Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share Hiker Trash Radio
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
Hiker Trash Radio
Hiker Trash Radio episodes
- "I Had A Big Old Blank Canvas." - Watergirl (Part II)About the GuestAndrea "Watergirl" Zelinski is a writer, former political reporter, and two-trail thru-hiker based in North Carolina. She covered the Texas State Legislature for the Houston Chronicle and Austin-based outlets before hiking the Appalachian Trail during the COVID pandemic in 2020. The AT led her to abandon political journalism, pivot to travel writing as senior cruise editor for Travel Weekly — a job that took her on 36 trips across five continents in three years, including Antarctica — and then to leave that job too, in 2025, to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. She is currently working on a memoir about the experience. Trail name: Watergirl. Named by a man called Medicine Man in Georgia after she embarrassed herself at a water source. They have been friends ever since.What's Covered in Part 2Why She Was Primed — The Professional Side
Why She Was Primed — The Personal Side
The Cruise Editor — 36 Trips, Five Continents
Why She Left the Dream Job
Journaling on Trail
The Book — Don't Rush Me
Coming Home to January 6th
Tramily Versus Solo
Hiking Hacks — Turmeric and Psyllium Husk
Off the Beaten Path — The Name of the Stars
Pay It Forward — Local Trail Maintenance
CDT Plans
Links & Resources- Watergirl on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adventuresofwatergirl
- The Name of the Stars: A Life in the Wilds — Pete Fromm. Watergirl's Off the Beaten Path recommendation — a memoir about nature, fatherhood, and what happens as we age.
- Blaze Physio —: https://www.blazephysio.com
- Appalachian Trail Conservancy — www.appalachiantrail.org — Pay It Forward: volunteer for local trail maintenance.
- Pacific Crest Trail Association: https://www.pcta.org
Connect with Hiker Trash Radio- Email: mailto:[email protected]
- Social: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok — search Hiker Trash Radio.
Leave a review on Apple Podcasts — it takes 60 seconds and makes a real difference.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
39 min - "I Had A Big Old Blank Canvas." - Watergirl (Part I)About the GuestAndrea "Watergirl" Zelinski is a writer, former political reporter, and two-trail thru-hiker based in North Carolina. She covered the Texas State Legislature for the Houston Chronicle and Austin-based outlets before hiking the Appalachian Trail during the COVID pandemic in 2020. The AT led her to abandon political journalism, pivot to travel writing as senior cruise editor for Travel Weekly — a job that took her on 36 trips across five continents in three years, including Antarctica — and then to leave that job too, in 2025, to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. She is currently working on a memoir about the experience. Trail name: Watergirl. Named by a man called Medicine Man in Georgia after she embarrassed herself at a water source. They have been friends ever since. She follows @adventuresofwatergirl.What's Covered in Part 1Trail Name — Watergirl
Trailblazer's Toolkit — Trekking Poles
The Hiking Poll — Score: 24
The Vermont Lightning Strike
COVID 2020 — Hiking in the 1980s
The McDonald's Cheeseburger
Closest to Quitting — The Cold and the Dogs
Links & Resources- Watergirl on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adventuresofwatergirl
- The Name of the Stars: A Life in the Wilds — Pete Fromm. Watergirl's Off the Beaten Path recommendation — a memoir about nature, fatherhood, and what happens as we age.
- Blaze Physio —: https://www.blazephysio.com
- Appalachian Trail Conservancy — www.appalachiantrail.org — Pay It Forward: volunteer for local trail maintenance.
- Pacific Crest Trail Association: https://www.pcta.org
Connect with Hiker Trash Radio- Email: mailto:[email protected]
- Social: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok — search Hiker Trash Radio.
