Hiking Thru Life

In this episode, we talk with Jeremy Pendry host of the Trails Worth Hiking podcast.  Jeremey grew up as a camper and hiker and has been an avid backpacker for almost 20 years.  From backpacking in the Sierra Nevada mountains to trekking in Ecuador, Jeremy has diverse trail experience.  Along with his wife, they raised two kids with exposure to the outdoors and the grown kids still...

In this episode, we talked with Mitch (Charles) Dean host of the Outdoor Pulse podcast .  He is an outdoor enthusiast who has found his place skiing and climbing in the outdoors.  Growing up playing team sports and now taking part in individual sports, Mitch has experienced the best of both worlds.  Like many things in life, starting a hobby when you are young will lay the foundatio...

In this episode, we talk with Melody Forsyth.  Melody is a mother of 4 children and the family has embraced the outdoors and use hiking as a way to balance out everything life brings them.  Melody's youngest daughter Ruby was born with Down syndrome.  At first, when the diagnosis came, Melody thought this would be the end of travels for the family.  It turns out that Ruby is a...

In this episode, we talk with Leo, Brielle, and Jasmine who are part of the Hike for Mental Health nonprofit organization.  Hike for Mental Health organizes hikes while also funding mental health research and trail conservation.  The outdoors and hiking has many benefits for an individual’s well-being.  We talk about each guest's experience and personal journey with Hike for Mental...

In this podcast, we talk with Sarah and Andy Emerson.  They are a couple from Minnesota who are carving out a lifestyle unique to their own passions.  We talk about their unique wedding at a music festival and how they lived on the road for the first 3 years of their relationship together.  After their jobs changed due to the pandemic, they decided to take a summer road trip with th...

In this episode, we follow up with the Ellis family to talk about their recent Superior Hiking Trail thru-hike.  In episode #53 we discussed their plans and preparation for the thru-hike.  We talk about trail logistics, how they all supported and encouraged one another along the way, and hear some of their favorite memories on the trail.  We discuss different sections of the tr...

In this episode, we talk with Crystal Gail Welcome.  Crystal is a writer, activist, and black outdoor leader.  She thru-hiked the Superior Hiking Trail in July 2020 with a goal to raise awareness on social justice and environmental justice with support for the organization PGM ONE.  Crystal’s hike was also a peaceful protest in honor of the recent George Floyd tragedy in Minneapolis...

In this episode, we talk with the Ellis family.  This is part 1 of a 2 part series!  The Ellis family is from Illinois and has explored many parts of the country by bike as a family.  They share some stories from their earlier days of traveling as a family and Jenny shares how this was the inspiration for one of her self published books From Flat tires to Root Beer Floats .  Th...

In this episode, we talk with Chelsey Evans.  She grew up hiking and camping and now has a passion for encouraging people to get out and enjoy nature! She has a website where she shares travel resources and camping/hiking tips with a focus on the San Diego area.  She has led women hikes in the San Diego area and likes to encourage females to get outdoors.  We talk about her temporar...

In this episode, we celebrate our 3 year wedding anniversary!  Sarah and Andy, the faces behind this podcast, have been married for 3 years.  We wanted to take some time to reflect on our wedding day and give some wedding advice and insight.  Weddings are a time of love, commitment, and the bond of two people creating a life together.  It's important to remember that your weddi...

In this episode, we talk with Anna Dutke.  She grew up with a love for the outdoors, always getting outside as a child which shaped her career path later on in life.  With a passion for the outdoors and a background in early childhood education, she is a leader and advocate.  Anna pursued her passion and helped develop the Jeffers Pond Nature Preschool in Prior Lake, MN.  A nat...

In this episode, we talk with Sarah Histand.  Sarah is an Alaskan who spends a lot of time adventuring in the beautiful backcountry that Alaska has to offer.  With adventure can come the risk of injury and many mental hurdles to overcome.  Sarah is passionate about helping people connect to their mind, body, and spirit as they move into living their best lives possible.  We tal...

