Hiker Trash Radio

Doc, Bleav
  • 4.8 (150)
  • Wilderness
  • Updated Semiweekly

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!

  1. 13h ago

    Dark Miles - If I Slow Down with Casey "Vegas" Huffman

    Casey “Vegas the Pied Piper” Huffman thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2023 and the Pacific Crest Trail in 2025, and six weeks after telling Hiker Trash Radio that nothing would stop his 2027 Continental Divide Trail Triple Crown finish, an unclipped auto-belay in a Las Vegas climbing gym left him with two broken ankles and a shattered sense of self. Drawing on three appearances across 18 months, this Dark Miles episode traces the full arc: the medicated childhood and the yes/no tattoos on his palms, the “letter from Hogwarts” at Annapolis Rock, the AT hike he privately treated as a Hail Mary, the winter in Florida where depression turned catatonic and his parents invoked the Baker Act, and the comeback that began with a slow walk through the Maryland section of the AT, the very place his story started. It ends with a finished Tahoe Rim Trail, a first 5K run an hour before our final interview, the Superior Hiking Trail this October, and the CDT in 2027. If you’re struggling, you don’t have to do it alone. In the U.S., call or text 988 to reach the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. Follow Vegas on Instagram and YouTube at @vegasthepiedpiper. New episodes of Hiker Trash Radio drop weekly.  Find us on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, or write to HikerTrashRadio@gmail.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Dark Miles - If I Slow Down with Casey "Vegas" Huffman

  2. 4d ago

    When the Wand Breaks - Casey "Vegas" Huffman

    ️ In This Episode, We Discuss: The Coworker's Lodge Floor: Why Vegas is recording from a room that smells suspiciously good, surrounded by floral decor in Silver Gate, Montana. The Tahoe Rim Trail Victory Lap: A full trip report of Vegas's 9-to-10 day TRT run counterclockwise (the "SOBO" way) alongside AT and PCT legends Million Bucks, GT, and Swampy. The Excitement Gauge: How an "emergency trail crap" became the ultimate indicator of a beautiful mountain pass experience. The "Beefcake Vegas" Downfall: The split-second auto-belay mistake at a Las Vegas climbing gym on December 15, 2025, that resulted in plates, screws, and a very sudden halt to a 30-mile-a-day lifestyle. The Mental Valley: An incredibly candid and important conversation about identity loss, catatonic depression, and the agonizing process of having your physical salvation taken away. The Dumbledore Protection & Hogwarts Reset: Navigating his comeback hike on the Maryland section of the AT, and why returning to where you "got your Hogwarts letter" is the ultimate mental reset. UFC Weigh-Ins & Cherry Pies: The strategic, slow-and-steady pacing Vegas used to absolutely dismantle his buddy Oz in Damascus at the Trail Days pie-eating contest. Guiding Year-Round: Vegas's journey to becoming a certified summer hiking guide in Yellowstone and the Beartooth Mountains to fund his relentless trail addiction. Looking to the Horizon: Heading north to SOBO the Superior Hiking Trail in October, eyeing a massive CDT push, and a wild pact with trail buddies to conquer a calendar-year Triple Crown in their late 30s. ️ Support Our Sponsors: FarOut Guides Garage Grown Gear Hilltop Packs Jolly Gear Otter (O.T.T.R.) Six Moon Designs Triple Crown Coffee Vaer Watches Connect with Vegas: Instagram: @vegasthepiedpiper YouTube: Vegas The Pied Piper Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    When the Wand Breaks - Casey "Vegas" Huffman

