Episodes

Bowen Blair is an environmental attorney who has protected some of the nation’s most important landscapes. In the Columbia Gorge, Blair helped draft and lobby the act that established the country’s most prominent national scenic area and negotiated the purchase of thousands of acres for public parks and tribal homelands. He was later appointed by two Oregon governors to the Gorge Commission, which he chaired. Guest Links- The book - https://osupress.oregonstate.edu/book/force-for-nature About ...

Jan Leitschuh was bitten by the AT bug in 2002. With no real backpacking experience, she threw herself into learning, training and stomping down fears and questions that swirled around her preparations. She joined the infamous Pack 31- a group of hikers that met online and named themselves after the date they started, March 1, 2003. This community, built on meetings at the ALDHA Gathering and a thousand online hours, still remain friends to this day and Liteshoe, along with many of those origina...

Anna is the host of the Trail Dames podcast, the Founder of Trail Dames, The Summit, and the Trail Dames Foundation. When she isn’t dancing up the trail with the Dames, she can be found at her family business, Huthmaker Fine Violins, where she is known as the Bow Queen. Guest Links- Eupepsia Wellness Center - https://eupepsia.com/WellnessCenter/wellnessSpa Connect with Anna, aka Mud Butt, at info@traildames.com You can find the Trail Dames at: Our website: https://www.traildames.com The Summit...

Jan Leitschuh was bitten by the AT bug in 2002. With no real backpacking experience, she threw herself into learning, training and stomping down fears and questions that swirled around her preparations. She joined the infamous Pack 31- a group of hikers that met online and named themselves after the date they started, March 1, 2003. This community, built on meetings at the ALDHA Gathering and a thousand online hours, still remain friends to this day and Liteshoe, along with many of those origina...

Bio- I am a soulful coach and heart-led content creator who is following my soul’s calling to cultivate greater love, inner strength, and healing in the world. I approach my clients with warmth, understanding, and honesty. As an overcomer of childhood sexual trauma, addiction, domestic abuse, and chronic illness, I devoted many years to healing myself. Yet, I still struggled to maintain healthy relationships, even into adulthood. I liberated myself from these toxic patterns for good by delving...

Jan Leitschuh was bitten by the AT bug in 2002. With no real backpacking experience, she threw herself into learning, training and stomping down fears and questions that swirled around her preparations. She joined the infamous Pack 31- a group of hikers that met online and named themselves after the date they started, March 1, 2003. This community, built on meetings at the ALDHA Gathering and a thousand online hours, remain friends to this day and Liteshoe, along with many of those original Pack...

A Force for Nature: Nancy Russell’s Fight to Save the Columbia Gorge, by Bowen Blair. Bowen Blair website - LIGHTS TO GUIDE ME HOME: A Journey Off the Beaten Track in Life, Love, Adventure, and Parenting - by Meghan J Ward. Meghan J. Ward...

Jan Leitschuh was bitten by the AT bug in 2002. With no real backpacking experience, she threw herself into learning, training and stomping down fears and questions that swirled around her preparations. She joined the infamous Pack 31- a group of hikers that met online and named themselves after the date they started, March 1, 2003. This community, built on meetings at the ALDHA Gathering and a thousand online hours, still remain friends to this day and Liteshoe, along with many of those origina...

Andrea Lani is the author of (Bison Books, 2022). The book chronicles the 500-mile hike through the Rocky Mountains that she took with her husband and three kids, the hike on the same trail she and her husband took 20 years earlier, and the natural,...

Jan Leitschuh was bitten by the AT bug in 2002. With no real backpacking experience, she threw herself into learning, training and stomping down fears and questions that swirled around her preparations. She joined the infamous Pack 31- a group of hikers that met online and named themselves after the date they started, March 1, 2003. This community, built on meetings at the ALDHA Gathering and a thousand online hours, still remain friends to this day and Liteshoe, along with many of those origina...

Going vegan on the trail

Jan Leitschuh was bitten by the AT bug in 2002. With no real backpacking experience, she threw herself into learning, training and stomping down fears and questions that swirled around her preparations. She joined the infamous Pack 31- a group of hikers that met online and named themselves after the date they started, March 1, 2003. This community, built on meetings at the ALDHA Gathering and a thousand online hours, still remain friends to this day and Liteshoe, along with many of those origina...

