This episode is going to be a little different. Today’s guest is Doug Laher. He is sharing this story for his son Trevor “Microsoft” Laher who lost his life while thru hiking the Pacific Crest Trail at Apache Peak just outside of Idyllwild on March 27, 2020. Trevor was just 11 days into his hike. Doug’s mission now is to make sure no other family gets that same call through advocacy and encouraging hikers to embrace three key mindsets that might have saved his son’s life.

1 - #EmbraceTheAlternate

2 – Don’t short change your safety at the expense of grams and ounces.

3 – Develop sound risk management strategies before you hit the trail.

BB, known off trail as Nathan Hankes, came back from Iraq heart set on thru hiking.
Convincing his brother to join him, they SOBO’d the AT in 2009 from which sprang his book “Waking Up On The Appalachian Trail.” In this episode, we talk about how the trail helped him process his experiences in Iraq, the dichotomy of being a slave to the mileage versus taking breaks to be present, and the importance of finding your nutritional sweet spot.

Layzer GOAT, known off trail as Anthony Earl, has completed the distance of the Appalachian and Colorado Trails.  On the AT, he started out with a 55 pound pack which included a different hat for each day of the week.  Suffice it to say, things have changed since then and in this episode we talk about the other side of the  dilemma with whether to cut your toothbrush or not, thunderstorms in Colorado, peanut butter trail magic, and Purple Rain Skirts.

Tiger, known as Sam Lleva, did two life changing things in 2019. He thru hiked the PCT and left trail for awhile to get married. In this episode, of course we have to talk about how he convinced his fiancé that being on the trail before and after the wedding was a great idea, the difficulty of visiting home while thru hiking and the Sierra curve balls.