Part 2 drops in 10 minutes. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts — it takes 60 seconds and makes a real difference.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
41 min - Dark Miles - Larry and the Long Way Back (with Shawn Mahoney)
About Shawn
- Air Force veteran and former Air Force medic (medical technician)
- New Hampshire-based thru-hiker, endurance athlete, and fundraiser
- Triple Crown finisher (AT 2022, PCT 2023, CDT 2024) in three consecutive years
- Also completed Te Araroa (length of New Zealand, 2025) for Make-A-Wish New Zealand
- Has raised funds for veterans organizations, St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital, Alzheimer's research, and cancer causes
- Has carried a log on every significant hike for 22-plus years
About Larry- What began as a military training tool (Shawn ran with weighted logs before boot camp) became something else after his 2019 hospitalization
- The log was named Larry by the New Hampshire hiking community when he started doing the high peaks
- Every log is Larry, even as they are replaced, including a 2,500-year-old swamp kauri from New Zealand's North Island
- Sea Dog Brewing Company brewed Larry the Lager in the original Larry's honor; both kegs were tapped out at the event
- Larry has raised tens of thousands of dollars in charitable giving across multiple causes
The Crisis- October 2019: Shawn was living with his cousin when the alarm he set for work kept ringing. His cousin came in to turn it off and found him unresponsive. Started CPR. Called 911.
- In the ICU he was, per the attending physicians, the sickest patient in the hospital. His parents were told he had a 50/50 chance of survival.
- He woke up with a breathing tube, his hands in restraints, and a catheter, with no memory of the preceding day
- He had been suffering from an undiagnosed chronic skin condition for years (75 VA and specialist visits, white blood cell counts of nearly 3,000 against a normal range of 0-100) which progressed to endocarditis (infection of the heart)
- He was embarrassed by his skin condition for years, wearing long sleeves and leggings even in desert heat on trail
The Rebuild- Goal one in the hospital: breathing tube out. Goal two: pass the speech therapist. Goal three: walk the hallway. He broke the return into the smallest possible pieces.
- First completed the NE111 (actually 115 peaks across NH, VT, ME, and the Adirondacks) in thirteen weeks, driving four and a half hours to trailheads, sleeping in his Honda Civic, repeating
- Mid-AT (2022), left trail to complete a 12-hour Tough Mudder in Pennsylvania. While other hikers went to hotels and recovered at Trail Days, he raced obstacle courses.
- PCT (2023) was the hardest -- a high snow year, and he hiked southbound after flipping with no other thru-hikers around for days at a time; dealt with back and shoulder injuries from the body mechanics of hiking in deep snow with a log
- Moment on the Marble Mountains, PCT: the log slid off his shoulder and rolled down the mountain. He left all his gear, climbed down, retrieved Larry, climbed back up.
Causes Supported- AT: Veterans organizations ($10,000 raised)
- PCT: St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital
- CDT: Alzheimer's research (in honor of his grandmother)
- Te Araroa: Make-A-Wish New Zealand
- Colorado Trail: Cancer causes
LinksInstagram: @larry.the.log
Hiker Trash Radio: hikertrashradio.com
Dark Miles: hikertrashradio.com/dark-miles
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
28 min - Trail Stories - Don't Rush Me with Andrea "Watergirl" ZelinskiAbout the GuestAndrea "Watergirl" Zelinski is a writer, former political reporter, and two-trail thru-hiker based in North Carolina. She covered the Texas State Legislature for the Houston Chronicle and Austin-based outlets before hiking the Appalachian Trail during the COVID pandemic in 2020. The AT led her to abandon political journalism, pivot to travel writing as senior cruise editor for Travel Weekly — a job that took her on 36 trips across five continents in three years, including Antarctica — and then to leave that job too, in 2025, to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. She is currently working on a memoir about the experience. Trail name: Watergirl. Named by a man called Medicine Man in Georgia after she embarrassed herself at a water source. They have been friends ever since.Episode HighlightsTrail Name — Low-Key Superhero
Five Steps
The Blank Canvas
COVID AT — Hiking in the 1980s But With Internet
The McDonald's Family
The Career Arc
The Book — Don't Rush Me
Links & Resources- Watergirl on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adventuresofwatergirl
- The Name of the Stars: A Life in the Wilds — Pete Fromm. Watergirl's Off the Beaten Path recommendation — a memoir about nature, fatherhood, and what happens as we age.
