Well northbounder thru-hiker season on the Appalachian Trail is in full swing and it’s time to check in with Miss Janet, of the well-known hiker hostel, Miss Janet’s House. In my conversation with her, she talks about a typical day in her life during thru-hiker season and her observations on the current crop of [...]

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Susan Alcorn began hiking at the age of 48 with a hike up Mt. Whitney. Several years later, on a trip over Piute Pass she started thinking about how she wasn’t seeing many older women on the trails and soon started looking into it. She collected over three dozen interview with [...]

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After three attempts and seven consecutive thru-hikes, Scott Williamson completed a Yo-Yo hike of the Pacific Crest Trail in November of 2004. Covering 5,300 miles in 197 days Scott averaged close to 40 miles a day, often battling waist-deep snow. Enduring the personal tragedies of losing his mother and friend, Kenny Gould, [...]

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Scott "Squatch" Herriott produced two documentaries about thru-hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail entitled, "Walk" and "Still Walking." In these films, Squatch follows the progress of these hikers– many of whom are notable repeat offenders such as Yogi and Billy Goat. His chronicle of these hikes is intimate and sincere and often [...]

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When Mathew "Leif" Olsen completed his Appalachian Trail thru-hike in 1998, he formed the initial idea for creating a website where other hikers could post their trail journals and photos. After his hike, he returned to Charlotte, NC to finish his last semester of school and began working on www.trailjournals.com. When his friend, [...]

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In 2003, Amy Racina fell from a steep hillside during a solo hike in California’s Kings Canyon National Park. “With no warning, a hillside gave way beneath me, and I plummeted 60 feet into a granite boulder. I was amazed to find myself alive when I hit the ground. My nose was smashed. A [...]

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Ken and Marcia Powers began serious long distance hiking after retirement. Since 1999 they have hiked over 13,000 miles, thru-hiking the Pacific Crest, Continental Divide and Appalachian Trails and recently became the first people to thru-hike the American Discovery Trail– a 6,800 mile long trail crossing the Belly of the US. Averaging 20 [...]

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Brian Frankle’s hand-made packs always seem to score high praise in online forums and trail journals. Lightweight and durable, these packs are made in the garage shop of his company, ULA Equipment, directly overseen by Brian. His philosophy is to offer unique equipment and not duplicate similar designs. Brian does not produce new models each [...]

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Over twice the length of the Appalachian Trail, the North Country Scenic Trail stretches between New York and North Dakota, meandering its way around and along the Great Lakes.. Andrew Skurka spent most of his Atlantic to Pacific Sea-to-Sea route hike on this trail. Only a handful of hikers have thru-hiked this trail, or [...]

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On October 27, 2001 Brian Robinson completed his hike of the Triple Crown in a single calendar year– the first to do so.. While thru-hiking the PCT, Brian began formulating ideas for a completely different hike, a PCT yo-yo instead of a Triple crown in a single season. It wasn’t until a good [...]

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Every time I read a trail journal or follow a gear discussion on a hiking forum, Western Mountaineering sleeping bags always generate extremely favorable mention. Most seem to agree that these bags are built quite a bit warmer than rated. Though not cheap, my WM bag is the jewel in my pack– my insurance policy [...]

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Jackie McDonnell, trail-named Yogi, publishes a popular guidebook for the Pacific Crest Trail. Her guidebook is designed to assist an aspiring thru-hiker and covers every topic imaginable. Jackie, a Triple Crown hiker, is also planning on publishing a Guidebook for the Continental Divide Trail. In our conversation, Jackie talks about her publishing projects, and [...]

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Jonathan Ley produces maps of the Continental Divide Trail.  He has thru-hiked the CDT as well as the Pacific Crest Trail.  Mat Hazley, who recently finished the triple crown in a calandar year, used Jonathan’s Maps.  In our conversation, Johathan speaks about his experiences on these trails and his CDT trail mapping project.

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Part 2 of my conversation with Jack Tarlin.

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If you have ever read an Appalachian Trail journal, or lurked on any of the active hiking forums, chances are good that you have read about Jack Tarlin. You may have seen his picture on the refrigerator of a hiker hostel, cooking lasagna, or heard about him from a hiking buddy. Originally from [...]

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Merry Christmas..! Mat Hazley (trail-name Squeaky) is attempting to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail, and Appalachian Trail in a single calendar year. I spoke with him last Sunday at Miss Janet’s hiker hostel in Erwin, 338 miles from Springer Mountain. He estimated thirteen days to get there, as [...]

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It?s been a few months since I?ve published a program, but Trailcast is back, and rolling. In this program, I spoke with Jan Leitschuh. She thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2003? one of the wettest seasons on record for the AT. Jan?s trail journal is amazingly popular, as her hit counter, showing close to [...]

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Andrew Skurka, just recently finished a hike across the U.S. from the Pacific to the Atlantic Ocean. In my conversation with him, he talks about this amazing hike, and the intense planning involved in connecting a series of existing trails into a continuous walk between oceans. On August 6, 2004, I filled up a [...]

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Last Summer, Nate Olive and Sarah Janes completed the first continuous hike of the West Coast Trail. Relying heavily upon tide tables, and topographic maps, Nate and Sarah faced unique challenges, such as the ever-changing tide lines, and “sneaker waves,” which can wash a person off the beach. They are in the process of [...]

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I spoke with “Spoonie Love”, a northbound AT thru-hiker, several months ago when I first started Trailcast.  She was staying at Miss Janet’s hostel in Erwin, TN.  Hikers on that part of the trail were seeing some late season snow storms, making a strong impression on Spoonie.   Out of an attempt to balance the Trailcast [...]

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