  3. 5d ago

    The Big Year: Episode 1 - The Call

    The Calendar Year Triple Crown doesn't recruit. It gets into people — through a sign above a bar, through a podcast episode, through the quiet math a hiker does at the end of a long day when they realize they want more of this, not less. Episode 1 of The Big Year opens with Billy Meredith describing the moment he quit his office job to hike the Appalachian Trail — the hardest thing he'd ever done and the most amazing thing he'd ever done, at the same time. Three weeks into that hike, in a bar in Duncannon, Pennsylvania, he reads a sign honoring the first woman to complete the Calendar Year Triple Crown. He can't shake it. Four years later, he's standing at the Mexican border about to find out what that sign cost him. The episode follows the idea outward from there: to Sammy Potter and Jackson Parell, two Stanford students who spend a month alone on the Appalachian Trail before naming themselves Buzz and Woody in a winter shelter; to Carson Oliver, who gets asked a single unsettling question the night before Katahdin; and to Jeff Garmire, who completed the CYTC at 20 years old and became, for the better part of a decade, the number everyone else measured themselves against. Guests: Billy "Wahoo" Meredith — 2023 CYTC FKT holder, 234 days Jeff "Legend" Garmire — CYTC completer, former self-supported FKT holder, author of Free Outside Sammy "Buzz" Potter — 2022 CYTC completer (11th in history) Jackson "Woody" Parell — 2022 CYTC completer (12th in history) Carson "Anita" Oliver — 2023 CYTC completer Topics covered: What the Calendar Year Triple Crown is and why so few people have done it The bar sign at the Doyle Hotel that started everything for Billy Meredith How Buzz and Woody got their names in a winter shelter with no one else around The question Carson Oliver was asked the night before Katahdin Jeff Garmire's résumé, his trail name origin, and what made him the benchmark Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    The Big Year: Episode 1 - The Call

  4. Jul 15

    The Full Traverse - Mr. Fabulous is Everyone

    The Full Traverse is Hiker Trash Radio's narrative documentary series, drawing from years of conversations with a single guest to tell their complete story. This episode: Derick "Fab" Lugo — author, speaker, and Triple Crowner. From zero experience in 2012 to the Appalachian Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, the Long Trail, and the Pacific Crest Trail. Derick's books: The Unlikely Thru-Hiker (2019) — his AT memoir. Made-up curse words included; safe to read to your kids. A Fabulous Thru Hike (Mountaineers Books, 2026) — his CDT memoir, out now. Available wherever books are sold; ordering through his website supports him most directly while he's on tour. Also featuring Derick's writing: Campfire Stories, Volume II — includes his first published fiction, a spooky short called "Vertigo" Stories from the Trail — includes "Trail Brothers," about hiking from New York City to Bear Mountain with his brother (also an ATC short film of the same name) Derick's podcast: Unlikely Stories, produced with the Appalachian Mountain Club — 12 episodes featuring different voices of the outdoors, including the first African to summit Everest and record-setting AT hiker Jennifer Pharr Davis. Trails featured in this episode: Appalachian Trail (2012) Long Trail, Vermont (2021 attempt; 2023 completion with Christine Reed) Continental Divide Trail (2022) Pacific Crest Trail (2025) People mentioned: Christine "Lady Unicorn" Reed — author of Alone in Wonderland; Fab's Long Trail hiking partner and subject of her own Full Traverse episode Nature, Buck Wild, and Pirate — Fab's CDT trail family J.R. Harris — explorer and author of Way Out There, Fab's hero and fellow New Yorker Cutie — remembered with love by the CDT class of 2022 Book tour: Derick is on the road through spring and summer 2026, starting in Colorado, running up and down the East Coast, and working west. Dates at his website. Follow Derick: Instagram / Facebook / TikTok: @dericklugo (that's D-E-R-I-C-K — he will notice if you spell it wrong) Website: dericklugo.com — signed copies available The Full Traverse is produced by Hiker Trash Radio, a member of the BLEAV Podcast Network. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    The Full Traverse - Mr. Fabulous is Everyone