- Blaze Physio —: https://www.blazephysio.com
- Appalachian Trail Conservancy — www.appalachiantrail.org — Pay It Forward: volunteer for local trail maintenance.
- Pacific Crest Trail Association: https://www.pcta.org
Connect with Hiker Trash Radio- Email: mailto:[email protected]
- Social: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok — search Hiker Trash Radio.
The full interview with Watergirl drops Wednesday in two parts. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts — it takes 60 seconds and makes a real difference.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
21 min - The Cottage - Episode 1: The G4 and the Yellow Pad
The Cottage — Episode 1: "The G4 and the Yellow Pad"
Glenn Van Peski made himself a lighter pack because he was tired of carrying 70 pounds into the backcountry. When other hikers started asking him to make one for them, he figured 50 would cover it. 86 orders arrived before the packs shipped, and what was supposed to be a small favor became Gossamer Gear — one of the most respected names in ultralight backpacking. In this first episode of The Cottage, we trace the full arc from Glenn's garage to the moment the company almost died, and the phone call from John Mackey that saved it. We also hear from Whitney "Allgood" LaRuffa about the annual brain trust hikes where cottage gear founders would backpack together and share trade secrets, and from Lloyd Vogel on building Garage Grown Gear from his Minnesota basement into the ultralight world's one-stop shop.
Featured Voices
Glenn Van Peski (G Squared) — Founder, Gossamer Gear. Author of "Take Less, Do More."
Whitney LaRuffa (Allgood) — Former VP, Six Moon Designs. Former President, ALDHA-West.
Lloyd Vogel — CEO and Co-Founder, Garage Grown Gear.
Links & Resources
Gossamer Gear — gossamergear.com
Garage Grown Gear — garagegrowngear.com
"Take Less, Do More" by Glenn Van Peski — available at gossamergear.com and major booksellers
Glenn Van Peski — glenvanpesky.com
Six Moon Designs — sixmoondesigns.com
Connect with Hiker Trash Radio
Email: [email protected]
Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | TikTok
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
18 min - Suck It Up, Buttercup - Carl Roberson (Part II)About the GuestCarl Roberson is a Delaware-based heavy equipment operator, Marine Corps veteran, author, and — in 1974 — the youngest person to complete a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail at age 14. He was adopted at six months old, summited the Grand Teton at 12, attended NOLS and trained under Scott Fischer at 13, and completed Georgia to Maine at 14 with a 37-pound Kelty pack, per-state guidebooks, no GPS, and a father who threatened to come pick him up if he stepped out of line. He later completed the Colorado Trail at 23, section-hiked Yellowstone and the Rockies throughout his teens, served in the Marine Corps (29 Palms and Camp Pendleton, heavy artillery), operated excavators for 47 years, and has been volunteering at Litway Hostel in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania for the past four years. His memoir, The Adventure of a Lifetime, is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Walmart. A movie trailer has been submitted to 500 production companies. A film may follow.What's Covered in Part 2The Life After the AT
The Hostel — Litway Hostel, Mount Pocono, PA
The Book — The Adventure of a Lifetime
The Film — "Fact-Check Me, Motherf*cker"
The Marine Corps
Hiking Hack — First Aid Kit Plus Knowledge
Media Recommendation — Get Outside
The Legend Deflection
Links & Resources- The Adventure of a Lifetime — Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Adventure+of+a+Lifetime+Carl+Roberson
- The Adventure of a Lifetime — Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com
- Facebook: CarlDigit1
- Instagram: CarlRobertson89 / Backpacking Adventures / Aquarius Excavation
- YouTube: CarlRobertsonYouTube3698
- TikTok: CarlRobertson3
- Litway Hostel — Mount Pocono, PA: https://www.lakenojohotel.com
Connect with Hiker Trash Radio- Email: mailto:[email protected]
- Social: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok — search Hiker Trash Radio.
