Interviews

When a normal trip turned strange, one hiker found himself transfixed by the paranormal.

Liz and Collin Blunk already checked off the Pacific Crest Trail and the Appalachian Trail. Now they're on-route to complete their Triple Crown with this summer's hike of the Continental Divide. They share the wisdom they've won over nearly 8,000 miles together.

Late last December, Emily Ford, 28, of Duluth, Minnesota, took her first steps on Wisconsin’s 1,200-mile Ice Age Trail with a borrowed sled dog named Diggins. “I was laid off from my job as head gardener at the Glensheen Mansion, and I took full advantage,” she says. Ten weeks later, she became the first woman and second person ever to thru-hike the IAT in winter.

Go behind the curtains at this down-obsessed outfitter

Thru-hikes are transformative experiences. Here, five long trail alums share the wisdom of those miles.

Photographer Bart Smith, 58, has hiked nearly every mile of every National Scenic and National Historic Trail designated under the National Trails System Act. We caught up with him before his latest outing—a 3,700-mile trip on the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail—to talk about the hiker mind, trail magic, and seeing the elephant.