Nature's Call: Backpacking Through History Cody Owen

Quick episode to ask you to do yourself a quick favor. I made a survey for Nature’s Callers to fill out, letting me know what they like about the show, what they want more of, and, MOST IMPORTANTLY, for you to tell me YOUR KICKASS EPISODE IDEA.







Please fill it out and do us both a huge favor.







Here’s the survey: https://goo.gl/forms/CWqB0Do7RizkUXpo1

Sabrina, Scott, David and I head to the Texas Hill Country for some VERY CLOSE to the city backpacking around Lake Georgetown. David takes an Uber when his Oboz fail him. We did a commercial for Topo Terraventure. We drank some genuine #hikertrash boxed booze. We slept under a huge ENO tarp. It was a blast.

Resources from this Episode:



* Topo Terraventure the (un)official shoe of Nature’s Call

* ERL Guidebook – available as a digital download

* Good Water Loop in Georgetown, TX

I count down the Top 11 place I want to go backpacking – hopefully giving you plenty of ideas for your bucket list.

ERL Guidebook available for download now. It’s 33% off until the end of the year!

The Backpacking Bucket List:

11. Buffalo River – This is in Arkansas and I’ve been saying I want to do it forever, but I keep going back to the ERL.

10. John Muir Trail – It’s named after the big JM AND it’s in the Sierras. I don’t need to convince you.

9. Appalachian Trail – The OG thru-hike. Gotta do it.

8. Yosemite’s Camp 4 and Half Dome – We’ve talked about it on the show more times than anything else. So. Much. History. Get your permits early.

7. Pacific Crest Trail – My “if-I-only-get-one-thru-hike” trail of choice.

6. Havasupai – Dat teal waterfall tho.

5. Uluru – IN A THUNDERSTORM. Beautiful red sandstone in the middle of the Australian Outback.

4. Macchu Picchu – Take the Salkantay Trail all the way into the clouds.

3. Everest Base Camp – and no further. We want to camp at the base of the most dangerous trek in the world… and then leave to tell about it.

2. Son Doong – The LARGEST cave system in the world.

1. Italian Alps – living the chateau life (it’s barely backpacking). Again, so much history.

REI Gift Options:



* Co-Op Beanies (ski // knit)

* Holiday Flask

* REI Flash 18

* The Completely Unnecessary Growler

This is a true crime story with quite a bit of violence discussed – just a heads up.

Cary Stayner murdered four women in the area immediately surrounding Yosemite National Park – he had grown up in the area and worked for a lodge frequented by guests of the National Park.

Resources Mentioned:



* Outside Magazine: “The Yosemite Horror“

* A&E Article about Stayner

* Stayner’s Wikipedia entry



As I mentioned at the end of the episode, we’ll be doing some stuff around the Eagle Rock Loop in the coming weeks. If you want to pick up the ERL guidebook to take a look and get ready, I’d appreciate it.

Patrick and I put the LoftTek Adventure Jacket through the paces of a quick fall into a river (or, uh, a bathroom sink).

I also speak with Tayson from Outdoor Vitals about the insulation (LoftTek) that powers this new puffy and why it’s better than down in (almost) every way.

Go check out their Kickstarter and consider backing this cool jacket.

Craig Rowe was a backcountry guide before he had the idea for TripTarp.

He walks us through his journey from idea to Kickstarter and all the way to store shelves near you.

Craig was kind enough to offer Nature’s Call listeners a 20% off deal with the code “CALL”.