In this episode, we host fire talk chats with a  group of friends in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.  Each trip to the BWCAW is different, even with the same group of people!  We took the same group out last summer (2019) for their very first time and did a fire talk chat with them in episode #3.  Each trip to the BWCAW brings challenges, lessons learned, and th...

In this episode, we talk with Laura Larson who is the author of Wild Mindfulness .  Laura spends a lot of time camping around Minnesota in the summers with her family.  She wrote Wild Mindfulness as a tool for parents and educators to teach mindfulness practices to children.  Teaching young minds mindfulness is a journey not to be perfected in one day.  It comes with time and p...

In this episode,  we take our annual trip to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.  This was our 4th time to the Boundary Waters and our second time bringing first-timers into this wilderness.  We love sharing this space and gifting the experience of the Boundary Waters to people because it's a place that has become special and memorable to us.  We want to pass on the joy...

The Hiking Thru Life podcast is celebrating our one year anniversary!  The podcast started as a collection of daily recordings from our day's activities on a road trip and slowly turned into conversations with people we met along the way.  It's been inspiring to connect with all the awesome humans who are in some way inspired by the outdoors.  Hiking Thru Life aims to inspire people...

In this episode, we talk to Clay Bonnyman Evans.  Better known on the trail as Pony, he has quite an extensive list of thru-hikes.  He’s completed the Colorado Trail (2015), AT (2016), Foothills Trail,  Alabama Pinhoti Trail (2018), Great Plains Trail pilot trail (2019), and most recently is working on plans for a PCT thru-hike.  We talk about his hiking experiences and highlig...

In this episode, we talk with Berty and Emily Mandagie. They are an outdoor adventure team who are also partners in life!  Together they are a dynamic duo living the travel blogger life full time.  They travel to beautiful places mostly in the Pacific Northwest, share insider tips from off the beaten path places, and share fresh perspectives on living an authentic life of adventure. &nbs...

In this episode, we talk with Elsa Litecky from EcoElsa.  We had her on last fall in episode #12 to talk about environmental education.  We highly recommend listening to the episode with Elsa to hear in-depth about what she does to support and teach outdoor education for children.  We asked Elsa to come back on the podcast to talk about the one thing everyone dislikes and often fear...

In this episode, we talk with Jo Swanson who is part of the Superior Hiking Trail Association team of staff members.  Jo has been a trail volunteer since 2007 and staff since 2015.  She coordinates volunteers and trail work and manages trail data and mapping.  We cover how Jo got involved in trail work and talk about her hiking background.  The Superior Hiking Trail is a well-l...

In this episode, we talk with Linda Akeson McGurk. She is an author, journalist, outdoor advocate, and mother of 2 who lives in Sweden.  Linda is passionate about promoting the benefits of outdoor experiences for families and children.  She has a blog Rain Or Shine Mama and wrote the book There's No Such Thing As Bad Weather .   As she puts it in her book, Scandinavia’s nature-centr...

In this episode, we talk with Barbara and Stephanie of Backpacking Moms.  When you enter the world of parenting, it’s no doubt that hiking or any hobby for that matter will look different.  It’s key during the early childhood stages that you introduce your children to your passions and your world, then adapt that passion to fit you and your little ones.  That is exactly what Stephan...

In this episode, we talk with Matt and Karen Smith.  As they were nearing age 50 in 2010, they decided to take a break from the regular grind of life and set a goal to visit all of America's National Parks.  They were able to do this in two years and have had the adventure bug since.  Matt and Karen are the authors of the Dear Bob and Sue series of books which chronicles their Natio...

In this episode, we talk with Luke Jordan better known on the trail as “Strider”.  Strider is known for being amongst the small number of people (8)  to thru-hike the North Country Trail (NCT) and the first person to thru-hike the Great Plains Trail.  He hiked the NCT in 2013 with a goal to raise awareness about the trail.  While on the trail, he had many positive experiences a...

In this episode, we talk with Frank Hintz who is a seasoned traveler and outdoorsman himself.  He is the founder of American Backcountry which specializes in t-shirt designs for National Parks and Forests for all types of outdoor enthusiasts!  We discuss how American Backcountry got started, how it has evolved, and how they connect with the hiking community.  We also discuss some of...