Hiker Trash Radio
Join Doc and his guests on Hiker Trash Radio, the outdoor adventure podcast that takes you on a myriad of trails. With interviews from thru hikers, skydivers, adventure athletes, big wall climbers, and more, each episode is packed with trail talk, gear tips, and hilarious misadventures. And if you thought the great outdoors was all sunshine and rainbows, think again! Tune in for tales of blistered feet, helicopter evacuations, and Type II Fun that will make you appreciate the comforts of home. Settle in and get ready to trade the city for the wilderness. It's time to embrace the suck!
Trail Stories - What Would Your Dead Self Say?
About the Guest
Jeff "Bluey" Lewis spent 16 years in nonprofit leadership and business strategy before resigning at 40 to hike the Appalachian Trail, Georgia to Maine, in 2025 — 2,198 miles in five months. The hike became the foundation for his memoir, Midlife Hike This: Walking Away From a Life That Worked to Find What Really Mattered, releasing September 4, 2026 — the anniversary of his Katahdin summit. He lives in Baltimore.Episode Highlights
The Trail NameThe Man at the Pool
Eric
The Pennsylvania Tantrum
Coming Home
Writing the Book
Trail Wisd...
The Source Material: Episode 5 - Whistling in the Dark
Guest Featured
Jared Beasley Journalist and author of The Endurance Artist: Lazarus Lake, the Barkley, and a Race With No End (Simon & Schuster) Key Themes The writing of The Endurance Artist: what three years of reporting looks like from the inside What Jared found that surprised him most about Laz The Barkley as a cultural phenomenon: Netflix, the New York Times, the viral photographs Laz on his own fame, the quote Jared captured that appears nowhere else What the race means beyond sport, the philosophical argument of the book The difference between the Laz the public sees and...The Four Corners Loop - Kevin Koski (Part II)
About the Guest
Kevin Koski — The Animal — is a nuclear engineer for the U.S. Navy and the creator of the Four Corners Loop, a roughly 2,400-mile self-designed route through the American Southwest. He has hiked the CDT (2004), the PCT (2014), and over 11,000 miles of trail across Washington State. He retires from the Navy next February at 51 and plans to hike the Arizona Trail to celebrate.What's Covered in Part 2
The Sabbatical PhilosophyProving the Loop — Permit, Interruption, Return
Fourteen and a Half Liters
The 54-Mile Stretch and the Owl Biologists
The...
The Four Corners Loop - Kevin Koski (Part I)
About the Guest
Kevin Koski — trail name The Animal — is a CDT (2004) and PCT (2014) veteran, a nuclear engineer for the U.S. Navy, and the creator of the Four Corners Loop (FCL), an approximately 2,400-mile, self-designed circular route connecting wild public lands across New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. He has logged over 11,000 miles of trail in Washington State alone and is a volunteer with Olympic Mountain Rescue. He retires from the Navy next February and plans to hike the Arizona Trail as a retirement gift to himself.What's Covered in Part 1
The Trail NameThe...
The Big Year - Trailer
Three trails. One year. Fewer than 30 people in history have done it.
The Big Year: A Calendar Year Triple Crown Documentary is a four-part narrative audio series coming soon to Hiker Trash Radio.
It starts with a sign in a bar in Duncannon. It ends on New Year's Eve in Key West, with two hikers finishing and two more waiting to start.
In between: the longest snow year on record in the Sierra. A helicopter evacuation at 3,000 miles in. A wildfire. A cardiac ICU. A tent that slid downhill on the first night. 10,070...
Trail Stories - The Circle on the Map with Kevin "The Animal" Koski
About the Guest
Kevin Koski, trail name The Animal, is a nuclear engineer for the U.S. Navy, a CDT (2004) and PCT (2014) veteran, and the creator of the Four Corners Loop: a self-designed, approximately 2,400-mile circular route connecting public lands across New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. He has logged over 11,000 miles of trail in Washington State and volunteers with Olympic Mountain Rescue. He retires from the Navy next February at 51.Episode Highlights
The Circle on the Map14.5 Liters
Strange Addictions
Wolves, Bears, and a 30-Foot Cliff
A Pause...
