Rocks and Roots

As the title suggests, your esteemed hosts are attempting the Rat Race 50k in south Jersey.  Crazy?  Yes.  Especially when we’re prepared-ish-maybe-sorta?  Absolutely.  Weeks (yeah, not months) of training with gradually upping mileage at weekends plus injury and rest time puts some doubts in our plan, but we’re still going to give it a go.  Come along for this unedited episode where we talk trail...

We were thrilled to speak with Glowstick this week about her trail adventures on the AT, Foothills Trail, and the Colorado Trail!  Coming off of a back injury and surgery, Glowstick’s motivation along with a bit of encouragement from Bill Bryson had her complete the AT in 2018.  From there it was love as her move to Colorado afforded her peaks and trails to her heart’s content.  We also dive into...

We once again welcome to the show Greg Calabrese, owner of Rip Van Winkle Adventure Guides in the Catskills!  (Tumbles apologizes for not getting this episode out last month).   We were intrigued about Greg’s experience hiking the Catskill 9 and how it ranks with the notorious Devil’s Path.  Greg also talks about his deer and turkey hunting experiences as well as a run in with a very lazy bear! Th...

Mr O’Grady is back and doing better than ever!  Always a pleasure to chat with him, Kyle dives into his Pacific Crest Trail thru hike and goes over the trials and tribulations of illnesses, fires, and (just one) video malfunction as well as meeting new friends and growing the bond with old friends.  We also chat about what direction Kyle is going with his YouTube channel as well as talk about the...

First off, forgive the background noise; Tumbles’ neighbors house was on fire.  Secondly, we had an excellent talk with IBTAT, discussing his experience on the Scottish National Trail.  Going 862 km from the England/Scotland border to Cape Wrath, he took in the castles, highlands, lochs, the ocean, and a good bit of rain.  We also get into his vlogging and his National Geographic-esque flair to th...

Hey y’all, we opted outside or at least tried to this mild Black Friday. Alas it ended in a comedy of errors and a good meal in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.  Along with this, however, we are responding to a message we received from one of our listeners concerning our pandemic amnesty episode.  We will return to our regularly scheduled outdoors episodes, but we felt this response needed to be said.  We...

You get a twofer from us this go around!  We’re back with some Trail Talk in the Adirondacks!  Cranky and Tumbles wanted to get in one last nice warm temp hike before the big freeze of winter set in and we were (mostly) successful!   Tropical Storm Nicole was due to land in Northern New York State around 3pm that day so we were out at 4am to bag Algonquin, Iroquois, and Wright peaks.  Once we brok...

Cranky and Tumbles get a bit political in this episode as they are not talking trail per se but discussing an Atlantic article written by a Brown University professor.  Do you remember when we were told by the ATC, the AMC, our governments not to go outside or hike?  That we needed to stop our thru hikes because we would endanger the trail towns with our hiker stank?  Did they not realize that we...

We had the pleasure of speaking with Bionic Man Tony Montana!  Tony, or Tex, has been hiking the High Peaks, Low Peaks and all peaks in between for over 10 years and has no plans of stopping.  We talk about his Summer and Winter ADK 46s, the North East Ultra 8 and how an accident in between Marcy and Haystack resulted in an amazing helicopter tour of the Great Range. Tony, we look forward to your...

If you can imagine the sun hitting the vibrant foliage of the trees at dawn while you are standing encapsulated in snow and ice covered trees at elevation, that’s what we experienced in the Adirondacks.   It was pure magic as we climbed Giant (of the Valley) Mountain and it topped the best hikes we’ve done.  Full after action report of Giant mountain along with questions and criticism about very y...

Mr. Frankie Wilde of Wilde Across America joins us once again to talk about his epic 1100 mile bike trip exploring Colorado!  While a shorter trip compared to his 3 prior cross country jaunts, Frankie and his friend Mike were able to explore the Centennial State more off bike and get a few National park stamps as well.  We talk about altitude woes and triumphs, oxygen in a can, and delicious sound...

We welcome back the fall season with our first guest after a busy summer!  Sean O’Dwyer is the boss man of Total Catskills, a fantastic Instagram page where you can find all the tips, tricks, and lovely photos of the Catskills as well as mountain-hiking.com where you can find more in-depth coverage of the park!  Sean’s hiking journey has  taken off in the past few years and he is a plethora of inf...

