Hiker Trash Radio

About the Guest

Bailey "Snake" Christopher is an Australian environmental engineer, a former iron-mine hydrogeologist from Western Australia's Pilbara, who took a sabbatical to hike Te Araroa and the Pacific Crest Trail and never went back. In the two years that followed, he hiked about 10,000 miles on nine long trails: the Pyrenees High Route (HRP), the South Island of Te Araroa, the PCT, the Great Divide Trail, the Greater Patagonia Trail, the Arizona Trail, the Hayduke Trail, the Via Alpina, and the Transcaucasian Trail. He got his trail name from moving rattlesnakes off the PCT for hikers who were afraid to pass them. He is six foot four, and he took up hiking at the end of 2020.

What Happens in This Episode

The Frozen Man

A Mine, a Savings Account, and a Sabbatical

Trench Foot

Snake, and the Pace That Costs

Lightning, Shadow, and the Hell Hounds

Attitude, and the Snake

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The Cottage — Bonus Episode: "The Family Business"

The main series covered the makers, the designs, and the ecosystem. This bonus episode covers the families. Three cottage brands that started because somebody couldn't stop making things, and three families got pulled into the orbit. A one-man apparel company run by a triple crowner. A pack company born from a joke on Reddit, built for a father's daughters. And a sun hoodie brand dreamed up in a single night by a Grand Canyon obsessive whose wife has some thoughts about his adventures.

Featured Voices

Bennett Fisher (Jolly) — Founder, Jolly Gear. Triple Crowner (AT '15, PCT '18, CDT '24).

Ben McMillan — Founder, Hilltop Packs. Waynesburg, PA.

Tim Buckley — Content Creator, Hilltop Packs.

David Parrish (Dave) — CEO and Founder, Off the Trail Recreation (OTTR). Phoenix, AZ.

Links & Resources

Jolly Gear — jollygear.com | @jollygearr on Instagram

Hilltop Packs — hilltoppacks.com

Off the Trail Recreation (OTTR) — ottr-inc.com

Connect with Hiker Trash Radio

Email: [email protected]

Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | TikTok

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About the Guest

Dr. Caroline Himbert, trail name Earthcake, is a German expat and cancer researcher on the faculty at the University of Utah's cancer center in Salt Lake City, following a postdoc at Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital. Her research focuses on cancer survivorship, mainly colorectal and prostate cancer, and how exercise can improve survival and quality of life. She moved to the United States in October 2015 and thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail in 2016, followed by the Colorado Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. She then moved into ultrarunning, finishing her first 100-miler, the Wasatch 100, in 29 hours and 45 minutes for a top-ten finish and a sub-30 buckle. On the John Muir Trail, she set the unsupported women's FKT in August 2025 in 4 days, 4 hours, and 58 minutes, edging a record that had stood since 2016 by eight minutes. In July 2026 she came back and lowered it to 3 days, 16 hours, and 36 minutes, running northbound from Whitney Portal to Yosemite Valley. She is coached by Joe "Stringbean" McConaughy, and she got her trail name from mispronouncing "earthquake" on the PCT. She is on Instagram at @im_earthcake.

What's Covered in Part 2

The First Days on the PCT

How a Hiker Became a Runner

The Wasatch 100

Coach Stringbean

Why Solo FKTs Bring the Joy Back

The Science Brain on the Trail

Breaking the 10-Year Record

The Eight Minutes — and the Yosemite Crowds

Managing Sleep Deprivation in 2026

Hiking Hacks — Hike Your Own Hike

Off the Beaten Path — Andrew Bentz and The Third Man Factor

Pay It Forward — Save Our Great Salt Lake

What's Next — Moab 240 and Cocodona 250

Where to Follow Earthcake

Links & Resources

Hiker Trash Radio — hikertrashradio.com

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About the Guest

Dr. Caroline Himbert, trail name Earthcake, is a German expat and cancer researcher on the faculty at the University of Utah's cancer center in Salt Lake City, following a postdoc at Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital. Her research focuses on cancer survivorship, mainly colorectal and prostate cancer, and how exercise can improve survival and quality of life. She moved to the United States in October 2015 and thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail in 2016, followed by the Colorado Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. She then moved into ultrarunning, finishing her first 100-miler, the Wasatch 100, in 29 hours and 45 minutes for a top-ten finish and a sub-30 buckle. On the John Muir Trail, she set the unsupported women's FKT (by eight minutes!) in August 2025 in 4 days, 4 hours, and 58 minutes, edging a record that had stood since 2016. In July 2026 she came back and lowered it to 3 days, 16 hours, and 36 minutes, running northbound from Whitney Portal to Yosemite Valley. She is coached by Joe "Stringbean" McConaughy, and she got her trail name from mispronouncing "earthquake" on the PCT. She is on Instagram at @im_earthcake.

What's Covered in Part 1

The Moab 240 — Her First 200-Mile Race

The Trail Name — Earthcake

Trail Blazers Toolkit — A Hairbrush (and a Watch)

Queen of Donahue

How Many People Attempt the JMT FKT?

The Hiking Poll — Score: 23

How a German Expat Ended Up on the PCT

Links & Resources

Hiker Trash Radio — hikertrashradio.com

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About the Guest

Dr. Caroline Himbert, trail name Earthcake, is a German expat and cancer researcher on the faculty at the University of Utah's cancer center in Salt Lake City, following a postdoc at Harvard and Massachusetts General Hospital. Her research focuses on cancer survivorship, mainly colorectal and prostate cancer, and how exercise can improve survival and quality of life. She moved to the United States in October 2015 and thru-hiked the Pacific Crest Trail in 2016, followed by the Colorado Trail and the Continental Divide Trail. She then moved into ultrarunning, finishing her first 100-miler, the Wasatch 100, in 29 hours and 45 minutes for a top-ten finish and a sub-30 buckle. On the John Muir Trail, she set the unsupported women's FKT in August 2025 in 4 days, 4 hours, and 58 minutes, edging a record that had stood since 2016 by eight minutes. In July 2026 she came back and lowered it to 3 days, 16 hours, and 36 minutes, running northbound from Whitney Portal to Yosemite Valley. She is coached by Joe "Stringbean" McConaughy, and she got her trail name from mispronouncing "earthquake" on the PCT. She is on Instagram at @im_earthcake.