The Source Material: Episode 4 - The Endurance Artist
Guest Featured
Jared Beasley Journalist and author - The Endurance Artist: Lazarus Lake, the Barkley, and a Race With No End (Simon & Schuster) Key Themes How Jared earned access to Laz: the math problem, the quit, the email Laz's childhood: the tumor, 1% survival odds, the Apollo program father, 10 schools in 10 years The Idiots Run: the predecessor race that set the template for the Barkley The philosophy of willpower over talent: why Laz designed uncertainty into every element What it felt like to be at Frozen Head reporting on the most significant Barkley in years The legacy runners: people...Accidental Influencer - Madeline Hyrse (Part II)
About the Guest
Madeline Hryse recently completed four years of continuous nomadic travel — three years backpacking through Asia, one year cycling solo and with company from southern China to Sweden. She is newly sponsored by Tumbleweed Bikes and will spend this summer cycling the Continental Divide from Canada to Mexico, after a shorter welcome-home trip through the Sierras.What's Covered in Part 2
The Accidental InfluencerSouth Korea — The Grandma Era
Asia, Up Close — Family and Culture
The Tibetan Border Story
The Crankset Disaster
On Fear — Short-Term vs. Long-Ter...
Accidental Influencer - Madeline Hyrse (Part I)
About the Guest
Madeline Hryse has been nomadic for over four years — the first three spent backpacking through Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam, the fourth spent cycling solo and with company from southern China to Sweden, through Central Asia and Europe. She grew up in Southern California with a mountaineer father who built bikes in his backyard. She recently returned home to Orange County and is sponsored by Tumbleweed Bikes for her next ride: the Continental Divide, Canada to Mexico.What's Covered in Part 1
The Trailblazer's Toolkit — A Good TentThe...
The Big Year - Teaser
Three trails. One year. Fewer than 30 people in history have done it.
The Big Year: A Calendar Year Triple Crown Documentary is a four-part narrative audio series coming
soon to Hiker Trash Radio.
It starts with a sign in a bar in Duncannon. It ends on New Year's Eve in Key West, with
two hikers finishing and two more waiting to start.
In between: The longest snow year on record in the Sierra. A helicopter evacuation at 3,000 miles in. A wildfire. A cardiac ICU. A tent that slid downhill on the...
Trail Stories - The Short-Term Fear with Madeline Hryse
About the Guest
Madeline Hryse spent four years nomadic — three years backpacking through Nepal, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and China, and one year cycling solo and with company from southern China to Sweden, through Central Asia and Europe. She grew up in Southern California with a mountaineer father who built bikes in his backyard. She's newly sponsored by Tumbleweed Bikes for her next ride: the Continental Divide, Canada to Mexico.Episode Highlights
The Short-Term FearThe Mountain Pass
The Skill She Didn't Want to Need
The Crankset Di...
The Source Material: Episode 3 - 99 Seconds and Jasmin Paris
Guest Featured
Jasmin Paris First female finisher of the Barkley Marathons: veterinarian, mother of two, Green Runners co-founder Key Themes The calculated three-year progression: Fun Run in 40 hours, then 36, then the finish The decision to go out on loop four despite feeling awful, and the stubbornness that distinguishes finishers Jared Campbell's offer of the clockwise direction on loop five, the gesture that made history The final kilometer: calculating splits in her head while her body screamed to stop What the race strips away, and what it leaves behind The Green Runners: why she wore patched shoes and a...New Mexico Pack Burros - Shane Weigand (Part II)
About the Guest
Shane Weigand is the founder of New Mexico Pack Burros, based outside Albuquerque, New Mexico. In addition to running backcountry packing trips and clinics, he directs five pack burro races on the Southwest racing circuit, co-runs a beverage burro business for weddings, and works full-time in public lands infrastructure for the federal government. He has six burros, three acres, and a half-ton truck with a horse trailer.Links & Resources
New Mexico Pack Burros — Website: https://www.newmexicopackburros.com New Mexico Pack Burros — Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newmexicopackburros Unbranded — Documentary (YouTube): https://www.youtub...New Mexico Pack Burros - Shane Weigand (Part I)
About the Guest
Shane Weigand is the founder and chief burro wrangler of New Mexico Pack Burros, based outside Albuquerque, New Mexico. A former wildland firefighter and wildlife biologist who managed public lands in New Mexico, Shane picked up his first burro off Craigslist about ten years ago and has since built a community business centered on pack burro packing trips, wilderness clinics, burro racing, and the book Backcountry Burro: Your Guide to Packing Burros and Donkeys in the Backcountry. He currently owns six burros of all three size classes, directs five pack burro races on the Southwest...The Full Traverse - Lady Unicorn
The Full Traverse is a new long-form narrative format on Hiker Trash Radio. Each episode draws from multiple years of conversations with a single guest to tell the complete story: where they started, what shaped them, and who they became. This is Episode 1.
