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The Call

The Call

Before reading anything at all, please listen to this song. Maranda and I LOVE the show Parks and Recreation. Because we are overly attached to shows, one of our favorite...

Jan 31, 2016 : The Stones
Travel hacking the AT: Adventures in grocery hacking

Travel hacking the AT: Adventures in grocery hacking

This is not ultralight. It's getting closer to D-day and that means it's getting real out here in Everywhere Else, where I live.  I finished the last volunteer placement during...

Jan 31, 2016 : Dawn Webster
Prologue

Prologue

The following is a guest post courtesy of John Winder, an aspiring 2016 thru-hiker.  Have a story you want to share on Appalachian Trials? Send it through our “Submit a Story” form....

Jan 31, 2016 : Guest Post
Nice View? Put the Camera Away!

Nice View? Put the Camera Away!

Can't wait to make all your friends and family jealous with pictures of each shelter, each view, each white blaze? Well, maybe lay off the camera a bit...

Jan 31, 2016 : Connor Adams
Peeing: More Than A Feeling

Peeing: More Than A Feeling

Besides way too much airplay being afforded to the repetitive synthesized guitar riffs of Boston’s “More Than A Feeling,” few things peeve me more than spotting white puffs of toilet...

Jan 30, 2016 : Katina (Arachne) Daanen
What Possessed Me To Do This

What Possessed Me To Do This

Last summer the idea to go for a six month hike popped into my head and it stuck. No matter what I did I couldn’t get it out. I started...

Jan 30, 2016 : Laurel "Duchess of Slug" Seus
I’d Settle for a Slow Down

I’d Settle for a Slow Down

Fast. Faster. Fastest. It's what we expect every day. And we want what we want when we want it. Over the years we have programmed and manipulated society into thinking that everything has to...

Jan 30, 2016 : Jacqui Reed
How a Warm-Blooded Southerner Preps for the Colorado Trail

How a Warm-Blooded Southerner Preps for the Colorado Trail

Date: November 2014 Location: Grayson Highlands, VA Temps: below freezing Snow fall: more than I'd ever seen in my life (somewhat facetious) We were two days away from the end...

Jan 30, 2016 : High Five
High Highs and Low Lows

High Highs and Low Lows

It is perhaps the optimistic nature of planning a long distance hiking adventure to imagine optimal conditions. Some of us see a vision of ourselves bathed in happiness on the...

Jan 28, 2016 : Joe Schmidt
A Journey to the Fiordland: The Greenstone and Routeburn Tracks of New Zealand

A Journey to the Fiordland: The Greenstone and Routeburn Tracks of New Zealand

In 2009 I went the Middle East as part of a twelve month deployment while serving in the U.S. Army. In January 2010 I traded the harsh, barren landscape of...

Jan 28, 2016 : Chris Arnott