Feb 12, 2026

We welcome Rob Diamond to the show today. I met Rob in 2024 in Hot Springs, when we went and tried to help out after Hurricane Helene. Rob told me then that he was planning on a 2025 thru-hike, so I asked him then to follow up with me once he was done.

Rob’s hike didn’t turn out as he had...

Feb 5, 2026

Savannah Schuring, or Snazzy Cat, took on an Appalachian Trail thru-hike–which she completed in a remarkable three months–as her graduate thesis. On the way, she was interviewing hikers as to their motivations to be out on the trail and learned so much from them, and about herself, with some fascinating...

Jan 29, 2026

Today, we meet an AT thru-hiker from the Class of 2015 who went on to buy and run a hostel near the Nantahala Outdoor Center. Erin Tuveson, or Bookie, became so enamored of the trail that she wanted to be around the community she met out there.

Erin now owns and runs...

Jan 22, 2026

This week, Tony Roddy joins the podcast. Tony walked across America in 2015, vowing to do one of the long-distance American trails ten years later. His original choice was the CDT, but a last-minute change took him to the Appalachian Trail, where he relished his experience.

Tony used...

Jan 15, 2026

We meet a member of the Class of 2012 this week, who happens also to be a member of this years class of 2026. In fact, Todd Sears is starting the day after I start, in March this year.

He had a long career in military intelligence, and brings a military discipline to his hike, both back in...