Guest: Christine Reed, trail name Lady Unicorn, author, thru-hiker, FKT holder, and founder of Rugged Outdoorswoman Publishing.
Book: Alone in Wonderland: Longing for Connection and Adventure in the Shadow of Mount Rainier, Christine's debut memoir, originally self-published in 2021 and re-released in April 2026 through Rocky Mountain Books. The new edition includes an afterword w...
Trail Stories - The Burros Built it
About the Guest
Shane Weigand is the founder of New Mexico Pack Burros, based outside Albuquerque, New Mexico. A former wildland firefighter and wildlife biologist who spent his career managing public lands, Shane picked up his first burro off Craigslist about ten years ago and has since built a community-driven business around backcountry packing trips, wilderness clinics, pack burro racing, and the book Backcountry Burro: Your Guide to Packing Burros and Donkeys in the Backcountry. He currently owns six burros of all three size classes — miniature, standard, and mammoth — and directs five races on the Southwest pack burro raci...The Source Material: Episode 2 - Runners and Crew
Guests Featured
Richard Shannon Zambia: first Zambian to run the Barkley Marathons Isobel Ross Australian at her third Barkley attempt Elizabeth Bespalov Isobel's daughter, crew member, learned about the race at age 5 Ben Wernick South Wales, ran despite near-fatal rhabdomyolysis two weeks prior Chris Fisher Former Navy SEAL Hell Week, on 'elective suffering' Kelly Halpin 3D model of Frozen Head, trained with nightmares about topo lines Brian Ralph Kelly's crew, the Indy car pit stop analogy Tomo Ihara From Japan on his sixth Barkley attempt John Clark Ten years working toward this start Kris Rugloski First-ever DNF, at...(Corrected) Trail Correspondent Austen Goehring - Follow Up
Our 2026 Pacific Crest Trail correspondent Austen Goring made it 76 miles before a mysterious ankle injury forced him off the trail. In this episode, Doc sits down with Austen to talk about what happened out there — the physical toll of a desert that doesn't negotiate, the emotional weight of stepping off a dream, and the strange, coyote-adjacent ending to his first attempt at the PCT.
In this episode:
The lead-up to the trail — gear prep, resupply boxes, and that last restaurant dinner Life in the desert: solo hiking, deep thoughts, and an urgent craving for fruit How the...Itchy Feet - Will "Last Strap" Roquemore (Part II)
About the Guest
Will Roquemore — trail name Last Strap — is a fourth-generation Idahoan, PCT class of 2025 finisher, and full-time Prius nomad based in Boise, Idaho. He produces hiking content on YouTube at Sucker for Side Quests and is currently editing his PCT series. He hiked the first 50 miles of the Arizona Trail in March before tapping out due to record heat and body burnout after the PCT.What's Covered in Part 2
The Breakup — Five Days InThe Hot Take — Thru-Hiking Is Not Therapy
Prius Life — The Philosophy
Nomad Gatherings and Skooliepalooza
The...
