Advice
How to Vlog Your Thru-Hike: 5 Easy Steps
A thru-hike is difficult enough without making videos along the way. But if you’ve decided to vlog your thru-hike, the following tips will help you create more compelling videos for...
The Black Forest Trail: 43 Miles of Pennsylvania’s Beautiful Forests
Beyond the Appalachian Trail, many backpackers overlook Pennsylvania as a backpacking destination. Hikers from Pennsylvania and surrounding states, however, appreciate the plentiful backpacking
A Complete List of Individual Permits Needed to Hike the PCT
Every (normal) year, prospective PCT thru-hikers queue up in an online waiting room to apply for a PCT Long-distance Permit. This interagency pass is aimed at trail users who plan...
6 New Year’s Resolutions for Backpackers and Thru-Hikers
New year, new plans. 2020 may have been the life goals-equivalent of getting hit in the face by a water balloon full of warm, chunky trash juice, but there's still...
Uncertainty and Strife: Thru-Hiking Permits in the Time of COVID-19
As 2020 winds down, a third wave of COVID-19 infections is engulfing the United States, with the number of daily cases more than tripling over the previous August high and...
20 Edible Plants and Fungi You’ll Find on the Appalachian Trail
This post was originally published on July 9 2014. It was updated on December 14 2020. One of my favorite activities, when I worked with the Scouts, was to go...
My Biggest Appalachian Trail Gear Regrets
Personally, I don’t subscribe to the belief that I need to admit when I’m “wrong” or “make mistakes.” But fortunately for us, Saoirse “Story” Ibargüen is a better person than...
19 Things 2021 Appalachian Trail Hikers Need to Know
Hiking the Appalachian Trail is a huge undertaking—and in the age of Covid, that could be more true now than it ever has been before. If you're thinking of hitting...
Day Hiking – Staying Sane in Maine
We all know how crazy of a year it’s been, I don’t think I have to go into any details about why. For me, and for many others, hiking...
5 Things You Should Know About the Lone Star Hiking Trail
Vic Hay contributed to this story. When I moved to Houston 17 years ago I had to do some research to find a trail of any decent length. There is...