Mudfoot’s Meanderings

Hiking Kentucky in one of the the wettest years on record Carrie Mudfoot Stambaugh Eight months ago I landed my dream job: Updating a hiking guidebook. Yup, that’s right. I have been paid by the Globe Pequot Press to hike (and write, of course), in order to produce the third... Read More →

By Carrie “Mudfoot” Stambaugh The Ashland Beacon Kentucky is a beautiful state. That’s why I moved here, but there are times when the awesomeness of one of its natural wonders really captivates me and serves as a reminder about how lucky I am to live in a place that values these... Read More →

By Carrie “Mudfoot” Stambaugh I imagined the view from a top Pine Mountain long before I ever stepped foot on its namesake trail last month. I first read about this rocky ridgeline of the southern Cumberland Highlands in the pages of a John Fox Jr. novel, “The Little Shepard of... Read More →

Love of the outdoors still a shared passion, past time By Carrie “Mudfoot” Stambaugh I was 18 the first time my mother and I took a camping trip together alone. My parents were in the midst of their divorce and I had recently graduated high school and was preparing to leave for... Read More →

By Carrie “Mudfoot” Stambaugh The snow of winter has finally given way to spring rains, which while I sit writing this are once again overfilling our creeks, rivers and lakes. I could canoe in my soggy backyard right now, but looking at my Old Town Canoe in resting in the garage,... Read More →

By Carrie “Mudfoot” Stambaugh   The hulking three-story old house I grew up in will soon exist only in memories. Late last year, my family learned that the 22-acre farm where I had spent most of my childhood had been sold to developers. Eventually, 66 new homes will occupy... Read More →

By Carrie “Mudfoot” Stambaugh A winter devoid of deep snow is the worst kind of weather in my book. If it’s going to be cold, there might as well be snow to decorate the barren landscape and provide some recreation opportunities. Noticing a mild case of cabin fever had set into... Read More →

By Carrie “Mudfoot” Stambaugh STANTON, Ky. — I said good-bye to 2014 and rang in 2015 drinking champagne on my couch with my husband in Ashland. It was a quiet end to one busy year, and the start of another. New Year’s morning, I headed to the Red River Gorge to spend New Year’s... Read More →

CORBIN, Ky. November is traditionally my least favorite month of the year. It’s the time of year when the last brilliants leaves of autumn are blown away and the grayness of winter begins to set in. It’s a time to be on the lookout for hunters, a time when even the trees... Read More →

BREAKS, Va. — The cooler temperatures and changing leaves are universal signs of autumn, but for adventure enthusiasts they also signal the start of the fall whitewater season. Whitewater rafting is an annual highlight for many extreme adrenaline junkies, but it can be a great... Read More →