Hey y’all, we’re back at ya with the first episode since our epic western trip.  Only two and a half weeks after we came back and we’re feeling it!  Despite that, we had an absolutely EPIC morning exploring the crags and squeezes at Mohonk Mountain Preserve near New Paltz, NY.  You’ll hear about the fortuitous empty trail, fire tower, and delicious breakfast we encountered and how despite the entr...

Cranky and a tired Tumbles do a redo of their play-by-play Half Dome hike in Yosemite and add their displeasure about Las Vegas.  Culture shock from woods to urban sprawl is very real!   The duo did manage to find an oasis in Spring Mountain Park, woods about an hour from Vegas and the Mojave heat!  Check out the episode to find out about this little gem and enjoy!

We are so sorry that the Half Dome episode didn’t yield any audio!  We will be re-recording this tomorrow, but for this episode we are bringing you highlights from our Wheeler Peak 13,000 ft climb and our experience at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon!  Tumbles and Cranky go over all the specs of these two amazing hikes and hope you will visit and experience this too!

Team Tumbles including the lovely Mrs. Cranky talk about their final leg of their west trip, the Grand Canyon!   We talk trails, temps, and gear and needless to say the excitement is building!   The next time you’ll hear from us will be on trail in California!  Enjoy!

Join the duo for 16 minutes of walking and talking about Great Basin National Park and Philadelphia and Wheeler Peak and carnivals.  We’re giving you the skinny of the second leg of our western trip visiting eastern Nevada.  Nothing more to say really. Enjoy the shit show and follow us on all the socials! ❤️❤️❤️

Alright y’all, we’re mentally and physically prepping for perhaps one of the more epic hikes we’ve done in our tenure as Team Tumbles, HALF DOME.  That’s right friends, in just 3 weeks time we will be out West and soaking in that dry heat all while conquering feats that no native east coaster has dreamt of conquering…the drama.. We talk stats and gear for the 14 mile hike in Yosemite and voice our...

It is a momentous milestone for Team Tumbles as Tumbles and the Crank complete the AT section of Shenandoah National Park.  It was a pretty anticlimactic ending view-wise as they finished in the middle of the park but 2+ years later, it was pretty exciting.  A well deserved blackberry milkshake at Big Meadows Wayside and a trip to Luray Caverns rounded out the day as the duo sets sights for south...

We welcome back IBTAT to the podcast for a life update; what and where is he hiking?  After a fun weekend at AT Trail Days, he decided to continue hiking with Feathers, Roscoe, and Little Leaf Goat through the Shenandoah, the C&O Canal and beyond.  We talk about how full time hiking is going for him and what the next great trip awaits.  We hope that Little Leaf is on the mend and look forward to m...

Another Cranky solo episode. This week covering the Austin Mountain and Furnace Mountain Loop in the Shenandoah. Learn how to sneak into the park, step by step directions for this loop, and about two cool plants. Leash your damn dogs!

(“69, dudes!”) kidding kidding. We were joined by Tennessee’s Jess Lancaster for todays episode and we really want to explore that part of the US now! Jess goes into her love of the Cumberland Plateau and talks about some great sounding trails in Eastern TN!  We also learn more about the Art Loeb Trail and hiking in Georgia in December. We finish off the episode with Jess talking about anxiety and...

Another bonus episode! Cranky explored the Ice Caves and Verkeerder Kills Falls of Sam’s Point Preserve in the Shawangunk region of New York. Learn about these great sites and hear me bitch about the reservation system!

We are so pleased to have had author Brian Livingston (Mr. Frodo) on the show!  Cranky, flying solo, talks to Brian about his 2013 Appalachian Trail thru-hike, goes into characters and character arches in the book, and the process of writing and self-publishing a book.  Readers, and especially hikers, of ‘The Habits..’ will be able to identify with the main character Gabe as he goes through his jo...

Cranky and Tumbles are BACK!  The duo finally started the Vermont section of the AT  at the southern end.  Covid, 95 degrees, ridge lines, and Bennington history phalluses await you this exciting episode. Enjoy, friends!