A spark in Tahoe
At 67, Charlie Gandy was (mostly) enjoying retirement. It was June of 2024, and the native Texan was hiking the 170-mile Tahoe Rim Trail with a friend. He wasn’t looking for a new project. He had just finished a grueling bike race across Washington state a few weeks prior and was thinking about how to spend the rest of the season.
But days of being unplugged from the outer world had unlocked an inner clarity.
Suddenly, Charlie found himself hurrying to catch up with his friend. He burst out with the vision that surprised even him.
“Matt,” he said, “I have seen my future. I’m going to build a through-hiking trail across Texas.”
From retirement to reignition
Charlie had been a reluctant retiree. He’d built an impressive career blending adventure and advocacy, and winding down wasn’t on his calendar.
At 23, he was the youngest elected member of the Texas House of Representatives, and helped pass the first child safety seat legislation. He spent a decade in politics, then founded the Texas Bicycle Coalition (now BikeTexas), becoming a leader in the cycling movement.
“I saw that cyclists were treated like second class citizens,” Charlie explained, referring to the lack of bike lanes and actual bike bans that were in effect in parts of the state. “If we didn't get our act together, we’d become extinct.”
That launched a career securing federal funding for active transportation. By the mid-2000s, he led a consulting business in California, helping communities implement routes for biking, walking, and public transit.
But in 2017, the work began to dry up.
“I was lowering my expectations and still not getting work. It was frustrating and led to depression and disappointment.”
Charlie turned to hiking and trail running along the California coast, before moving to Seattle with his wife. There, he found himself in the middle of an active hiking and mountain biking community, which rekindled his spark.
A neighbor introduced him to the Cross-Washington race - a 690-mile route that traverses the state across tough, technical terrain. “I had skinny tires and got stuck in the mud. But that’s where I learned what was possible with long-distance trails.”
A new frontier: xTexas
Charlie’s vision was clear: an Appalachian Trail-like route for Texas, crossing the state from east to west through remote landscapes, private land, sinkholes, and sprawling canyons. The path – xTexas - would be accessible to hikers, bikers, and horses.
By the end of July Charlie had put together a 1,500-mile draft route. By September, he was in Texas ground-proofing and presenting at an active transportation conference.
He’d learned early on that he was a strong political organizer. “I was good at getting people to come along on an adventure, political or otherwise.”
A necessary skill now. Because unlike other long-distance trails, which traverse mostly through public land, 95% of the Texas route is privately-owned. Connecting the trail means working with private landowners, some wary of outsiders or concerned with liability.
“Some say this is a fool’s errand,” Charlie says. “But we have so many people whose eyes light up and ask, how can I help?”
Twenty ranchers have already welcomed the trail onto their land. Some want to convert old hunting cabins into trail stays. Others simply love the idea of becoming trail angels. The horse community has been especially supportive, unlocking access in rural areas.
“Horses have not ever been a part of the transportation conversation in my career,” Charlie laughs. “But the horse people have been the most enthusiastic.”
Charlie and his team are currently ground-testing the route, setting out solar-powered shelter prototypes (donated by a regional grocery chain), and planning water barrel placements (for the horses). This November, they’ll lead a weeklong "Sweaty Taste of the Trail," ride. The first full east-to-west trek is planned for January 1.
New Years plans, anyone?
“Do no small things” mindset
The past year has been one of the best of Charlie’s life. And it’s been an adventure-filled life, driven – at least early on – by a sense of urgency.
“I had rheumatic fever as a child and didn’t think I’d live past age 30. It taught me not to postpone joy.”
That mindset fueled a global hitchhiking trek at 18, and his role as the youngest member of the 1980 Carter Mondale re-election campaign.
But fear and urgency can only drive so much.
“I read a Fast Company article in the 90s about ‘you are your projects’. And that changed everything for me. It shifted me from career mode of going up through some system to tapping into what I am which is an artist and an organizer.”
He’s also been called a catalyst. At the time, that perceptive high school teacher was referring to how Charlie would slyly instigate trouble, but – all these years later - “changemaker” is an apt way to describe his life’s work.
“I subscribe to the notion of ‘do no small things,’” he admits. “And now I'm managing a legacy project that I could have never imagined. But as soon as the idea presented itself, I saw that all the things in my background had come together to make me a good nexus for this project.”
His advice for the rest of us: just get out. Despite his love for the outdoors and clearly active lifestyle, even Charlie admits his weakness for “sloth and comfort.”
“I've embraced the notion that comfort weakens me, so I've set a big hairy goal starting January 1. That is, hiking 20-mile days across the state of Texas. And I invite everyone to come join us.”
Join the movement
Follow xTexas online and on Instagram.
And tell me: If you are your projects, what do your projects say about you?
The Reignition Project captures me pretty well. It embodies my love of writing, meeting new people, a desire to give back, and, if I’m being honest, an unrelenting nosiness about what other people are doing.
(I think that’s been rebranded as curiosity these days, but I embrace my inner busybody.)
I relate. I always say I find hard things to do. Great article.
Oh wow, thanks so much for writing up Charlie's story! As someone who lives in Texas, I hadn't heard about this project. Going to start following its progress.