What Happens in This Episode

Twelve Miles From the Finish

A Planner Who Trusts Her Legs

How "Earthcake" Happened

From Thru-Hiker to Wasatch 100

Rachel and Kevin

Taking It Back at Donahue Pass

A Bear, a Burrito, and a Grudge

Doing It Alone, and What Comes Next

Links & Resources

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The Cottage — Episode 5: "Work Hard. Stay Curious."

The series finale of The Cottage asks the question behind all the others: why do these people do what they do? Allgood on waiting for his life to require a walk of that magnitude. GVP on creating margin and slipping into soft focus. Bus on never giving up the walks that changed his life. And the realization that ties the whole series together: the cottage industry exists because people who carry less learned to do more, and they found the answers they needed on trail.

Featured Voices

Whitney LaRuffa (Allgood) — Gossamer Gear. AT '96, CDT '16.

Glenn Van Peski (G Squared) — Founder, Gossamer Gear. Author, "Take Less, Do More."

Dan Durston (Lorax) — Founder, Durston Gear.

Luke Piersall (Bus) — Founder, Trail Goods Company.

The Full Series Cast

Glenn Van Peski (Gossamer Gear) | Whitney LaRuffa (Gossamer Gear/FarOut/Six Moon Designs) | Lloyd Vogel (Garage Grown Gear) | Dan Durston (Durston Gear) | Cameron Abila (Leave Outdoor Co) | Brice Sokolowski (Vaucluse) | Sarah Berkeley (Symbiosis Gear) | Luke Piersall (Trail Goods Company) | Tom Liggett (Alpenglow Gear) | Elliot Dick (Different Dimension Designs)

Connect with Hiker Trash Radio

Email: [email protected]

Facebook | YouTube | Instagram | TikTok

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Imposter Syndrome — Across Every Area

The JMT Conclusion and Its Contradiction

Why Beginners — Because She Was One

Teaching and Creating — Both Stem From Creativity

What Bee Wants Solo Women to Know About Safety

Dirty Pot Water — The LNT Case

Follower Growth — PCT as the Catalyst

What's Next — Camino, Spanish, and the Classroom

Hiking Hacks — Three for the Price of One

Off the Beaten Path — Further by Heather Anderson

Pay It Forward — NPCA

Crack Sniffer — Why She Declined

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Trailblazer's Toolkit — Topo Athletic UltraVenture

The Hiking Poll — Score: 41

Culture Surprise — The Skipping

Creating From the Trail

The Sierra — Connecting Familiar Places

The One Crying Moment

The Hardest Stretch — Oregon Border Expectations

The Midway Marker

Origin Story — Sierra Club, Stony Brook, and a 65-Degree Bag

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Zach Lawyer grew up battling his inner demons. His brother was born with spina bifida, and Zach grew up carrying the guilt of a healthy body in a house where one wasn’t guaranteed. He started looking for an outlet early. Skateboarding found him before the drugs did. But it was hard to battle the self-sabotage.

He stole an iPod at 13. A neighbor traded him a quarter pound of weed for it. That was the launch of a dealing career that lasted over a decade, eventually eating the dealer. By his mid-twenties, Zach was using an eighth of cocaine before two in the afternoon, tapering with Xanax, finishing with fentanyl knockoffs. He couldn’t hold a job, couldn’t hold a relationship, could barely look at himself in the mirror. He had become the customer he used to sell to.

The arrest came four days after a confrontation he describes carefully, in his own language: he took something that wasn’t his, had a confrontation with some people, and woke up under a pool floaty in his parents’ backyard to six squad cars and dogs barking in the cul-de-sac. Jail was a race war playing out in real time. He was a long-haired fish in a bucket of water. Before he got to housing, he was face-down on a dirty cell floor - hands cuffed, wrists bleeding, choking on bile - and every rock bottom he’d ever hit flashed through him at once. He made one promise to himself: never again. Never again will I act out of impulse.

He came out and found yoga. Not looking for it. A girlfriend dragged him to a class at Temecula Yoga Collective. He walked in with a lot of darkness around him, a dry wick of a candle, and saw nothing but lit candles. He came out of that first class feeling high as a kite. Turns out that’s your prana. Your life force. A teacher named Danny White showed him what it could look like to live inside a practice rather than outside it.

When COVID killed his plans to teach, he took the practice to the Pacific Crest Trail. Then the Hayduke. Then the Oregon Desert Trail — 800 miles of no markers, no trail, drought year seven. Fifty-two miles without water. A mountain lion in a creek bed at night, headlamp dead, pink taser that barely lit up. Baby rattlesnakes no bigger than his index finger materializing from the camouflage of the desert floor. He stood through all of it. Nothing of the old him was there.

The old him would have panicked.

Zach is writing a book: two years of drafts, one computer crash, months of writer’s block. He wants one person to take something from it. That’s been the goal this entire ride.

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The Imposter Who Finished

Creating on Trail — The Double Zero System

The One Crying Moment

The NorCal Blues — and What Oregon Actually Looks Like

What the Trail Taught Her

Crack Sniffer — The Jeffrey Pine Story

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