Stories From The Trail

Stories From The Trail

Gary Sizer

Stories from the Trail is the hiking community's only live call-in show, created by and for people who love to talk trail. We go beyond the Appalachian Trail don't limit our conversations to hiking. Hosts Reptar, Gary Sizer (aka "Green Giant", author of Where's the Next Shelter?) and Megan Thompson (aka "Voldemort") will bring you their conversations with people who live outside.

57 minutes 49 seconds

Over the River and Thru the Woods

Some freestyle holiday rambling.

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26 November 2020, 9:04 pm
1 hour 19 minutes

SPECIAL: COVID-19 and Your Hiking Plans
In this episode we address the very difficult question: How might your hike impact the spread of COVID-19 in the trail community?

Our qualified expert this week is Dr Kathryn Michels, (aka "Mr Peanut), a CDT SOBO thru hiker who also holds a PhD in Microbiology, Immunology, and Cancer biology from the University of Virginia.

In addition to covering this very important topic, we get some good trail talk too.
Get the audio version of Where's the Next Shelter? for free when you join Audible!
17 March 2020, 2:00 am
1 hour 42 minutes

Beginners Again
We're back!

As promised:
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10 March 2020, 2:18 am
1 hour 8 minutes

Episode 050 - Zero Day
An episode about nothing.

(Re-uploaded with fixed audio!)

Links in this episode:
- Hike for Mental Health
- RadFlix
15 September 2019, 10:58 pm
1 hour 20 minutes

Episode 049 - The Katahdin Koala (LEMMY!)
Easily our most requested guest. Listen in on this reunion between Green Giant and Lemmy. We do our best to tell his story without spiraling into inside jokes... much.
- Lemmy's life before the AT
- How he learned of the trail
- What his first few days were like
- How did it feel to be stalked by fans?
- What's Lemmy been up to since the trail?
- And more
Listeners who support the show have already heard the next THREE episodes while you and I sit here like a couple of hikers waiting for a cool shirt to mysteriously appear in the Hiker Box. This raw audio includes TWO episodes that no one else will ever hear. Ever.
Get the audio version of Where's the Next Shelter? for free when you join Audible!
23 August 2019, 11:39 pm
44 minutes 3 seconds

BONUS - Travel for a Loop with Ryan Bedell
Ryan Bedell has been to over 40 countries and lived in 4. He has a passion for learning about people and places different from what he’s used to, and he loves to hear the stories of others. Travel for a Loop was born out of a desire to let people tell their stories of movement, intercultural exchange, and genuine human connection.

You can hear the first half of our conversation (and my story!) on spotify, apple, stitcher,etc... And you should! Go get it!
Listeners who support the show have already heard the next THREE episodes while you and I sit here like a couple of office workers staring at the clock waiting to go on a hike. This raw audio includes TWO episodes that no one else will ever hear. Ever.
Get the audio version of Where's the Next Shelter? for free when you join Audible!
14 August 2019, 11:00 pm
1 hour 27 minutes

Episode 048 - The Secret Lives of Ridgerunners
Each month in addition to their regularly scheduled duties, Ridgerunners also get treated to some well deserved R&R. This July, Jim Fetig of ATC Headquarters invited me to join him and four NoVA Ridge Runners at the PATC's rustic cabin retreat, the Blackburn AT Center, near Harper's Ferry.

From Jim's Blog:

Blackburn Trail Center, Round Hill, VA, July 18, 2019 — Once a month in June and July we bring our Appalachian Trail ridgerunners to Blackburn for a little R&R and a short business meeting. Outside guests from the Conservancy, NPS and our trail club are often invited. In August they travel to the Scott Farm training center outside Carlisle, PA where they rejoin their mid-Atlantic peers for an official seasonal debrief and a personal comparing of notes.

Our MO is pretty standard. We show up Thursday afternoon for some social time, prepare a meal and have some beer. Friday morning we do cook-your-own pancakes with a 9 o’clock hard start for our meeting which varies between 90 minutes and three hours. Lunch is leftovers if there are any.

Ridgerunners are usually fairly stoic people. They are selected for their maturity, judgment, commitment and intelligence. But what are they really like when they let their hair down and no one else is looking?

Listeners who support the show have already heard the next THREE episodes while you and I sit here like a couple of wood thrushes waiting for the cicadas to stop. This raw audio includes TWO episodes that no one else will ever hear. Ever.
Get the audio version of Where's the Next Shelter? for free when you join Audible!

Get more great Podcasts by The Trek.
6 August 2019, 1:57 am
1 hour 27 minutes

Episode 047 - Tough Girl Challenges with Sarah Williams
File this one under "Inspirational"! Sarah Williams is not only a veteran outdoor adventurer and world traveler, she has spent the past few years curating HUNDREDS of hours of conversation with other inspiring women from around the world on her amazing podcast, Tough Girl Challenges.