  5. Jul 13

    The Full Traverse - Mountains Don't Care with Ben "Ginger Ballz" Vaughan

    The Full Traverse is HTR's long-form narrative format, drawing from multiple years of conversations with a single guest to tell the complete story. This is Episode 3. Guest: Ben Vaughan, trail name Ginger Ballz — Navy Lieutenant Commander (retired), Triple Crowner, Hayduke thru-hiker, dog musher, Iditarod trainer, whitewater raft guide, and operations manager for Dallas Seavey's kennel operation. Trail name origin: Earned on the AT hiking with a younger trail family who progressed from "Old Man" to "Old Man Ginger Balls" to "OMGB" to "Ginger Balls" over the course of approximately zero trail days. He accepts this. The story he prefers: a young woman from another country told him he was called that because he was brave and strong. He said yes, exactly. Trails and routes featured in this episode: Appalachian Trail (northbound, 2018) Pacific Crest Trail (northbound, 2019) — including frostbite in the Sierra during a high snow year Continental Divide Trail (northbound, 2020) — during the pandemic Hayduke Trail (2021) — 800 miles through Utah and Arizona via six national parks; no trail markers; roughly 10–15 completions per year Vermont's Long Trail (October 2021) — hiked with Scrapbook; 273 miles; Ben fell approximately 30 times Superior Hiking Trail (2021) Key people: Scrapbook (Garrett Hernandez) — Ben's trail family member from day one on the AT, who had already completed the CDT and PCT at age 19. Has appeared on HTR separately. Now a backcountry firefighter. Dallas Seavey — Ben's employer since 2022. Five-time Iditarod winner, son of a three-time winner, grandson of one of the race's founders. Generally considered the most accomplished musher in Iditarod history. The Iditarod: 1,049 miles, Anchorage to Nome, Alaska. Considered one of the toughest endurance races in the world — the challenge falls primarily on the musher, not the dogs. The winning time is approximately nine days. Dogs run because they want to; the musher's job is navigation, dog care, and not letting go of the sled. Ben's Alaska operation: Summer: Glacier dog mushing tours for tourists at 5,000 feet, helicopter access only, five staff, fifty dogs, no cell signal Winter: Racing dog training for Iditarod and other competitions at the kennel in Talkeetna and South Kenai Company: AK Sled Dog Tours / Dallas Seavey Kennel McCarthy, Alaska: Pop. ~30 year-round, 300+ seasonal workers. Located in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park — the largest national park in the United States, roughly seven times the size of Yellowstone. Accessible by 60-mile dirt road. No grocery store. The site of Ben's summer 2024 whitewater raft guide work with McCarthy River Tours. Warrior Expeditions: Veterans organization that supports outdoor wilderness expeditions for vets with at least one combat tour. Provides gear and logistical support. Ben encountered them on the AT and hiked the PCT with a Warrior Expeditions cohort in 2019. Mentioned briefly: highly recommended for any veteran looking for a trail-based transition. Follow Ben: Instagram: @hiking_ginger_b The Full Traverse is produced by Hiker Trash Radio, a member of the BLEAV Podcast Network. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    The Full Traverse - Mountains Don't Care with Ben "Ginger Ballz" Vaughan

  6. Jul 11

    The Full Traverse - Thoughts on a Zero Day with Eddie "Bard" Janicki

    The Full Traverse is HTR's long-form narrative format, drawing from multiple years of conversations with a single guest to tell the complete story. This is Episode 4. Guest: Eddie Janicki, trail name Bard — Triple Crowner, civil engineer, amateur musician, and the only known person to hike the full PCT with a guitar. Trail name origin: Given two days into the PCT in 2018 by a fellow hiker after Eddie arrived on trail carrying a guitar, a harmonica on a neck stand, and various other items that did not survive the first week. The trail name One Man Band was floated and rejected (too long). Bard was accepted. He has since encountered other Bards on trail, which he says makes him like the name less — but he kept it. The album: Thoughts on a Zero Day by Eddie Janicki. Available on Spotify. Twelve tracks recorded over approximately two months in the fall/winter of 2022, between finishing the AT and returning to work. Songs include "Deli Deli" (positive AT experience), "Rain Dodging" (negative AT experience), and older material dating to 2014–2015. Lo-fi home recording. Trail-related throughout. Trails completed: Pacific Crest Trail (northbound, 2018) — with best friend Eric and Eric's brother Marshall. 40-pound starting pack including a guitar and a hatchet that did not survive the first week. Continental Divide Trail (northbound, 2020) — during the pandemic; approximately 10–12 other northbounders encountered the entire trip. Met Ginger Ballz at Toaster House in Pie Town, New Mexico. Considered his best trail; the one he looks back on with the most pride. Appalachian Trail (northbound, 2022) — completed in fall 2022. Described as the least wild of the three; never felt the "I'm really out here doing it" feeling that the CDT provided consistently. Confirmed personal suspicions that the AT would be his least favorite going in. Notable CDT moments referenced in this episode: San Juan Mountains snow traverse, Colorado — post-holed to the waist, pack caught on the hole, sheer drop below; crawled the rest on all fours Colorado river crossing — washed-out bridge; threw pack and phone across, swam approximately 15–20 feet through cold snowmelt Personal context (2025): Married; wife is Mrs. Janicki (formerly his girlfriend who visited him in the CDT at Yellowstone and experienced an August snowstorm) Purchased house in Seattle Dog: Berkeley, Australian Shepherd mix Baby expected The Enchantments: A wilderness area near Leavenworth, Washington, in the North Cascades. Highly permit-controlled due to demand. Features numerous alpine lakes at elevation. Eddie completed a 19-mile traverse in a single day in 2025 with his twin brother Luke and his cousin Joe. Peru trip (2025): Eddie and his wife visited Cusco and hiked to Machu Picchu via the Inca Trail route. Acclimatized at 11,500 feet in Cusco before beginning the hike. Reached the first ruin site Wiñay Wayna approximately four miles in; crested the Sun Gate for the first view of Machu Picchu. Described as the most historically immersive hiking experience of his life. Twin brother: Luke Janicki — identical twin, highly athletic, has hiked short sections of all three long trails with Eddie. Ran marathons. Not a thru-hike aspirant as of this recording. Friends referenced: Eric — college best friend who got Eddie into thru-hiking; brother Marshall is also a Triple Crowner Ginger Ballz (Ben Vaughan) — CDT trail companion, shared multiple Full Traverse episode; now working for Dallas Seavey's Iditarod operation. Eddie describes him as "one of the best guys I've ever met." Follow Eddie: Instagram: @EddieJanicky Music: Search Thoughts on a Zero Day by Eddie Janicki on Spotify The Full Traverse is produced by Hiker Trash Radio, a member of the BLEAV Podcast Network. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    The Full Traverse - Thoughts on a Zero Day with Eddie "Bard" Janicki

