The Appalachian Trail Jams Mixtape!

My last post chronicling the 10 Must Have Songs To Take You To Katahdin spawned a great idea in Zach’s wonderful, yet hyper overactive brain. (How else could he keep out doing himself?!) An entire playlist compiling all the trail worthy songs I could gather from other hikers! So many of you had already shared some of your favorite tunes to help you through a tough hiking day and after a little bit more fishing, I rustled up this little collection below on Spotify!

Sure, I could just throw together all the songs and call it a day, but if we perpetuate that kind of action then the kids will NEVER know how to build the proper flow of a mixtape! That’s right! Mixtape! As the artist of this collection of songs I am calling it a mixtape, not just a playlist. Okay, so I haven’t recorded each song on to a cassette tape and hand written the track listing like I used to in high school but the positioning of each song is quite intentional. (And no, I’m not old. I’m just that weirdo that still made mixtapes in 2007 and played them on my Walkman at school next to the kid with the new iPod.)

It starts with some late 60’s and mid 70’s songs with titles that reflect the journey to Katahdin and the feeling of reaching the final destination after so much effort. We then transition into songs from ole Appalachia herself. These old folk and bluegrass tunes swing us into today’s modern bluegrass and folks songs, with some bluesy goodness in there as well.  Next, representing the post college, 20 something’s that make up so much of the trail community, is a nice slice of indie rock songs, which flow right back into some current folk tunes (turns out lots of hikers listen to the same genres of music). Then we end off with an abrupt slap in the face from Drake, because were else do you fit in a rap song about making it to Katahdin with all your hiker trash friends into a bunch of hillbilly music?!

Hope there is something in here for everyone and I hope it helps you up those big climbs on those rainy days!  You can also open the playlist in Spotify here.

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