The Tough Girl Podcast won the Women's Sports Trust #BeAGameChanger National Award for Media Initiative of the Year 2018.

In this episode we discuss:

* Does Sarah have a trail name and where did it come from? * Sports, she was active in lacrosse, hockey and rounders * Duke of Edinborough award * After college, sara took on a high pressure job in the financial field, kep crazy hours, stopped doing sports. * She was getting ten minutes of fresh air a day * at the age of 32 she first asked herself "what should I do with my life" * She traveled for 18 months, mostly in South America * Machu Picchu, Bolivian Salt Flats, cycled Death Road, Climbed in Chile, Kilimanjaro * This inspired the birth of "Tough Girl Challenges" * Why backpacking is better than sitting on a beach somewhere * What it's like succeeding in primarily male-dominated environments and how that influenced her * Female specific safety tips you wouldn't have thought of * The power of podcasting and the challenges of starting one * Sarah describes getting through a hard time: the https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marathon_des_Sables - six Marathons in six days, in desert, carrying all your stuff - 52 miles in one day, getting into that headspace that thru hikers recognize, living from one step to the next, and how gratitude helps combined with Training * The power of gratitude * Being able to look back on a "worst day" is valuable, so go make 'em. :) * How to get out of the cycle of beating ones self up for "failure" or difficulty * AT in 100 days * How to "take the first step" and then build and keep momentum * Her guests are female adventurers of all ages, all levels of education, all kinds of jobs and backgrounds * Chrissie Wellington, 4 time Ironman Champion * Cheryl Strayed for Episode 100 * Roz Savage, first woman to row solo across 3 oceans * What it's like to not succeed, and why that's okay * How she went from being someone no one's ever heard of to sending heart emojis back and forth with Cheryl Strayed * What advice does Sarah have for women who are about to get started in outdoor adventuring?
Listeners who support the show have already heard the next THREE episodes while you and I sit here like a couple of bankers waiting for our two weeks of holiday. This includes ONE episode that no one else will ever hear. Ever.
Get the audio version of Where's the Next Shelter? for free when you join Audible!

Get more great Podcasts by The Trek.
27 July 2019, 2:53 pm
1 hour 14 minutes

Episode 046 - Muddy Moose
Chris "Muddy Moose" German is a hiker, trail angel, river guide, ice climber, shuttle driver, photographer, and all around super-cool guy. In hopefully the first of many visits, Muddy Moose tells us stories of adventure and shares much advice, both inspirational and practical.

Listeners who support the show have already heard the next THREE episodes while you and I sit here like a couple of stuffed animals waiting for the claw to pull us out of this infernal plastic box. This includes ONE episode that no one else will ever hear. Ever.
Get the audio version of Where's the Next Shelter? for free when you join Audible!

Get more great Podcasts by The Trek.
21 July 2019, 4:00 pm
57 minutes 26 seconds

Episode 045 - Mighty Blue Goes Number Two
Steve Adams, trail name Mighty Blue is on the Appalachian Trail, again. Best known for his hiking memoirs "Creaking Geezer Hidden Flagon" and "Three Weddings and a Sabbatical", he also produces the popular hiking podcast "The Ultimate Midlife Crisis".

Steve is currently producing his show from the trail and he took time from his busy schedule to call us from a listeners house in Pennsylvania.

In this incredibly busy hour, we talk about:
- What it's like hiking the AT a second time
- Seeing the same views from different perspectives
- Max Patch
- Why you shouldn't let facebook color your view of the hiking community
- Beer and wine
- What makes an integral hike?
- Standing Bear Farm
- Podcasting
- Writing in American English
- The John Muir Trail
- Elevation Sickness
- Camino de Santiago
- Poop
- And so much more!
Listeners who support the show have already heard the next FOUR episodes while you and I sit here like a couple of bottles of wind that Mighty Blue hasn't uncorked yet. This includes ONE episode that no one else will ever hear.
Get the audio version of Where's the Next Shelter? for free when you join Audible!

Get more great Podcasts by The Trek.
13 July 2019, 4:57 pm
1 hour 36 minutes

Episode 044 - The Humblest Legend
Calendar Year Triple Crowner, and current Arizona Trail speed record holder, Jeff Garmire did not give himself the trail name Legend. It was bestowed upon him before he even finished a single long distance hike back in 2011. In the years and miles since, he's definitely grown into it.

This show was recorded on May 1st, just a few days after Legend destroyed the FKT for the Arizona Trail.
- Legend on Instagram
- Blog Post: Reflections on the AZT FKT
Listeners who support the show have already heard the next FOUR episodes while you and I sit here like a couple of horses who haven't learned to talk yet.
Get the audio version of Where's the Next Shelter? for free when you join Audible!

Get more Podcasts by The Trek.
1 July 2019, 2:22 am
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