Hike ho, Hike ho,
it's off to the woods we go...
A few years ago a group of nature enthusiasts were roped together by a destiny they couldn't predict. These men promptly set out from the chains of everyday life to the wild outdoors. Today, still bound together, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a similar problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find one of them, maybe you can take a hike with a member of ....The Muddy Boot Clan. We are not fair weather hikers. We're like the postman except we're not delivering your mail. Unless of course, your mail consists of roadtrips, camping adventures, hikes gone wrong, right, perpendicularly, and enough conversation starters and stories we'll still have fresh material for the great grandkids. |
Ben "Captain Stubbing" Jordan 
One of the kings of bad movie nights, Ben has a knack for producing off the wall one liner responses in any given situation. Some amazing accomplishments include hiking 5 miles in 95+ degree heat without a water bottle and unknowingly being led to the edge of a 40 foot drop off at Natural Bridge, AL, and living to threaten to skin me alive and feed me to aliens at a date to be determined later. He also specializes in burnt corn production and disco dancing. And who could forget those cherry cheeks, his hearty laugh bouncing his belly, or his signature greeting: "How ya livin'?"
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Clarence "The Flamethrowing Cartographer" Blalock 
Clarence and I met at a meeting of the JSU Writer's club. We've since both been dictators of the organization and have taken a trip to Moscow....Alabama. His favorite movies include "any burt reynolds film with the 'stache", and the one song he sings too much is Together Forever by Rick Astley. His current interests are the number of cheerios in a box of cereal and how much mayo one can put on a hotdog before it gets out of hand.
TOMROMCOM.COM, his website His Traveling Photo Gallery |
Randy "Dr" Kilgore 
Mr. Randy is reigning Mad Scientist of Kilgore Laboratories, as well as an excellent puppet master and costume designer. He's also uncontrollably addicted to shiny objects, especially if those objects are rocks, as well as sewing, and will proudly show off his Jacob's Ladder. Just ask.
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Randall "Ranimal" Hicks 
He didn't eat the egg, or the bird inside, but he'd like you to think he did. I mean, would he be fulfilling his obligations as a wildlife and fisheries science major if he didn't sample the wildlife? He also seems to attract reptiles wherever we wander, though thankfully we haven't had any real close encounters with alligators...yet. His idea of leisure hikes include 21 mile treks up mountains and boulder fields, fording ice cold creeks, and camping in subfreezing temperatures and severe weather events; it doesn't matter. It's all cool.
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Matt "The Clark Knight" Clark 
How doth I pack for a camping trip? Tie-dye shirt? Check. Footed pajamas? Check there too. He may put the hip in hiking, but we all know that his final words will be "Wikipedia, how I love thee, let me count the links". A glutton for torture, he enjoys singing various Alabama and Meat Loaf songs while hiking, and occasionally offers up great quotes, such as"Dudes, does anyone else feel like they're carrying Yoda around on their backs".
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Justin "Master Kiki, Hiker Galore" McElroy 
Not everyone can pull off a hike commando style, complete with detachable pant legs. But then again, not everyone makes scrambled pancakes for breakfast, either. So far, he's still the only normal one of the bunch, and there's something weird about that.
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Mike "Mad Cat" Windler 
Jam band lovin' Hoosier with a thirst for throwing frisbees 300+ feet. What else do you need to know? Oh, right, he likes to run distances I'd rather do on a bike and canoe down streams blocked by wolf spider infested fallen trees and rapids for the fun of it.
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John "E.R." Higginson 
If he had a nickname, it'd be Encyclopedia John. Make that Encyclopedia Railroad John. But when he's not chasing trains, he enjoys a good "Hark! What is that light in the west?!" pose and providing camo for his hotdogs.
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Dan "The Seed Whisperer" Hull 
Maybe he's the Bob Ross of the hiking kingdom, the world may never know for sure. He offers the world a no frills, no nonsense approach, and the woods listen. I believe if these rock walls would speak, they would speak to him. Seeds dance the minuet in the palm of his hand.
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