What It’s Like to Find, Lose, or Live with Love on a Long Hike
Lots of people say they hike to change their lives. For some, that starts by changing their love lives.
Interviews
What It’s Like to Hike the Length of the Grand Canyon with Your Dad
Madeleine Bryant completed the entire end-to-end Grand Canyon trek alongside her father over the course of 17 years
Latest in Interviews
As an Unusual PCT Season Wraps Up, One Hiker Tells All
We sat down with this year’s PCT correspondent to learn about the highlights (and lowlights) of his hiking season.
50 Years Later, Backpacker’s Founder William Kemsley Still Dreams of the Trail
"Nature is not a hobby to me, or even something I really think about. It’s simply part of who I am."
After Brain Surgery, Nature Gave Her Peace. Now, Crystal Gail Welcome Gets Others Outside.
After finding her love for the trail, Welcome used hiking to process some of the most challenging moments of her life.
Ecologist Allie Weill on Wildfire and Hiking in “Phoenix Landscapes”
This trailblazing fire ecologist is making a difference in the world of hiking and land regeneration.
How Chuck Sams Plans to Fix Our National Parks
It's been six months since the first NPS director in five years stepped into office facing $22 billion in deferred maintenance. This is what he's accomplished so far—and what's still coming.
“All Good Things Come to an End”: The Appalachian Trail’s Oldest Thru-Hiker on His Last Long Journey
After becoming the oldest person to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail at age 83, M.J. “Nimblewill Nomad” Eberhart reflects on the trip that got him there.
How a Hike Drew Mike Clelland Into a World of UFOs and “Owl Synchronicities”
When a normal trip turned strange, one hiker found himself transfixed by the paranormal.
Here’s What It’s Like to Hike the Triple Crown as a Couple
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.
Thru-Hiker Emily Ford Wants You to Know the Trail is for Everybody
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.
Get to Know: Feathered Friends
Go behind the curtains at this down-obsessed outfitter
5 Thru-Hikers on What the Trail Taught Them
Thru-hikes are transformative experiences. Here, five long trail alums share the wisdom of those miles.
The Man Who Hiked it All
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.