Two of my backpacking friends had milestone birthdays in 2021, and we had grand plans to celebrate on distant mountains in the western U.S. But after numerous attempts to synchronize schedules, we settled on a road trip to The Camel’s mountain house near Hays, N.C. to celebrate his 60th. Here we are pulling in his driveway after a long drive from Atlanta.
There was a period nearly 20 years ago when times were tough. Airlines stopped flying, people stopped working, and the media spouted doom and gloom on cable TV for 24 hours a day. It was 9/11/01, and my first impulse was to get to the wilderness. So when the weekend came, that is exactly what we did.
It's been 25 years since I set out to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail. Time has moved exponentially since then, and I now appreciate that there are a few pivotal years in your life. 1994 was the year for me.
I have a friend hiking the Appalachian Trail this year and his schedule (and some inclement weather) had him take a zero day in Gatlinburg, TN which gave us an opportunity to catch up with him last weekend. Here is the World Wide Wanderer (aka 3W) relaxing on the balcony of the LeConte View Motel.
In Episode 48, Cardiac and Drone Boy discuss their summer backpacking trip on the Inca Trail in Peru. Their four day hike took them over ~14,000 feet peaks in the legendary Andes Mountains and culminated at the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu – which is one of the most photographed tourist destinations in South America.
In Episode 35, we discuss the most influential hikers and backpackers of all time as we sit by a campfire in North Georgia on an autumn night with coyotes running wild in the background. First, a shout out to the trail conferences, clubs, maintainers, ridge-runners, trail angels, and financial benefactors to Trail – because you are collectively more important than any individual for your contributions. But tonight we review some of the names that came up the most frequently in hiking and backpacking forums when we posted the question to the trail community.
50 Hikes 50 States 50 Years
As someone who likes to hike and backpack, I decided a number of years ago that I wanted to hike 50 trails in 50 States before I was 50 years old. I’m certain that I’m not the first to do this – although I made the decision without any outside influence and with two basic rules...
Panthertown Valley is one of my favorite hiking spots in North Carolina. It is located near Cashiers, NC in the western section of the State and was purchased by the Nature Conservancy from Duke Power in 1989. Panthertown is now part of the Nantahala National Forest and has been growing rapidly in popularity – especially over the last ten years.
There is nothing better than escaping a trade show in Las Vegas for the backcountry and fresh air of Zion National Park. After a 3 hour drive Fuller and I arrive in Springdale, UT and stay a short distance from the park. Our first mission is to hike the Hidden Canyon Trail.
It’s been 20 years since I thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail. There’s no doubt, it was a different Trail back then – fewer thru-hikers, no cell phones, and no websites to research the A.T. prior to heading out.
In Episode 24, We satisfy a listener request for a show on backcountry basics. Recorded at a remote campsite on the Chattooga River, I speak with Therm Rider and The Camel about some of our rookie mistakes in the backcountry and smart things that we’ve done since our first ventures in to the wilderness.
The weatherman said there was a 100% chance of rain today, and he was 100% right! It rained all morning, and all afternoon.....
Walk In The Woods Premieres To Mixed Reviews
Walk In The Woods premiered at the Sundance Film Festival this week to mixed reviews. Here's a sampling. The Guardian "Plenty of silly little incidents ensue along the way, with lots of jokes about advancing years. Most of these episodes are far too low-stakes to carry a movie and the bigger picture..
A letter to ATC Executive Director, Ron Tiptop, lays out the current issues – many of which focus on thru-hikers that overwhelm park resources and occasionally don’t follow the rules of Baxter Park (ie. no public consumption of alchohol or drugs, camping only designated areas, no dogs in to the park, etc).
After fattening up on Thanksgiving dinner, The Camel meets us in North Carolina for a hike in to Panthertown Valley.
You may have heard that Walk In The Woods is filming now in the Atlanta area, and Friday I was cast as an extra in a bunkroom scene with actors Robert Redford and Nick Nolte. True to the book, it was set at Rainbow Springs, N.C. after an April snowstorm
It is sunny when we leave Atlanta and the forecast is for temperatures in the 50’s in nearby Franklin, N.C. But as we drive the 2 1/2 hours north to the Appalachian Trail we spot a line of clouds and a cold front pushing in from the Northwest.
Friends of ours camp nearby tonight and have bears wandering in their camp near Preacher Rock. They opt to hike out at midnight, but our encounter is less dramatic. We only find an angry rattlesnake in the middle of the trail that quickly slithers off.
It was a beautiful day for a hike last weekend, and we mixed in some geocaching with the boys as we hit the trail. Here’s the view from the Roswell Mill parking area looking down at the bridge over Vickery Creek (which is also called Big Creek on some maps).
Take a side hike up Siler Bald, go swimming in the pool at Caledonia State Park, take the gondola ride down to Killington – and yes, stay a night or two in a trail town.
In the research, McNeely discovered evidence that Earl Shaffer bypassed at least 170 miles of the trail which, if true, will alter the history of the Appalachian Trail forever – much as proving George Mallory didn’t actually summit Mount Everest would forever alter the history of mountain
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Backpacking Podcasts
Episode 90: Party Foul!
In Episode 90, we are in the mountains near Hays, North Carolina to discuss "party fouls" or bad hiker etiquette on the trail. In the show, we discuss some of the bad behavior that was frequently mentioned in online articles, posts, and videos. We comment if we've been guilty of it, witnessed it, … Read More...
Episode 89: Stuffsack
In Episode 89, we flashback to 1995 for an interview with StuffSack about his thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail the previous year. StuffSack and I stayed in contact after our summer together and were able to connect for this interview when he visited Charlotte, N.C. about four months after we … Read More...
Episode 88: A Look Back (And Forward)
In Episode 88, we break from the typical format to take a look back at 10 years of podcasting. The N2Backpacking podcast launched a decade ago this Spring, so Therm Rider joins me in the studio to talk about some of the original podcasters, the evolution of backpacking shows these last ten … Read More...
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