The Joy of a Pointless Walk By Carolyn Wells Highlight “Maybe walking into some marshes, and deciding at an undetermined future point to stop walking, was what was available to the Romantics, but I think we can do better.”
Tragedy on the Pacific Crest Trail By Krista Stevens Highlight “Trevor spoke to Doug…“Physically, I’m doing fine,” he said. ‘My body’s just tired because we’ve been doing 20-mile days for eight days in a row.’ It was their final conversation.”
The Mysterious Case of a Nameless Hiker By Cheri Lucas Rowlands Highlight A friendly and charming hiker was known on the trail as “Mostly Harmless.” After his body was discovered in a tent in Florida, no one could figure out who he was.
The Backcountry Prescription Experiment By Mathina Calliope Feature Mathina Calliope goes off her antidepressant and into the woods.
Tramp Like Us By Longreads Feature Can an American family learn to become outdoorsy in New Zealand, where the natural world is part of the national DNA? Sort of.
Hiking With Nietzsche By John Kaag Feature An infirmed Friedrich Nietzsche hiked the Swiss Alps to work on his writing. Philosopher John Kaag followed Nietzsche’s trail, taking the great thinker’s ideas out of his books and into the world.
Uncomfortable Silences: A Walk in Myanmar By David Fettling Feature Now what I remember most about my guide is what he said about the Rohingya. But I walked 50 kilometers with him before he said it.
Lost in Backcountry Corsica By Longreads Feature When two Irish travelers take hiking advice from a supposed guide, they soon find themselves relying on their wits in the dark.
Women of Color Are Blazing New Paths on Old Trails By Sari Botton Highlight Amanda Machado adds her voice to the growing chorus of women of color claiming their place in the rugged outdoors.
Walk It Off By Pam Mandel Highlight “The Sacred Door Trail is a pilgrimage if enough pilgrims say it is. “
Queer and Black and Hiking the Appalachian Trail: Rahawa Haile on Going it Alone By Krista Stevens Highlight In hiking the Appalachian Trail solo as a queer black woman, Rahawa Haile wants “to be a role model to black women who are interested in the outdoors, including myself.”
Carrying the Weight of Black Experience — and Literature — Along the Appalachian Trail By Sari Botton Highlight Rahawa Haile writes about hiking over 2000 miles on the Appalachian Trail in 2016, and carrying with her books by black authors, which she’d leave behind for others to find at shelters along the way.
Grandma Gatewood’s Walk: The Woman Who Saved the Appalachian Trail By Longreads Feature “There were a million heavenly things to see and a million spectacular ways to die.”
