In today's episode of backpacker radio presented by the trek, we are joined by Emily Ford.  Perhaps you've heard that name in the backpacking sphere of late, because Emily recently wrapped a thru-hike of Wisconsin's Ice Age Trail- in the dead of winter- becoming just the second person ever to do so, and the first woman.  We do a deep dive on Emily's journey, including what gear she used, the weather conditions (spoiler alert- it was cold as hell), how she had to knock on strangers' doors to ask if she could sleep in their yard, and how she managed this trek alongside a husky that did not belong to her.  This is a fun conversation.

We wrap the show with a preview of The Trek's brand new podcast- Walking Distance, a Triple Crown of odd firsts, another edition of backpacking advice of the day, and some history of how North Carolina's tallest mountain played a role in the death of the person its named after. But first.

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Interview with Emily Ford

• Emily’s Instagram

00:04:42 - QOTD: Do you like backpacking in the winter? Or what’s the worst part of hiking in freezing temperatures? 

00:08:00 - Welcome Emily Ford

00:08:20 - Where are you from originally and how and when did you get into backpacking?

00:09:54 - Did you hear what happened on Lake Superior? 

00:10:23 - What kind of stuff did the people who were fishing lose? 

00:10:57 - Why don’t we hear your Minnesotan accent?

00:11:07 - What’s the best accent you’ve got?

00:12:13 - When did your intro into hiking and backpacking begin?

00:14:02 - How much do you think rugby helped you train you for backpacking?

00:15:37 - Did your rugby coach’s mantra play in your mind as you hiked? 

00:16:18 - What made you want to do a winter thru-hike?

00:17:25 - Did you feel like it was a hard adjustment to backpacking after being used to quicker movements with rugby?

00:19:34 - How do you get into powerlifting?

00:22:03 - Did powerlifting help with carrying such a heavy pack for winter backpacking?

00:23:17 - Can you give us the full spiel about the Ice Age Trail and what you just accomplished?

00:24:37 - You’re the first woman and second person ever to winter thru-hike the Ice Age Trail, correct? Does that speak to the difficulty of the feat or the difficulty of being out in that cold of weather?

00:25:39 - What’s the terrain like on the Ice Age Trail? Also you finished in 69 days?! Nice.

00:27:04 - Was it difficult technically or more like rolling hills?

00:28:09 - Had you hiked much of the trail in summer?

00:28:48 - When did you have snow shoes on the trail?

00:29:42 - What was this Wisconsin winter like? How cold was it?

00:31:17 - Did your dog sleep with you in your sleeping bag?

00:32:14 - What’s a musher?

00:33:30 - So the kennel just let you borrow a dog for the winter?

00:34:59 - How did Diggins respond to thru-hiking in winter? 

00:36:36 - So Diggins was melting the snow underneath her as she slept?

00:36:59 - Was Diggins pulling her gear or your gear? 

00:37:59 - Diggins was on leash in all your photos, can you talk about that?

00:39:39 - Do you think Diggins stayed near you because she began to trust you?

00:40:00 - What was it like giving Diggins back to her family?

00:41:00 - Does Diggins live close enough to visit? 

00:41:38 - What kind of challenges were there with bringing a dog? 

00:43:19 - Did Diggins get town food too?

00:43:33 - Did you get to go to any fish fries? 

00:44:07 - What was your lodging situation while on trail?

00:45:16 - So you have friends all throughout Wisconsin?

00:46:24 - What is it like when you get to town? How do you pick which door you are going to knock on? 

00:47:53 - How many times did you cold knock on people’s doors?

00:48:31 - Were people familiar with the Ice Age Trail? 

00:49:05 - Are these people who let you sleep in their yard interacting with you at all? 

00:49:22 - At what point did you start to get fan fare? 

00:51:29 - Do you have any dream sponsors? 

00:52:30 - Can you talk about your gear? 

00:55:00 - How did your sleeping bag pack? 

00:58:14 - What were you wearing while you were hiking?

00:59:46 - Did you have down or synthetic gear?

01:01:18 - Do you have leftover issues from frostbite on your butt?

01:02:08 - Would snow pants have been too hot? 

01:04:19 - Were your shoes waterproof? 

01:04:54 - Did you have gaiters? 

01:06:04 - Did you keep hand warmers in bags to keep them working?

01:06:32 - What kind of eyewear did you have? 

01:06:55 - Did you use trekking poles? 

01:11:25 - Can you speak to being a black, LGBTQIA+ hiker?

01:13:42 - Have people messaged you that they are inspired by your journey?

01:14:44 - What’s next for you?

01:15:25 - Have you been in touch with Renee Patrick at all?

01:17:06 - Did you struggle with feeling stir crazy and bored and not being able to talk to other people?

01:19:08 - How did processing things while hiking interface with your journey?

01:21:02 - Can you talk about your job as head gardner?

01:22:13 - Where can we find you? What can we plug?

01:22:36 - What’s a goat apprentice?

01:23:00 - Did your dog know you were cheating on him while hiking with Diggins?

01:23:53 - Do you have any fun goat facts?

01:24:41 - So older goats don’t get mad at the younger goats when they bounce on them?

01:25:28 - If you are stranded on an island would you prefer goat or cow cheese? 

01:26:38 - Why do people not drink more goat milk?

SEGMENTS

Trek Propaganda

• Walking Distance Podcast

Triple Crown of Firsts

Random Backpacking Advice…of the day.

Mile by Mile Excerpt

Mail Bag 

5 Star Reviews

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