Leave a review on Apple Podcasts — it takes 60 seconds and makes a real difference.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
39 min - Suck It Up, Buttercup - Carl Roberson (Part I)About the GuestCarl Roberson is a Delaware-based heavy equipment operator, Marine Corps veteran, author, and, in 1974, the youngest person to complete a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail at age 14. He was adopted at six months old, summited the Grand Teton at 12, attended NOLS and trained under Scott Fischer at 13, and completed Georgia to Maine at 14 with a 37-pound Kelty pack, per-state guidebooks, no GPS, and a father who threatened to come pick him up if he stepped out of line. He later completed the Colorado Trail at 23, section-hiked Yellowstone and the Rockies throughout his teens, served in the Marine Corps (29 Palms and Camp Pendleton, heavy artillery), operated excavators for 47 years, and has been volunteering at Litway Hostel in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania for the past four years. His memoir, The Adventure of a Lifetime, is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Walmart. A movie trailer has been submitted to 500 production companies. A film may follow.What's Covered in Part 1Trailblazer's Toolkit — A Compass (and the Knowledge to Use It)
The Hiking Poll — Score: 22
The Stipulations
Scott Fischer — The Instructor
The 1974 Trail — What Was Different
Three Stories
Links & Resources- The Adventure of a Lifetime — Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Adventure+of+a+Lifetime+Carl+Roberson
- The Adventure of a Lifetime — Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com
- Facebook: CarlDigit1
- Instagram: CarlRobertson89 / Backpacking Adventures / Aquarius Excavation
- YouTube: CarlRobertsonYouTube3698
- TikTok: CarlRobertson3
- Litway Hostel — Mount Pocono, PA: https://www.lakenojohotel.com
Connect with Hiker Trash Radio- Email: mailto:[email protected]
- Social: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok — search Hiker Trash Radio.
Part 2 drops in 10 minutes. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts — it takes 60 seconds and makes a real difference.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
39 min - Trail Stories - Suck It Up, Buttercup (with Carl Roberson)About the GuestCarl Roberson is a Delaware-based heavy equipment operator, Marine Corps veteran, author, and, in 1974, the youngest person to complete a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail at age 14. He was adopted at six months old, summited the Grand Teton at 12, attended NOLS and trained under Scott Fischer at 13, and completed Georgia to Maine at 14 with a 37-pound Kelty pack, per-state guidebooks, no GPS, and a father who threatened to come pick him up if he stepped out of line. He later completed the Colorado Trail at 23, section-hiked Yellowstone and the Rockies throughout his teens, served in the Marine Corps (29 Palms and Camp Pendleton, heavy artillery), operated excavators for 47 years, and has been volunteering at Litway Hostel in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania for the past four years. His memoir, The Adventure of a Lifetime, is available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Walmart. A movie trailer has been submitted to 500 production companies. A film may follow.Episode HighlightsThe Stipulations
Scott Fischer Connection
Two Months Alone
The Erwin River Crossing
The SERE Ambush
The Pennsylvania Rappel
Suck It Up, Buttercup
The Book and the Film
Links & Resources- The Adventure of a Lifetime — Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Adventure+of+a+Lifetime+Carl+Roberson
- The Adventure of a Lifetime — Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com
- Facebook: CarlDigit1
- Instagram: CarlRobertson89 / Backpacking Adventures / Aquarius Excavation
- YouTube: CarlRobertsonYouTube3698
- TikTok: CarlRobertson3
- Litway Hostel — Mount Pocono, PA: https://www.lakenojohotel.com
Connect with Hiker Trash Radio- Email: mailto:[email protected]
- Social: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok — search Hiker Trash Radio.
The full interview with Carl drops Wednesday in two parts. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts — it takes 60 seconds and makes a real difference.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
21 min - The Route Makers - Bonus Episode: Real Texas Romance
The series is complete: five makers, five routes, a line drawn around the country and through a city and straight through the hardest thing a person can face. But there was one more maker we couldn't leave out, because his trail is so new, and so unlike any of the others, that it needed its own dispatch.
