Dan Becker is a backpacker from Wisconsin who turned his passion into his full-time profession.  If you’ve poked around YouTube for backpacking, you’ve no doubt seen his videos a time or two.  He’s grown a massive following and for good reason - he’s just a great guy.  Dan is genuine, sincere, funny, and just loves to backpack.  I didn’t know much about him before we spoke, but sincerely enjoyed getting to know him and now have a fond appreciation for what he’s been able to accomplish. We cover a ton of ground in this episode, including everything from Wisconsin backpacking ..read more

Doug Laher is the Father of Thru-Hiker Trevor “Microsoft” Laher who tragically passed away while hiking near Apache Peak along the PCT.  He was 11 days into his hike when conditions along the trail deteriorated quickly, forcing him to either push through or find another way around.  The section of trail he was on had been closed for years until this point so any and all tribal knowledge of potential risks had been long since forgotten leaving Trevor and his new hiking partners to gauge for themselves what they should and shouldn’t do.   Trevor was 22 years old, a graduate of Ohi ..read more

Renee “Shera” Patrick is the Program Coordinator of the Oregon Desert Trail and has been hiking long distance trails for 20 years!  Her work at the ODT has brought led her to be involved in the creation and launch of the new Blue Mountains Trail in NE Oregon which launches May 8, 2021.   Renee re-joins the show to catch up on recent happenings on the ODT, the launch of the Blue Mountains Trail, and chat about a proposed wilderness area in SE Oregon. This episode will leave you feeling inspired and with a smile on your face.  Renee is an incredible person, hiker, and steward of t ..read more

Bonie Shupe is the GM and Director of Product at Ibex.  After a long history of creating some amazing products, Ibex closed its doors a few years ago, but has since been bought and rebooted.  Bonie is the brains behind product design and is working hard to create the same quality merino products that Ibex was known for. When I learned Ibex was back up and running again, I had to know more so I asked Bonie if she’d be willing to come on for a chat.  My original intention was to learn more about Ibex, their history, and what they’re up to but, as luck would have it, I stumbled ont ..read more

The Hexatrek is a 3000 km long-distance trail across France that begins at the border of Germany, traverses the Pyrenees Mountains, and ends at the Bay of Biscay.  Thomas works for the Hexatrek organization and spent the summer and fall of 2022 hiking and documenting the trail.   Thomas is able to recognize the realities of hiking a long and share all sides of that reality.  He can describe the trail as an epic adventure that includes vineyards, castles, and mountains, but he’ll also tell you how mentally complacent you can become when one view blends into the next. If you’re dr ..read more

Andrew Skurka is known throughout the backpacking industry as someone who knows what they’re talking about when it comes to spending time in the backcountry.  He was thru-hiking before it became popular and has hiked well over 20,000 miles across both long and short expeditions.  Andrew now operates a backpacking guide service.  Andrew is a wealth of knowledge for all things backpacking, but also has great insight into the mindset the backcountry requires. If you enjoy learning from the best, this episode will not disappoint.   Show Notes How Andrew Skurka got into thru-hik ..read more

Katie O’mara is the driving force behind Trail Magik, an outdoor brand whose mission is to make hiking and backpacking with toddlers efficient and more enjoyable.  Once kids grow out of their backpack-style carriers, parents are forced into deciding how far their little ones can hike before needing to be picked up, but oftentimes riding in a backpack is too much trouble because all the toddler really needs is a small break from walking.  That’s where Trail Magik comes in. Katie and her husband developed a lightweight and simple solution to giving toddlers a break from the trail by de ..read more

Tommy Corey’s eye for outdoor portrait photography landed him front and center in the hiking community during his 2018 PCT thru-hike when he began posting fashion-esque portraits of fellow thru-hikers under the project name “Hiker Trash Vogue.”  The photo project captured the attention of major outdoor brands and was even featured in Outside Online.  Tommy received high accolades for his work, but it was also pointed out that his subjects did not represent a range of diverse backgrounds in the outdoors.   Tommy went to work studying and trying to understand better what “diversit ..read more

This is the second part of a two-part mini-series with Marketa and David Daley who in 2022 hiked 1300 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail with their 3 young kids.  David and I dive into the more holistic side of hiking the trail and explore the meaning behind the struggle and process of a thru-hike.  For anyone who enjoys the non-technical side of a thru-hiking discussion, you’ll enjoy this, especially if you’re a parent yourself. David and I dive into what it was like to hike as Father on the PCT, how hard it was to learn to hike as slow as a child, and the spiritual connection we feel ..read more

Evan Guzik is a Public Affairs Officer for the US Forest Service out of the Bridger Teton Forest and joins the podcast to walk me through the basics of wildfires.  Not only am I honored to have the US Forest Service represented on my show, but it’s made even more special because Evan and I served together in the Marine Corps nearly 20 years ago.   My knowledge of wildfires is very basic.  Aside from the obvious, I don’t really know a whole lot so Evan and I thought it would be good to just cover the basics of how all this stuff works so that we can all learn together and gain a ..read more