focus on backcountry skills, education, confidence, and Leave No Trace techniques. His company's motto is Live, Learn and Love Adventure.

Andy is the founder and organizer of Dayton Hikers, a hiking Meetup group. Under Andy's direction, the Dayton Hikers group has grown to be the largest and most active outdoor recreation club in Dayton, Ohio. He, with the help of forty event planners, leads hikes, organizes events, and plans gatherings and presentations for its 4,000+ members.

When he's not hiking, Andy volunteers for Five Rivers MetroParks, the Buckeye Trail Association and Kentucky State Parks. He holds an undergraduate degree in Management Information Systems and a Master of Business Administration. He is a life member of the Buckeye Trail Association.

Andy is a popular presenter and motivational speaker. He is a sought-after resource for his experience, knowledge and expertise as a backcountry, long-distance hiker and skills as an educator/trainer.

His goal is to inspire others to get exercise, make friends, explore nature, live a healthier lifestyle and make their community a better place to live!

Table of Contents

Introduction

Preface

Acknowledgments

CHAPTER 1: The Call to Adventure

CHAPTER 2: The Adventure Begins

CHAPTER 3: First Encounters

CHAPTER 4: Two Worlds Out There

CHAPTER 5: The Good, The Bad, The Reality

CHAPTER 6: Love Needs a Heart

CHAPTER 7: Rain, Rain, Rain

CHAPTER 8: When the Going Gets Tough

CHAPTER 9: An Inspired Commitment to the Trail

CHAPTER 10: Putting My Commitment to the Test

CHAPTER 11: The Journey Home

EPILOGUE: Beyond the Hike

HIKING THE BUCKEYE TRAIL: The Buckeye Trail Association

Editorial Reviews

Jim Zehringer, Director of Ohio Department of Natural Resouces

Let me start out by saying that I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would recommend that it be available at all of our state park gift shops. I really enjoyed the history lessons that you conveyed about each area. For example, I never knew about the distance fact on water flow about New Bremen or the counterfeit house on the Ohio River. I could go on and on. I was also very interested in the condition of the trail at various sections and in seeing how we can improve areas of our state parks that involves the BT. Since coming to DNR in 2011, we have made trail head signage, safety, confidence markers, and restrooms, a top priority. I would be curious on getting your feedback on how we’re doing. I appreciate your passion for the outdoors and you would have made a fine Naturalist or Park Ranger.

Patty Carro, Freelance Writer, Novelist

Ohio's Buckeye Trail winds across 1,444 miles of dirt and bike paths, city streets, rural roads, forests and pastures – all ostensibly marked by painted "blue blazes" to guide the way. Unlike the Appalachian and Pacific Crest Trails on the east and west coasts, respectively, which meander vertically from end to end, the Buckeye Trail is a loop approximating the perimeter of Ohio. If you start in Dayton, for instance, you can plan a hike that finishes in Dayton. That is exactly what wilderness adventurer Andy Niekamp did over 88 challenging days in the spring of 2011. In so doing, he became the first to complete a solo thru-hike of the Buckeye Trail at its current length of 1,444 miles. What's more, "Captain Blue," as he is known on the trail, chronicled his daily progress via a blog that eventually became a 196-page book: Captain Blue on the Blue Blazes. It is a marvelous account of one man's journey.

Irene Szabo, North Star Magazine Editor

Dayton's Andy Niekamp launched his 2011 hike anyway, even though, as most of our readers know, a trail that forms a complete circle of Ohio must necessarily include a lot of flat land in the north and a lot of civilization, too. But don't we also know that it utilizes numerous state parks and segments of the hilly Wayne National Forest? And readers of these pages have seen that long historic canal routes up and down each side of the state offer many miles of trail, too. I myself am a bit of a canal geek, so have enjoyed reconstructed canal locks near Napoleon on the west side of the state, and at the north end of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park on the east side and more canalside trail in the Zoar area. And anything historic pleases me; after all, it was near the Miami and Erie Canal in Defiance that Joan Young and I sampled a pork brains sandwich in an old Prohibition-era speakeasy. As Andy himself says, "The Buckeye Trail … is about discovering Ohio."

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