It’s been a wild summer, but I’ve got one more surprise before it comes to an end. Hello My Name is Sharkbait has been out in the world a few months and doing better than I ever expected. So first of all, thank you. This casual blogger-turned-author appreciates your generous support (and Amazon 5-star reviews, as always). But, with every speaking engagement or book signing, I keep getting asked the same thing… what’s next? Fair question. And, this week, I’m excited to show you.
Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing the opening chapters of a sequel book! Published here on my website as a serial, one part per day.
I want to know what you think of it before I write the rest of the book, so scroll down to read Part 1. Or better yet, subscribe here if you’d rather have the next installment show up on its own instead of remembering to come back each day. I hope you enjoy it.
Disclaimer: This story is narrative non-fiction, based on real events with real people, as recalled by me. With a little embellished dialogue and flair for drama added in. But all of it without the aid of any generative AI. Even if you see an em dash.
Chapter 1 – A New Adventure… Begins?
Oh shit. Not again.
I buried my head in my hands in the back of the Uber, keeping the curse to just my thoughts in the backseat. Memories flashed through my mind of that day all those years ago, when I boarded the plane for Atlanta and the start of my Appalachian Trail thru-hike. A day that felt all too similar to this one, when a perfectly planned itinerary was getting derailed before it even started.
Now it’s 2026, early August. And hot, hotter than usual for this time of year. I was sweating badly, but it wasn’t just from the heat. I had been planning this trip for almost a year, but apparently all that prep couldn’t keep the same anxious start from repeating itself. And although this time I wasn’t hiking from Georgia to Maine, it carried the same weight, because this trip was special. We were going to Glacier National Park, Montana. Or as Dad liked to say, we were going Home. Or… so I thought. But more on that later.
For us, hiking in Glacier Park was familiar territory. It wasn’t the unknown of the AT. Because of his work trips, Dad had been there close to 25 times. And although my visits were split between family trips as a kid and a few backpacking journeys since, this would be my 10th trip to the national park. In Glacier, it was simpler for us—the preparations were known and the terrain more familiar. Between the two of us, we had probably walked all the popular trails in the park. We knew where the berries were ripest, which waterfalls were best for a quick dip, and which trails were overrun with mosquitoes. Kootenai Lake, trust me… stay away.
Yes, Glacier was something special growing up. Dad was constantly discussing plans with Mom or reliving memories with friends. And a week didn’t go by, it seemed, when I couldn’t hear him coordinating logistics over the phone. Growing up, Montana was simply a constant in the air. And you don’t spend your formative years idolizing a place without eventually romanticizing it as your home away from home. And that’s what it was to our family. We didn’t talk about going on a hiking trip to Montana. No, the common vernacular for the park in our family was Home. With a capital H.
So to say the excitement and anticipation were high for this trip, well that’s a big understatement. After Dad joined me on the Appalachian Trail back in 2018, he wasn’t eager to do much more East Coast hiking. The Appalachian Mountains lacked the majesty of the Rockies, and let’s just say trail conditions were less friendly. So following the two weeks he spent hiking with me in New York and Connecticut, he made it clear there would be no return trip. His passion for hiking in the mountains remained singular for the Rockies.
But life is also different now. In the time since, I had moved cross-country twice. Dana and I live in Connecticut, ironically closest to the AT sections that Dad hiked with me. I have two little girls now too. Chloe just turned six this summer, and Hannah four. They were my everything, and since I had to travel a lot for work, taking more time away for these trips was harder and harder each year.
Things had changed a lot for Dad since that hike also. He was older now, nearly 80. Both he and Mom were long since retired, and now focused on simpler things… maintaining their garden, walking the neighborhood, and creating memories with their next generation of grandkids. They both had minor medical issues, thankfully nothing serious, the kind that comes with getting older and isn’t so forgiving of a strenuous day scaling 7,000-foot mountain passes.
Yet the longing for Glacier’s mountains was still there. Because a passion for sweet huckleberries, friendly marmots, and crystal blue glacial lakes doesn’t fade away as much as echo across your mind. So when I asked Dad, six months ago, if he was interested in one more backpacking trip together, he couldn’t say yes fast enough.
That’s Part 1. The next chapter goes live tomorrow, so subscribe here if you’d rather not have to remember. And if you still haven’t read the story that inspired this one, Hello My Name is Sharkbait is available now at Amazon, Audible, and your favorite retailers. Thanks for reading, comments welcome.
Hello Neiman!
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