Blog
June is the month for trails
This June we will celebrate National Trails Day and Great Outdoors Month. But, the danger of celebrating a day dedicated to trails and a month marked for outdoor enjoyment is that some might see the commemoration as a was to consolidate wilderness activities into a single …
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Bartram Trail Recap: I don't tweet on trail, but if I did...
I like to unplug when I go outdoors, but I also like to take notes to remember what happened. I turned my recent Bartram Trail notes into a set of mock tweets to recap the section between the Nantahala River and Wayah Bald. Enjoy
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How to plan for a long distance hike
Everyone plans for a long distance hike a bit differently, and there’s certainly no right or wrong way to go about pre-hike planning. Some people obsess over gear, some try to get into shape, others spend all their energy on their mail drops and meal planning, and yet others spend …
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Hiker Steps towards Conservation
The word “Conservationist” seems like such a weighty term that I used to think you had to dedicate your life to land management or donate your entire personal worth to be a considered a ‘real’ conservationist. Over time, however, I observed that small steps taken by everyday folks can add …
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Trail Karma
A common saying among hikers is that “the trail gives you what you need.” Wouldn’t it be great if, in return, we could all give the trail what it needs?!
Recently, some of my good friends over at the Appalachian Trail Conservancy let me in on a new trail initiative …
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High School: A Rocky Path
I feel the most pressure when I am standing in front of 9th to 12th grade students. I feel insecure and uncertain. I feel like I am back in High School!
As a speaker, it is exciting to customize the message of the trail to meet the needs of colleges …
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Life Shakedown
In backpacking, when you go through your gear and decide what you no longer need to carry it is considered a pack “shakedown.”
Mountain Crossings outfitter at Neels Gap, GA is famous for providing pack shakedowns for beginning backpackers on the Appalachian Trail. Each …
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Section Hiking is HARD
When I went to the Continental Divide Trail for a 12-day section hike this past August, I thought that I was going to reclaim something that was lost.
Independence.
At age 24, I started Blue Ridge Hiking Company, which turned most of my local backpacking trips into guided hikes. Then …
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Appalachian Trail Film Tour
It’s the year of the TRAIL MOVIE!!!
With Wild scheduled to hit theaters in December and A Walk in the Woods coming out in 2015, I am looking forward to spending some quality time at the movie theater eating buckets of buttery popcorn as I watch other people …
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Favorite New Trail Foods
I wanted this blog to about the reflections of my 11 day solo backpacking trip on the CDT. But there were two problems. Number one, I discovered I am still processing a lot from that hike and I don’t know quite how to put it into words …
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