In 2022, at the age of 46, I sold my house and set out with the intention of completing a multi-sport version of The Great Western Loop.

For context, the GWL is a 7,000-mile path around the Western United States that utilizes two major American Long Trails and a couple of minor ones: The Pacific Crest Trail, The Pacific Northwest Trail, The Continental Divide Trail, and The Arizona Trail.

If that all sounds like gibberish, google it. It's a mind-blowing proposition and a testament to our potential as human beings.

When I left, I was an avid hiker, an accomplished cycle tourist, and an aspiring ultra runner. In my mind, the only difference between me and the pros was my day job. So I quit and set out for 12 months of self-supported hiking, biking, calorie consumption, and endurance training...

Long story short?

I did not complete the loop.

I rode my bike all through the Southwest, hiked 2,500 miles from Mexico to Oregon, and was busy cycling towards the Canadian border when I got hit with a family emergency. It was time for a crash course in elder care; my parents needed a place to live.

I have to say here that I have no resentment or regret for the way things unfolded. Sometimes life demands that we shift gears, and that's exactly what I did. I knew there was a high likelihood my parents would need my help before I sold my house in Southern California, but I did it anyway. I am extremely grateful to have the resources to take care of my parents in their final years on this planet. If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't live it any other way.

Life is crazy in its twists and turns, and The Pacific Crest Trail winds straight through Burney, California. This is where my parents and I found our new home...

Burney is a blue-collar wonderland. There is plenty of work for anyone with a pair of boots and a box lunch. It is also, among other things, an unsung, underrated, relatively unknown destination for world-class fishing, hunting, hiking, mountain biking, paragliding, waterfall photos, and swimming hole swims. We have sun, snow, wind, rain, wilderness, parks, national forest, and a growing ultra-running community.

What is the point of all this?

A mile from my front door is the southern terminus of The Great Shasta Rail Trail, an incomplete recreational trail that is intended to link the town of Burney, CA to the town of McCloud, CA.

The reason it is incomplete?

Money.

Ten miles from the southern terminus in Burney is The "Stand By Me" Bridge (pictured at the top of the page). This bridge is unfit for safe travel and needs to be retrofitted with a new top deck to facilitate passage across the Pit River near Lake Britton. Right now, humans, horses, and cyclists looking to ride the rails have to unload at a turnout along the 89 in order to start their adventure.

The trail is open, 65 of 80 miles, not quite Burney to not quite McCloud.

It's disappointing to think that one bridge, a famous bridge at that, is all that stands between an awesome trail that gets minimal use and a destination trail worthy of national rec. status. A trail that gets used, maintained, and celebrated because it brings people and revenue to the area. A trail that is a possible game changer for local armature runners and cyclists alike.

In June of 2025, I ran the inaugural Burney Mountain 100. I am no longer an aspiring ultra runner. I have my belt buckle now. I have been a member of both of our local fitness clubs. I am a team member at Long Shot, our local combat sports gym. I have been coast to coast under my own power, once on a bicycle and once on foot. I have run more miles, hiked more trails, and slept under more bushes than I can count.

Lets just say, I am a goal-oriented man. I have learned the value of physical, mental, spiritual, and social health. You don't have to look too far to find a book or a podcast to tell you how hard life is. I have learned well that it doesn't have to be.

Every year, in December, I take inventory of the year that has passed.

Every year, in December, I set goals for the year to come.

This year, I plan to make it my business to raise funds to retrofit the "Stand By Me" Bridge.

This GoFundMe page is step one.

A 502(c)(3) and a website are steps two and three.

What does a journey of 1,000 miles start with?

Last year, I ran 50 miles for my 49th birthday.

I ran it on the Sacramento River Trail in Redding CA.

It was a personal best at the time and one of the easiest runs I ever ran.

This year and every year to follow until I can get that bridge reopened, I plan to run The Great Shasta Rail Trail on my birthday, one mile for each trip around the sun.

Please follow me.

Please sponsor me.

By the mile, lump sum, or just come out and run with me, 03-07-2025.

Come take a look at this busted-ass bridge and help me figure out how to fix it.