Itchy Feet - Will "Last Strap" Roquemore (Part I)
About the Guest
Will Roquemore — trail name Last Strap — is a fourth-generation Idahoan, PCT class of 2025 finisher, part-time Arizona Trail hiker, and full-time nomad living in a converted 2016 Toyota Prius V wagon. He has been living on the road since 2020, produces hiking content on his YouTube channel Sucker for Side Quests, and is currently based in Boise, Idaho, editing his PCT footage and spending time with family.Links & Resources
Sucker for Side Quests — YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SuckerForSideQuestsConnect with Hiker Trash Radio
Email: mailto:hikertashradio@gmail.com Social: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok — search H...Trail Stories - Will Roquemore
About the Guest
Will Roquemore — trail name Last Strap — is a fourth-generation Idahoan, PCT class of 2025 finisher, part-time Arizona Trail hiker, and full-time nomad living in a converted 2016 Toyota Prius V wagon. He has been on the road since 2020, produces hiking content on his YouTube channel Sucker for Side Quests, and is currently based in Boise, Idaho, editing his PCT footage and spending time with family. He hiked the first 50 miles of the Arizona Trail in March before tapping out due to record heat and a body not yet recovered from the PCT.Episode Highlights
The Trai...The Source Material: Episode 1 - Ground Zero at the 2025 Barkley Marathons
Guests / Voices Featured
Lazarus Lake (Gary Cantrell) Pre-race speech to the 2025 runners, captured live Carl Laniak Conch blow, reading of the names of the dead Keith Dunn On-the-ground commentary and race updates 2025 Runners & Crew Pre- and post-race conversations including Richard Shannon, Kelly Halpin, Ben Wernick, Isobel Ross, John Clark, Tomo Ihara, Kris Rugloski, and others John Kelly 2025 Fun Run finish at 3:27 AM Lies Makhlouf The lost runner: nap at the prison, missing map, Aurelien Sanchez translating in French Key Themes The Barkley start ceremony in real time: conch, speech, taps, cigarette The texture of waiting: nine hours at...Aging Adventurously - Lori Balue (Part I)
About the Guest
Lori Balue is a functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner and metabolic restoration practitioner based in Southern California. After a 25-year journey through chronic asthma, pre-diabetes, PCOS, food addiction, and 100 pounds of weight she couldn't keep off, Lori solved her own metabolism and then built a practice helping others over 50 do the same. She is a half-marathon finisher, multi-time Grand Canyon rim-to-rim hiker, and summit regular in the San Gabriels and Sierra Nevada. At 63, she is currently training for Mount Whitney.What's Covered in Part 1
What Is Metabolic Restoration?Lori breaks down what a...
Aging Adventurously - Lori Balue (Part II)
About the Guest
Lori Balue is a functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner and metabolic restoration practitioner based in Southern California. After losing 100 pounds in her 50s and reversing asthma, pre-diabetes, and chronic joint pain through metabolic restoration, she has completed multiple Grand Canyon rim-to-rims, runs half marathons annually, and summits peaks across the San Gabriels and Sierra Nevada. At 63, she is training for Mount Whitney.What's Covered in Part 2
Why We Get Fat — The Full PictureNobody chooses to be overweight. The environment is toxic. Lori traces the dietary shift from pre-1970s eating — natural fats, prot...
Dark Miles - Two Cardinals
Jimmy Nichols lost two daughters to late-term stillbirth within a year. No medical explanation. Just the arrival at a hospital and the emptiness that followed, twice.
He is a sommelier, a punk guitarist, a section hiker on the AT. He is also a man who spent a long time suppressing more anger and despair than anyone around him knew about. The trail didn’t fix it. But it equalized him. And then one day in a Georgia thunderstorm, down in a gully next to a spring, something happened that he hadn’t planned on.
In this...
