For hundreds of years, people have walked the Camino de Santiago from all over Europe. Our guest this week, Jeremy Enns is a podcast producer and long-time hiker and backpacker.

He told us the story of the time he woke up to find a friend burning his space blanket for warmth (and to ward off mosquitos) on an unseasonably cold night atop a mountain.

If you’re an aspiring (or active!) podcaster looking for a community of other podcasters, check out Cut the Bullshit Podcasting on Facebook. It’s been super valuable to me and I like to think I’ve added something to the community over there.

The Big Red Canoe, affectionately named “Clifford” by my wife, made his first splash in the San Marcos River.

It. Was. A. Blast.

I threw my little brother into the water. I got wet. I got cold. It was all worth it.

The good people over at Tentsile were kind enough to send over their new, one-man hammock tent: the Tentsile Una.

You can find a wide variety of Tentsile gear (though, unfortunately, not the Una just yet) over on Amazon, purchases from this link help support the pod!

I contacted every company that makes camp food, freeze-dried or not. These are the kickass companies who supported our community by getting back in touch with me AND sent a ton of samples for us to test on this episode and upcoming episodes:

* OvaEasy (fear not the egg crystal, boys and girls)

* Omeals (free samples available on their site!)

* Food for the Sole

* Mountain House

* MaryJanesFarm

* Steeped Coffee

The gang all together:

Breakfast – The Most Important Meal of The Trail

For our breakfast course, we tried:

* Mountain House Biscuits and Gravy

* Omeals Maple and Brown Sugar Oatmeal

* OvaEasy Eggs

* OvaEasy French Toast (add bread for optimal results!)

* Steeped Coffee – Odyssey and Driftwood

Lunch, or, “We’re too tired to keep hiking.”

For our lunch course, we tried EVERYTHING:

* MaryJanesFarms’ Bare Burrito (add a tortilla!)

* Omeals’ Cheese Tortellini

* Food for the Sole’s Coconut Rice and Cuban Black Beans

* Food for the Sole’s Miso Hungry Broccoli Slaw (the most inventive meal we tasted!)

* Mountain House’s Chicken Fajita Bowl

* MaryJanesFarms’ Lebanese Peanut Bulghar

Dinner, or, “The Big Show”

We narrowed our constraints for dinner and limited the field to 3 competitors:

* Mountain House’s Turkey Dinner Casserole 

* MaryJanesFarms’ Chilimac (Vegetarian!)

* Omeals’ Southwest Chicken and Rice

Dirtbaggers rolled in cash, they bought steak dinners and left $100 tips, they showed up with new gear and nice vans to live in. The winter of ’76/’77 was a crazy time to climb in Yosemite Valley. The source of the cash? Thousands of pounds of primo weed in Lower Merced Lake. Camp 4, infamous habitation of famed climbers was transformed from scraping by to climbing high. This episode examines the impact of all that new money on the climbing community of Yosemite Valley.

For further info, check out:

* The excellent Men’s Journal article by Greg Nichols. It’s got a lot of sweet 70s pictures.

* The Dollop, episode 236, with Dave Anthony and Gareth Reynolds. If you’re not subscribed to The Dollop, you’re doing it wrong. Dave and Gareth are amazing.

* Valley Uprising, 2014 documentary about the climbing community in Yosemite.

Here’s the trailer for Valley Uprising.

The documentary is also available on Netflix. It’s well worth your time and has planted the germs for several future Nature’s Call episodes.

 

As always: share, subscribe, rate, review, etc. Thanks for listening!

Renee Patrick, prolific thru-hiker and adventure blogger, works with the Oregon Natural Desert Association to craft a brand-new, 750-mile route in the Oregonian high desert.

She tells us her outdoor story, which began in the woods of Wisconsin, took her to Africa with the Peace Corps, and led her to the AT (Appalachian Trail), PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) and the CDT (Continental Divide Trail).

If you want more info about ONDA (Oregon Natural Desert Association), check out their website.

Also mentioned in the episode:

There are Mountains to Climb by Jean Deeds.

Renee’s Blog.

Kenny Flannery has been hitch-hiking, couch-surfing, and (stealthily) camping for the last 10 years.

He doesn’t plan on stopping anytime soon.