  7. Jul 10 ·  Bonus

    The Source Material: Episode 6 - Barkley's Mad Genius

    Guest Featured Lazarus Lake (Gary Cantrell) Creator of the Barkley Marathons and the Backyard Ultra in direct conversation with Doc Key Themes Laz on the design philosophy of the Barkley with uncertainty as the core principle The Name Game: Laz's one-sentence portraits of the finishers in his own words What Laz sees when he watches the race each year and what he's still looking for The race's future: what happens when the edge of the possible keeps moving Laz on the fame: the BBC, the Netflix documentary, the viral photographs The question Doc has been building toward for three years: why does everyone keep coming back? Standout Moment Laz on Jasmine Paris: 'From the very first, from when the cigarette was lit, she left with no margin for error. And she came back with no margin for error. If that performance isn't the best I've witnessed in my life, I'm not sure where the best lies.' Series Context Bonus Episode 06 of 06. The final episode of The Source Material and the conclusion of The Barkley: A Love Story - a nine-week audio documentary series from Hiker Trash Radio. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    The Source Material: Episode 6 - Barkley's Mad Genius

  8. Jul 8

    Walking Away From a Life That Worked - Jeff "Bluey" Lewis (Part II)

    Picking back up, Bluey traces the real origin of his AT dream back to childhood summer camp, where two counselors disappeared for a season to thru-hike the trail and came back changed men — planting a seed that took him over two decades to act on. He talks candidly about the conversation with his wife that preceded his decision to go, including her quietly handing him a Christmas gift that said more than words could: an expensive base layer, no note attached, her way of saying she'd support him even if she didn't want him to leave. The conversation turns to identity on trail — how quickly hikers strip away titles, credentials, and performance, and how that "unfiltered" version of himself became something he had to find a way to live with once he came home. Bluey explains how the idea for the memoir wasn't part of the plan at all; it grew out of a handful of journal pages he started writing months after finishing the trail, eventually becoming the full manuscript in a matter of weeks once he started. He shares two of the book's most memorable stories in greater depth: Chappy, the mysterious trail mentor who appeared on Day 3 at exactly the right moment and then vanished after Hiawassee (Bluey makes a direct on-air appeal for Chappy to get in touch), and the now-infamous Pennsylvania rock-tantrum that ended with a stranger handing him a bottle of cheap bourbon and exactly the kind of human connection he needed at his lowest point. Midlife Hike This launches September 4th, the one-year anniversary of Bluey's summit of Katahdin, and is available for preorder now at MidlifeHikeThis.com. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

    Walking Away From a Life That Worked - Jeff "Bluey" Lewis (Part II)
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Trailers

4.8
out of 5
150 Ratings

About

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!

Information

  • Creator
    Doc, Bleav
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    600
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 498978
  • Show Website
    Hiker Trash Radio

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