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Meet our Ambassadors
4 thru-hikers on the 3 great long trails in the US—the Pacific Crest Trail, Appalachian Trail, and Continental Divide. Follow along as they collectively hike nearly 8,000 miles this summer!
Journey Man — PCT
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"I am a 27 year old from Douglassville, Pennsylvania. I grew up camping with my family and with Boy Scouts. I love history, environmental science and maps. I am about to hike the PCT with my girlfriend Mantis! I wanted to go on another thru hike because I didn't get enough on the Appalachian Trail! I think I was bit by the thru hiking bug and I don't want to stop."
Trail Update: Friends, Fires and Flips
We made it to Snoqualmie Pass, but unfortunately Mantis' right tendon was swelling because of how tight it was. We thought it best to get off trail for a few days to let her leg recover. We went into Seattle and bounced around a few spots, but spent a few days with...
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Challenge: Can You Eliminate Single-Use Plastics From a Thru-Hike?
One thing I have noticed is how much waste we create every time we resupply and over the course of the days we are eating our food and the wrapping they come in adds up fairly quickly. It's a shame that we can't find better ways to package the food we need for resupply or be able to find more grocery stores with healthier and more eco friendly options.
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Mantis — PCT
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"My name is Malia, or Mantis if you know me on trail. I am an outdoor enthusiast, environmental educator, and a lifelong learner! In my opinion, one of the best places to learn is outdoors in nature. I am about to thru hike the Pacific Crest Trail; actually, by the time you read this, I will have already started! I thru -hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2022 and fell in love with trail life."
PCT Trail Days
We immediately started seeing familiar faces once we arrived. It was a big, beautiful reunion of wonderful people. By day, we wandered around with various friends and visited all the vendors. I even got to see...
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Trail Angel Stories: Twist, Headstart, and Family
Our hiker friend Twist grew up in Portland, OR. He had a whole itinerary of people he wanted to see on particular weekends. Lucky for Journey Man and myself, Twist invited us to join him for a couple weekends. We first met Twist’s parents, Steve and Laurie, in Sun River. They
Thoughts on Injury
A couple days in to the time off trail in Seattle, I had to sit with myself and ponder the real possibility that I might not return to trail. It was such a disappointing thought. It made me mad. And sad. I didn’t want to be done hiking. I had two of the most talked about sections still left to complete—the North Cascades and the Sierra...
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Scribe — CDT
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"Hi there! I'm Gretchen, AKA "Scribe", a mid-thirties vagabond from Ohio who loves personal growth audiobooks, chai tea lattes, building community to survive late stage capitalism and everything outdoors. I left my cushy corporate career in 2019 to thru hike and have never looked back. Beginning in late June, I am setting out to backpack the Continental Divide Trail, which runs approximately 3,100 miles from Canada to Mexico through the Rocky Mountains."
Pristine Lakes & Other Finds on the CDT
Sometimes you find a beautiful spot but your tent doesn't quite fit. In this case, I just couldn't pass it up and wedged my tent in anyway. This beautiful lake in the Winds was such a treat. I even had a weekender out with his family come and visit for a bit, some welcome social time after a number of days hiking alone.
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Notes on the Basin
After hiking through Glacier National Park, the Bob Marshall Wilderness, the Pintler Wilderness, Yellowstone National Park, the Wind River range and countless other breathtaking locations with epic vistas and natural wonders, many CDT hikers dread "the basin" in southern Wyoming. I had been hearing about it for hundreds of miles, with lots of fearmongering on...
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Scribe's Daily Warmup
With any sport or activity, it is generally a good idea to warm up your body to prepare it for what is to come and to reduce the chance of injury. Long distance backpacking is no different. Although many people just roll out of their tents and start walking each day with no stretching or warmup whatsoever, I have found that doing a little warmup routine helps wake up my muscles and...
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Snackbar — AT
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"My Name is Derek Tusing or Snackbar (if you’re classy) I will be attempting a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail and documenting the experience through photography and video. This is my 4th thru-hike. I love doing hard things and have always found joy in the backcountry. Community and friendships are a huge reason that I continue to choose thru-hiking."
12 States Down, 2 More to Go
Near the end of Massachusetts (mile 1548) we crossed a road by a small farmhouse that provides an awesome Trail Stand stocked with cold drinks, snacks, and free Wi-Fi. A little over halfway through August we made it to Vermont and intersected with The Long Trail. Running the length of the state of Vermont, it is the...
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Challenge: Can You Eliminate Single-Use Plastics From a Thru-Hike?
The first item I was immediately satisfied with (surprising so, I might add) was my switch to an insulated water bottle. Regular water carries also were a treat as the fresh spring water would often still be cold when I reached camp for the evening. Doesn’t hurt to pour a few tall boys into it while leaving a gas station and be the shelter hero at the end of the day either.
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Catching the Train Into NYC
We only meant to stay a night or two but other groups of hikers kept showing up and pulling us back in. From there we caught the train back north, time for more life on the trail.
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How to Get Good Sleep on Trail
Sleep, oh glorious sleep. It is not always easy to achieve on trail, though! When I get into camp, all I want to do is just throw down my pack and collapse in a heap, but there are many tasks to do before I can rest. The tent must be pitched, my bed made...
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Can You Eliminate All Single-Use Plastics From a Thru-Hike?
From food wrappers to water bottles, take-out containers and utensils, single-use plastics are everywhere in our day to day lives.... Turns out: you can't even escape them out in the wilderness. While thru-hikers are typically living for months with a much smaller environmental footprint than the average American, we wanted to challenge our Ambassadors to see if they could try to eliminate all single-use plastics from their thru-hikes.
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What's in Our Thru-Hikers' Packs?
We asked our thru-hiker ambassadors to share what gear they love... and what they don't! From luxury items, to the strangest thing they're carrying on their 2023 thru-hikes.
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