How to Travel the World on a Shoestring

Kenny just started. He caught a ride from New York City to Wyoming on a family trip, then a friend bought him a train ticket and he’s never looked back. Whether he’s working seasonally or picking up an oddjob here and there, he says money became easier to come by on the road and he spends way less than when he lived in NYC.

A victim (beneficiary?) of “perpetual wanderlust,” Kenny never stays in one place for long. He camps regularly in state and national parks, typically using a bivy of his own design.

Where to Keep Up with Kenny Online

Most importantly, the Kickstarter is still live! You can support Kenny’s campaign (which is 100%-funded) and get your own BivyPack.

Social Media:

* Kenny’s Instagram.

* HoboLifeStyle on Twitter.

* Kenny’s Podcast “The Freestyle Travel Show.”

Tested out a new backpacking tent from SlingFin on this episode. David and I give a thorough, whiskey-fueled review of SlingFin’s 2Lite Trek.

Guys, seriously, SlingFin is making cool stuff and they have been awesome to the podcast. They lent me the 2Lite Trek I used in this episode. David and I loved this tent.

Caprock and Palo Duro Canyons

Canyon country was great to revisit. Getting to see the bison herd at Caprock was a fun experience (they only intimidated me a little!)

Backpacking in Palo Duro was worth it, don’t let the rangers convince you otherwise! Hike in, find a great campsite (maybe atop a bluff) and enjoy being separated from all the other park-goers, even when the park is completely full.

 

Some More Pictures from the Trail:

The co-founders of Perilous Outdoor Company, Michael and Konner, share their outdoor journey (altitude sickness in Colorado and hail in Big Bend) AND their vision for a new rain jacket, one with an integrated pack cover.

As promised in the episode, as soon as these guys go to market I’m buying a jacket (and then I’ll tell all you Nature’s Callers).

If you’re interested in checking out Konner’s tent recommendation: the MSR Hubba Hubba, you can find it on Amazon. MSR makes solid gear and I’ve heard nothing but good things about the Hubba Hubba.

Video of the Prototype Coming to the Nature’s Call Facebook Page Soon

Konner, Michael and I put together a quick sneak peek of their prototype that’ll be going live on Facebook this week.

Pro-tips abound with veteran thru-hikers Liz and Danny.

To everyone asking to hear from Liz again, you’ve been heard!

If you’re looking for those Liz and Danny approved footwear selections, here ya go:

* Alta Lone Peak – Men’s

* Alta Lone Peak – Women’s

* La Sportiva Wildcat – Men’s

* La Sportiva Wildcat – Women’s

If you’re planning a thru-hike or just want some durable AF trail shoes, the Lone Peaks or Wildcats will take care of your feet (and, as you heard in the episode, you need those to get places on the trail).

How to Plan Your First Thru-Hike

The number one piece of advice Danny and Liz gave to first-time thru-hikers: Don’t pack your fears.

Fear is heavy and it requires a lot of extra baggage. Use a bounce box (Liz explains in the episode) to carry all your “what if” items.

Start by looking over the list of trail towns and figuring out your resupplies, plan for low mileage and extra time, you’ll need it.

Try Cairn, Save $5 with “Nature5”

Cairn is a great deal on a hiking subscription box. Conor and the whole team at Cairn want to upgrade your adventures… every month.

Conor McElyea, Senior Product Guru with Cairn, told his outdoor and professional story (hint: it involves a lot of mosquitos, a search for snow in a drought, and a smidge of tricking friends into the backcountry).

Upgrade your adventures this month:

Sign up at GetCairn.com (use the code “NATURE5” to save $5 off your first month).

Conor explained the careful process that he and the product team use to choose products for the box. They follow a theme and ensure that every item in the box is genuinely useful.

Items from past Cairn boxes that I’ve loved:

The Firebiner (carabiner, multi-tool, fire sparker). It’s a really cool, multipurpose item that replaces a traditional carabiner on your pack.

LightMyFire’s Grandpa’s FireGrill. A grill basket that goes on a stick. I used mine on the Winding Stair episode. It worked really well and adds a minimal amount of weight to your pack.

UCO 150-Lumen headlamp. Rechargeable headlamp, decent battery life, and a simple control interface all add up to an awesome, reliable headlamp.

Reminder: You can save $5 off your first Cairn box with the code “NATURE5“.