Trail Stories - I've Got You
About the Guest
Lori Balue is a functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner and metabolic restoration practitioner based in Southern California. After a 25-year journey through chronic asthma, pre-diabetes, PCOS, food addiction, and 100 pounds of weight she couldn't keep off, Lori solved her own metabolism — at 60 — and built a practice helping others over 50 do the same. She is a half-marathon finisher, multi-time Grand Canyon rim-to-rim hiker, and regular summit hiker in the San Gabriels and Sierra Nevada. At 63, she is training for Mount Whitney.Episode Highlights
The Humpty Dumpty ModelLori's working metaphor for what she does — and wh...
The Barkley: A Love Story - Episode 3, "They Figured It Out"
The Barkley: A Love Story concludes. This is the episode the series has been building toward.
We hear from the finishers: the 26 people in 40 years who have completed five loops in 60 hours. Jared Campbell, four-time finisher, on what the race selects for in a person. John Kelly, who grew up across the road from Frozen Head State Park and calls the Barkley his home course. Ihor Verys, who didn't like running six years before he finished first. John Fegyveresi, who applied from Antarctica and held the slowest known time for over a decade.
And then...
Farther - Heather Anderson (Part II)
Author, speaker, and Triple Triple Crowner Heather Anderson joins Doc for some studio time to talk about her new book, Farther. Settle in and buckle ups as Heather discusses her 2018 CYTC (the basis for Farther), spills on the AZT, bad life choices, heavy ass packs, the North Cascades, dumpster-adjacent campsites, blacklisted foods, interesting uses for Pringle cans, killer bees, mountain lions, life phases, and simply refusing to quit. Epic. (This is Part II. Be sure to listen to Part I.)
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Farther - Heather Anderson (Part I)
Author, speaker, and Triple Triple Crowner Heather Anderson joins Doc for some studio time to talk about her new book, Farther. Settle in and buckle ups as Heather discusses her 2018 CYTC (the basis for Farther), spills on the AZT, bad life choices, heavy ass packs, the North Cascades, dumpster-adjacent campsites, blacklisted foods, interesting uses for Pringle cans, killer bees, mountain lions, life phases, and simply refusing to quit. Epic. (This is Part I. Be sure to listen to Part II.)
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CDT Trail Correspondent Jared "Fisherman" Lampal - Check-In #1
Episode Overview: Doc welcomes back Jared "Fisherman" Lampal for his first official on-trail check-in. Standing right on the border looking into Colorado, Jared has checked the massive milestone of New Mexico off his list. In this raw look at life on the Divide, Jared breaks down how his structured mindset translates to the unpredictable backcountry, the reality of desert water management, and what it’s like to shift from a desk job to full-time trail life.
Key Discussion Points:
The New Mexico Milestone: Jared reflects on spending over a mo...
Dark Miles - The Permanent Tramily with Ben "Paladin" Cox
Ben Cox has never really hiked alone.
He carries a permanent tramily with him — his grandfather, who died when Ben was 15 and left him a specific rifle and a saddle because Ben was his cowboy grandchild. The girl in West Texas who passed that same summer. The others who came after.
At 26, after a relationship ended and a work situation resolved itself, Ben bought a plane ticket to San Diego and hiked 2,650 miles north on the Pacific Crest Trail. He didn’t know a single soul when he started. He went anyway.
This is t...
Trail Stories - "Just Go" featuring Heather Anderson
About the Guest
Heather Anderson is a Michigan-born long-distance hiker, author, speaker, and National Geographic Adventurer of the Year. She has completed the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Continental Divide Trail three times each, making her one of very few triple-triple crowners in history. In 2018 she completed all three in a single calendar year: 7,900+ miles in eight months. She has held multiple fastest known time records on long trails, including an unsupported FKT on the 800-mile Arizona Trail completed in 24 days and one hour. She hosts the Fastest Known Time podcast and is the author of three...The Barkley: A Love Story - Episode 2, "The Edge of Possible"
The Barkley: A Love Story continues. In Episode Two, we go to Frozen Head State Park.
This episode is anchored by audio captured live at the 2025 Barkley Marathons: the conch blow, Laz's pre-race speech, the reading of the names of those no longer with us, taps, and the lighting of the cigarette. You hear the race begin. Then you hear what happens to the people who go out into those woods.
