Trail Tales - Thru-Hiking & Backpacking

In 2018, Kristian Morgan supported Karl Sabbe in his successful attempt to set the Fastest Known Time for the Appalachian Trail. Feeling inspired from this experience, Kristian decided to try and set the record himself in 2019. Unfortunately he did not make it, which we talk about in the episode. He was not discouraged from this experience, and he is planning on heading out again in 2020, taking w...

In 2019, David 'Seventy' Braunlich set out to thru hike the Appalachian Trail in an ambitious time period of seventy days. He was SO close to completing that goal, but as we discuss in the episode... his body had some other plans. Beyond the Appalachian Trail, David also has completed the Colorado Trail, a good portion of the Arizona, and many ultra marathons. We talk about all of this, and much m...

The man himself, Darwin on the Trail joins me this week to discuss his upcoming film about the Arizona Trail called 'Through The Great Southwest', the relationship between music and hiking, and much more. Darwin's YouTube channel is one of the most well known hiking channels and he has inspired countless numbers of people to get outside and hit the trail. At the end of the episode he tells one of...

Early Riser thru hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2017, posting on his Youtube vlog the entire way. He has since taken on a very motivational role for future Appalachian Trail thru hikers, posting videos that highlight how to achieve success when thru hiking the trail. Many of these videos highlight the mental side of thru hiking, and are very helpful for those who take mental preparation seriously....

Jeremiah Stringer Hikes joins the show to talk about thru hiking the Vermont Long Trail! We cover some stories from his hike, and talk about the ins and outs of having a backpacking Youtube channel! Many of you know how much I love the Vermont Long Trail, so that coupled with talking to an awesome dude like Jeremiah Stringer made for a super fun episode! Check out Jeremiah Stringer Hikes on Youtub...

Kristen Gardella joins me again, this time to discuss all things New England hiking. In this episode we cover four different trails/challenges that exist in the region, including the Massachusetts Midstate Trail, the Massachusetts Tully Trail, the New Hampshire Monadnock to Sunapee Greenway Trail, and the Connecticut Blue Trails Challenge. Kristen is a wealth of information on these lesser known N...

Baker is back, again again again again again! We decided to do a very late Thanksgiving themed episode, and go over things about thru-hiking, the Appalachian Trail, and trail life that we are thankful for. Happy late Thanksgiving and early Christmas to all! Check out my YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/kylehateshiking While you're at it, Check out the show's website at trailtalespod.com...

Nancy Wind, founder of Peaks and Poses, joins the show to talk about the Whites, doing yoga in the mountains, and the spirituality of hiking! We have a great discussion about our differences on that last topics, and it made me think a little bit more about why I'm so obsessed with hiking. I also learned some stuff about yoga too!  https://www.peaksandposes.com/ Check out my YouTube Channel: https:...

Christopher Johnson, who goes by the trail name Anubis, is currently heading SOBO on the Appalachian Trail. He is the first guest of Trail Tales to be in the middle of a thru-hike while we chat, which provided us with endless topics to cover. We cover how he is holding up physically, mentally, and emotionally. We talk about the unfortunate cold weather that has hit the southern portion of the Appa...

Having just finished thru hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, IBTAT joins the show a second time to talk all things PCT. We talk about the crazy winter weather he had to deal with at the end of his thru hike, how finishing the Pacific Crest Trail compared to finishing the Appalachian Trail, and much more. Completing back-to-back thru hikes is an incredible feat; the fact that IBTAT made two cross coun...

Rachel Meltzer , host of Podcast Here and creator of Trail Name Here joins the show to talk all about thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, and how it impacted her mental health. She was incredibly candid about the depression she has experienced for much of her life, and how thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail was an attempt at curbing it. She also discusses how thru hiking the Appalachian Trail has im...

If you've ever been interested in thru-hiking the Tahoe Rim Trail, this episode is for you! Taylor Norton joins me once again, this time to discuss his recent attempt at thru-hiking the Tahoe Rim Trail. Unfortunately, he was not able to successfully complete the trail, finding himself in a weather-related circumstance that required him to put his safety before his ego. Despite the outcome, he was...

Holy....wow. Fifty Episodes! To celebrate, my good friend and frequent guest of the show Baker Bokorney is back, but this time he is the interviewer. Baker thought it would be fun to reverse the roles and take some of the work off my plate this week, so I got to spend an hour answer questions about myself, my hiking history, and Trail Tales itself. I even get to share a never-before-told story at...

