jim Ball

Born and raised in sw Ohio. Now retired in sw Georgia. I’ve hiked the Colorado trail 1.5 times, the Georgia loop 1 time, the Pine Mountain trail in Georgia. Along with canoeing in the boundary waters canoe area. I also have taken several motorcycle trips that I camp along the way.

I was introduced to backpacking by a man I met while deployed with the American Red Cross for disaster relief after hurricane Harvey in 2017. He had already hiked the northern 14 sections of the Colorado trail in 2016. He invited me to go along with him to hike the southern 14 sections in 2018. That was the beginning of my love of backpacking.

Currently I spend time volunteering for South West Georgia Council on Aging, the UGA Extension Service as a Master gardener, and the American Red Cross Disaster Service. I spent a month in 2023 as a Shelter site manager in Maui after the Lahaina wildfire.

My next adventure is going to be a motorcycle ride to California to have a custom saddle installed on my Goldwing. That will be sometime this summer.