"Thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail is just section hiking the earth." - The Real Hiking Viking

If Comic Con and Burning Man had a baby- and that baby was raised on the Appalachian Trail- this festival baby would be none other than Trail Days.  And that's precisely the recording location of Episode 13 of Backpacker Radio.  Badger is joined by The Real Hiking Viking as well as the dynamic duo of Stories from the Trail, Gary Sizer and Megan Thompson, to talk about Trail Days, thru-hiking, the military, The Lone Star Trail (again, unfortunately), FKT training for the Colorado Trail, and much more.  Weaved throughout the episode are interviews with 2018 AT thru-hikers, touching on their favorite moments from their journey so far.  And last but certainly not least is a conversation with Tom Kennedy, co-founder of Hike for Mental Health, an organization dedicated to eliminating the stigma of mental health disorders while raising money for research, and promoting the health benefits of being out in nature.

The show is brought to you by Sawyer and fueled by whiskey.

Topics in this episode include: 

• Stories from the Trail Podcast
• Gary "Green Giant" Sizer's before and after photo
• Where is the Next Shelter (Gary's first book)
• The Best Beards from the Appalachian Trail
• Hike for Mental Health
• FKT Proboards and their new site
• FKTs Explained
• Liz Kidder's favorite piece of gear: The Hyperlite Mountain Gear Southwest Backpack
• Wilt's favorite piece of gear: Patagonia's R1 Hoody
• Appalachian Trials
• Yard Sale aka Ashley Manning
• Stories from the Trail Episode with Miss Janet
• Badger's Interview with Miss Janet
• IBTAT

Have any praise, questions, praise, comments, praise or praise for Backpacker Radio?  Reach out to [email protected].

This episode was recorded at Wayfinder Co-op. Intro song Walking Slow by Animal Years.

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A super big thank you to our Chuck Norris Award winner(s) from Patreon: Sawyer Products, Evaristo Villela

A big thank you to our Cinnamon Connection Champions from Patreon: Gregory Gardner, Kate Hurley, Clint "DuctTape" Sherbet, and Peter Leven.

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