Redline Guiding's owner and founder Mike Cherim joins the show this week to talk all about the White Mountains of New Hampshire! Mike is an experienced hiker who has completed many notable accomplishments. From thru-hiking the Long Trail to Redlining the White Mountains, Mike has many miles under his belt, and we had plenty to talk about. We discussed what White Mountain Redlining is, how there is...

Thru-hiker and peak-bagger Caet Cash has completed the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Adirondack 46, and much much more. She joins the show this week to discuss her current hiking project; tackling the South Beyond 6000 Single Year Grid. If successful, Caet will be the first hiker in history to have completed the South Beyond 6000 in a Single Year Grid. We talk all about what inspired thi...

Sintax77 On the Adirondacks, Hammock Camping, and Much More Sintax77 (aka Shawn Crawford) is back for round two this week! Much like our first episode, we jumped all over the place in our conversation, mostly focusing on his latest film 'Military Surplus Camping - B-47 Crash Site - Adirondack Mountains', as well as talk about some of his hikes in the White Mountains and of course... hammock campin...

Everybody is trying to step up their Instagram game these days (or at least I am), so I'm stoked I got to talk to Appalachian Trail thru-hiker and photographer Matt Morelli about the process behind his photos. After thru-hikng the AT, Matt realized his potential with camera, and decided to pursue it more seriously. We talk all about how you can step up your photography game while thru-hiking or on...

Thru-Hiking the Northville Placid Trail in the Adirondacks with Jacob Ireland Jacob Ireland recently completed a thru-hike of the Northville Placid Trail in the Adirondacks, and was kind enough to reflect on his experience with me this week. I also attempted the Northville Placid Trail a few years ago, and through that experience I discovered how tough of a trail the NPT really is. Though Jacob ce...

Should Mount Tecumseh Be Included in the White Mountain 4000 Footers List? Peak-Bagging the New Hamphsire 4000 Footers with Mac Cerullo Journalist and peak-bagger Mac Cerullo joins the show to talk about writing for Outside Magazine about Philip Carcia's White Mountain Single Year Grid, and about his own quest to hike the New Hampshire 4000 Footers. We discuss many topics about the Whites, ranging...

Emory Wanger, who hosts the Byland Podcast, joins the show this week to talk about thru hiking the PCT, backpack-hunting, and of course... podcasting! We jumped all around in this one, and it was almost therapeutic for me to discuss the behind the scenes details of starting and maintaining a podcast within the hiking/backpacking/thru hiking world that we both exist in. Of course, it was also great...

46 Climbs co-founder Kolby Ziemendorf is back on the show to talk about his recent attempt to break the record for hiking the most High Peaks in the Adirondacks in 24 hours. Unfortunately, the attempt did not work out, and we talk all about what happened. We also cover some of his preparation for taking on such a daunting hiking challenge, the record fund-raising year that 46 Climbs is having, and...

Scott Hughes recently completed a thru-hike of the Colorado Trail, and joins the show to talk all about it. We cover all the essential information that someone contemplating thru-hiking the Colorado Trail needs to know, including resupply, weather, camping, and much more. Also, you can apparently thru-BIKE this trail as well as thru-hike it. You read that correctly. How sick is that! This was Scot...

Frozen from the Youtube Channel Outdoor Adventures joins the show this week to talk about his recent thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail. We jump all around in this episode and got to cover many topics pertaining to thru-hiking, vlogging, and life on the trail. Frozen talks about some of the good and bad parts about being an Appalachian Trail vlogger, how thru-hiking was able to bring out a more ex...

Thru-hiker and photographer Aaron Ibey joins the show again, this time to talk about his hike of New Hampshire's Cohos Trail. This relatively unknown trail runs from the New Hampshire/Canada border, 170 miles south to Crawford Notch in the White Mountains. Aaron shares all the details from his thru-hike, including his resupply strategy, the types of terrain he encountered, and the abundance of wil...

Round three with Philip Carcia, also known as Finding Philip! Wrapping up the story of his White Mountain Single Year Grid, Philip goes into detail about the role that social media played in his project, some of his highest and lowest points, and what kept him motivated on the trail, day after day after day. Philip hiked every single one of the White Mountain 4000 Footers in every single month......