Zach Davis didn't hike a long-distance trail until 2011, yet he was intuitively aware of the need to prepare himself mentally for the hike. Establishing his "why" allowed him to be ready for the problems that he would inevitably encounter on the trail. The fact that he contracted West Nile Disease and carried it until the end of the trail is further testimony to his desire to fulfill his goal.

When Zach returned from the AT, he wrote his best-selling book, Appalachian Trials to assist other hikers in the hiker mindset. He was already a prolific blogger, but used his website to, first, sell more books and, second, to turn his hiking influence into a business.

Zach's commonsense approach to hiking resonates with Steve in their conversation. You can find Zach at any of these places.

The Trek: https://thetrek.co

Zach's Instagram: http://instagram/zrdavis/

The Trek Newsletter: http://bit.ly/TheTrekNewsletter

The Trek on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theTrek.co/

The Trek on Twitter: http://twitter.com/thetrek_

The Trek on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thetrek.co/

Zach's Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/Zach-Davis

With Trailtopia stepping up to support both this show and Bruce Matson's show, Returning to Katahdin: An Appalachian Trail Dream, I had a chat with Vince Robichaud about his love of both the outdoors and good food–a winning combination.