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Rue McKenrick is no doubt one of the most prolific long-distance hikers today, but he doesn’t know how many miles he’s hiked because he doesn’t care about that.  It’s not what defines him, but if you need to know then let’s just start with his Triple Crown over a decade ago, the many long trails all over the US and abroad, and most recently a 12,000-mile route spanning the perimeter of the contiguous United States.  Rue is a hiker, yes, but he’s also the Executive Director and founder of the American Perimeter Trail Conference.  

In the words of the organization itself, “the vision of the American Perimeter Trail Conference is to create a protected corridor of land and natural resources available for recreational use roughly tracing the contiguous United States.  The American Perimeter Trail seeks to connect the land, resources, people, and communities. It strives to encourage conservation efforts through recreation, allowing all people and generations to experience the diversity of the contiguous United States.”

Rue believes in community and sincerely wants to connect us together to form bonds strong enough to heal both ourselves and those around us.

Show Notes and Links

• Introductions
• Is backpacking gaining in popularity?
• Getting to know Rue’s background
• Why the American Perimeter Trail
• The mission of the APT
• The inherent nature of building trails 
• What will happen because of trails 
• The APT as a conservation organization
• The APT’s approach to conservation
• Wildlife corridors 
• On supporting companies that support conservation
• Thoughts on hiking for a cause
• The need to start having open and honest conversations
• What Rue gets out of backpacking
• https://americanperimetertrail.org/
• https://www.instagram.com/americanperimetertrail/
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt4dgfzYJJXZ9Lk3Le5Lskg
• https://www.facebook.com/americanperimetertrail/
• https://twitter.com/AmerPerimTrail

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