26 years ago, I was blessed to have Jamie Gregory as a student. She had the most open heart and the brightest of spirits and was a true joy to be around. As an adult, Jamie has put her gifts towards becoming a mid-wife, nurse, and now the co-founder of Life Tree Women Care. She focuses on respecting cultures, listening intently to her patients, and creating a safe medical place where women are heard. Bio- Jamie Neal is an Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner and is a Nationally Certified Nurs...

After 14 years as a librarian, Suzanne left that field in 2013. She knew she still wanted to be of service but wanted to help animals rather than people- although she still helps people. Suzanne became licensed for small mammals in 2014 and added her federal migratory bird permit in 2016. In 2018, she started rehabilitating rabies vector species, with a focus on bats. Right now she primarily take opossums, hence the rescues name, Primarily 'Possums, though she also specializes in cottontail rab...

Jan Leitschuh was bitten by the AT bug in 2002. With no real backpacking experience, she threw herself into learning, training, and stomping down fears and questions that swirled around her preparations. She joined the infamous Pack 31- a group of hikers that met online and named themselves after the date they started, March 1, 2003. This community, built on meetings at the ALDHA Gathering and a thousand online hours, remains friends to this day, and Liteshoe, along with many of those original P...

Celeste Queen is, in her own words, "a retiree loving the hiking life, especially the slow and steady part!" She took up hiking at the young age of 67, finding it to be her happy place. She sets goals and completes them, including a goal of completing 100 hikes in a year. She completed this goal in December last year! Celeste on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hiker_girlnc/?hl=en Connect with Anna, aka Mud Butt, at info@traildames.com You can find the Trail Dames at: Our website: https:/...

Jan Leitschuh was bitten by the AT bug in 2002. With no real backpacking experience, she threw herself into learning, training, and stomping down fears and questions that swirled around her preparations. She joined the infamous Pack 31- a group of hikers that met online and named themselves after the date they started, March 1, 2003. This community, built on meetings at the ALDHA Gathering and a thousand online hours, still remain friends to this day, and Liteshoe, along with many of those origi...

IPPY-award winner and #1 Amazon bestselling author, Amy Edelstein has a unique perspective on the relationship between the inner journey and outer change. Having begun her own meditation practice in 1978, and spending the better part of four decades practicing, studying, researching, writing about, and ultimately teaching a variety of contemplative methodologies, Edelstein established and directs the non-profit Inner Strength Education, which she founded in 2014. Inner Strength brings mindfulne...

Jan Leitschuh was bitten by the AT bug in 2002. With no real backpacking experience, she threw herself into learning, training, and stomping down fears and questions that swirled around her preparations. She joined the infamous Pack 31- a group of hikers that met online and named themselves after the date they started, March 1, 2003. This community, built on meetings at the ALDHA Gathering and a thousand online hours, still remain friends to this day, and Liteshoe, along with many of those origi...

Jan Leitschuh was bitten by the AT bug in 2002. With no real backpacking experience, she threw herself into learning, training and stomping down fears and questions that swirled around her preparations. She joined the infamous Pack 31- a group of hikers that met online and named themselves after the date they started, March 1, 2003. This community, built on meetings at the ALDHA Gathering and a thousand online hours, still remain friends to this day and Liteshoe, along with many of those origina...

Diane "Sticks" Harsha is the author of the recently published (and now also available on Audible) Sticks and Stones: How to Hike the AT in 13 Years. This is the memoir of a Tennessee wife, mother, and FBI agent who section hikes from Georgia to Maine when she can spare the time away from the demands of her career and the responsibilities to her family. From 2005 to 2017, Sticks lived her life with one foot on the Trail and one foot off, her heart always in two places but her mind at peace. Now ...

Jan Leitschuh was bitten by the AT bug in 2002. With no real backpacking experience, she threw herself into learning, training, and stomping down fears and questions that swirled around her preparations. She joined the infamous Pack 31- a group of hikers that met online and named themselves after the date they started, March 1, 2003. This community, built on meetings at the ALDHA Gathering and a thousand online hours, remain friends to this day, and Liteshoe, along with many of those original Pa...

Kim is the Co-Head Dame of the Georgia Chapter of Trail Dames and a member of the Trail Dames Board of Directors. Between her fantastic sense of humor and her tenacious strength, it is no coincidence that her trail name is Tough Cookie. She leads with heart and humor and we are so lucky that she has agreed to do some Guest Hosting on the Trail Dames Podcast! Guest Links- Kim on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/kim.a.weiler Connect with Anna, aka Mud Butt, at info@traildames.com You can fin...

Why go on a long-distance hike?