Charlie "Freestyle" Gandy — fifth-generation Texan, former state legislator, and self-described artist — just finished walking the xTx: 1,500 miles across Texas, from the alligator-infested Sabine River on the Louisiana border to El Paso. He invented it two years ago on the Tahoe Rim Trail, postholing through snow, when it hit him that Texas needed a great winter trail. Then he borrowed a white van named Vanna White and drove it back and forth across the state three and a half times, finding the dead ends and the gates.
Building a trail across Texas means a problem no other maker in this series faced: almost none of the land is public. So Charlie negotiates — hundreds of private ranchers, one easement at a time — using what he calls the "Trojan horse strategy": lead with horses, because a rancher who'd never open a gate for a backpacker will open it for a horse. Along the way the trail is gathering a tribe — Triple Crowners in their sixties, military veterans building shelters for focus and healing, whole trail towns reinventing themselves.
And at the heart of it is the thing Charlie calls "real Texas romance" — the idea that a trail can pull strangers together across every kind of difference. He hikes with people whose politics are nothing like his, and the trail is the one thing they share. It's the whole series' theme, Texas-sized: a route as a reason for people to build something bigger than themselves.
The line isn't finished. That's the best part — and if you want to help draw it, Charlie will tell you exactly where to go.
Featured route: the xTx (X Texas Trail Project) — 1,500 miles, Louisiana border to El Paso Featured maker: Charlie "Freestyle" Gandy Learn more / get involved: extexas.org
Thanks for walking The Route Makers with us.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
16 min - Living in the Pain Cave - Kaylee Frederick (Part II)About the GuestKaylee Frederick is a 21-year-old elite ultra-endurance athlete from Pennsylvania, currently studying biology and secondary education at the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown (with a minor in chemistry, an ESL certification, and a STEM endorsement) while working four part-time jobs including forklift operator, assistant manager at a frozen custard shop, CrossFit coach, and tutor. At 18 she became the youngest person ever to finish the Badwater 135. She recently won the Eastern States 100 outright — first woman ever, first to break 24 hours, finishing 90+ minutes ahead of second place. She finished 12th female in the world at the 24-Hour World Championship in France. She trains with coach Eric Kosik. She ran a five-mile warmup before this interview at 4 AM New Zealand time.What's Covered in Part 2The Origin Story — 7 to Badwater in Ten Years
The Training Evolution — Learning What Training Actually Is
Coming Up as a Teen in an Adult Sport
24-Hour World Championship — I Walk Now So I Don't Have to Walk Later
The Achilles Pop
Running for Her Dad — And Then For Herself
Her Mom — AT 2024, 99 Days
What's Next — Black Forest and Javelina
Hiking Hack — Toe Socks
Off the Beaten Path — The Line by Billy Yang
Pay It Forward — Eastern States Trail Endurance Alliance/Association
Links & Resources- Kaylee Frederick — Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/frederick.kaylee
- The Line — Billy Yang documentary on Badwater 135: https://www.youtube.com/@billyyang
- Eastern States Trail Endurance Alliance/Association: https://www.easternstates100.com
- Mount Coast T1 trail shoes — Kaylee's race shoe of choice. Recently also testing the lighter, more responsive M1.
- Eric Kosik — Kaylee's coach since January 2024.
Connect with Hiker Trash Radio- Email: mailto:[email protected]
- Social: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok — search Hiker Trash Radio.
Leave a review on Apple Podcasts — it takes 60 seconds and makes a real difference.
Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
37 min
About Hiker Trash Radio
From the publisher's feed
Join Doc and his guests on Hiker Trash Radio, the outdoor adventure podcast that takes you on a myriad of trails. With interviews from thru hikers, skydivers, adventure athletes, big wall climbers,…
and more, each episode is packed with trail talk, gear tips, and hilarious misadventures. And if you thought the great outdoors was all sunshine and rainbows, think again! Tune in for tales of blistered feet, helicopter evacuations, and Type II Fun that will make you appreciate the comforts of home. Settle in and get ready to trade the city for the wilderness. It's time to embrace the suck!
Best of Hiker Trash Radio
Ranked by our users in the last 21 days