We hear from runners who trained for years and came up short. From crew members who waited at the gate for 16 hours with no...
Love Letter to Colorado - Donovan "Iceman" Rice (Part II)
Triple Crowner and creator of the Great Colorado Route Donovan "Iceman" Rice joins Doc in the studio to talk about his love letter to Colorado, the 1,700-mile route through the heart of the Colorado outdoors. Settle in and buckle up as Iceman discusses frozen tents, seasonal gigs, overcoming addiction, only known times, mutual enablers, cold soaking, 400k feet of elevation gain, the gnarly & sporty GCR, and a hitch story you have to hear to believe. Epic. (This is Part II. Be sure to listen to Part I.)
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Love Letter to Colorado - Donovan "Iceman" Rice (Part I)
Triple Crowner and creator of the Great Colorado Route Donovan "Iceman" Rice joins Doc in the studio to talk about his love letter to Colorado, the 1,700-mile route through the heart of the Colorado outdoors. Settle in and buckle up as Iceman discusses frozen tents, seasonal gigs, overcoming addiction, only known times, mutual enablers, cold soaking, 400k feet of elevation gain, the gnarly & sporty GCR, and a hitch story you have to hear to believe. Epic. (This is Part I. Be sure to listen to Part II.)
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Dark Miles - An Armsfull of Birds with Cara Benson
If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available 24/7. Call or text 988.
Cara Benson spent years in active addiction before the Adirondack Mountains gave her something she’d been looking for in all the wrong places. She got sober. She hiked. She found a man named John who left rebus messages on the kitchen counter — hand-drawn symbols instead of words, rays of sunshine about the most pedestrian things.
Then John died by suicide. And the mountains that had carried her through addiction had to carry her through something else entirely.
This epis...
Trail Stories - Creating the Great Colorado Route
Donovan “Iceman” Rice is a Colorado native, Triple Crowner, and the designer of the Great Colorado Route. He earned the name Iceman on the PCT in 2020 after freezing his tent to the ground. Twice. Once on Mount San Jacinto in the Southern California desert. Once at the base of Forester Pass. The second incident required a borrowed ice ax and boiling water poured directly onto frozen ground at 3 a.m.
After completing the PCT, the CDT, and the Eastern Continental Trail (2025), Iceman turned his attention to designing an original loop through Colorado: 1,700 miles, approximately 400,000 feet of vertical gain...
The Barkley: A Love Story - Episode 1, "I Discovered It"
The Barkley Marathons has only been finished 26 times in 40 years. This is the first episode of a three-part audio documentary series from Hiker Trash Radio — The Barkley: A Love Story.
In Episode One, we go to the beginning. Who is Gary "Laz" Cantrell, the man who built the most obsessively followed race in endurance sport? We hear from Laz himself on how the Barkley was born, why it was designed the way it is, and what he sees when he looks at the people who come to run it. We also hear from Jared Beasley, the only au...
Dark Miles - The Weight I Carried with Steven Wright
If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available 24/7. Call or text 988.
Steven Wright’s wife Sandy told him on her deathbed to hike the Appalachian Trail. She had six days left to say it.
He didn’t go right away. First came 18 months of grief that got worse instead of better, a breakdown, an escape from a hospital in a nightgown, and a moment in his truck on a highway where he shut his eyes and turned the wheel. A thunderstorm stopped him. A phone call brought him back.
When a co...
Living Up to the Hype - Brad "Sheep Dog" Barber (Part II)
Thru hiker Brad "Sheep Dog" Barber joins Doc in the studio for some trail talk on the eve of his CDT thru hike. Settle in and buckle up as Sheep Dog seeks his limits while discussing Vertigo, old water charts, the Great Basin Loop, not cheating on the Hayduke, unique shakedown hikes, Coldfoot, water seep strategies, Wildflower, the AZT, the AT, the PCT, and the thrill of living up to the hype. Epic. (This is Part II. Be sure to listen to Part I.)
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