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...
Sep 06, 2022•17 min
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 Nurse...
Aug 30, 2022•47 min
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 rabb...
Aug 23, 2022•42 min
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...
Aug 16, 2022•18 min
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://w...
Aug 09, 2022•29 min
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...
Aug 02, 2022•12 min
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 mindfulnes...
Jul 26, 2022•52 min
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...
Jul 19, 2022•15 min
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...
Jul 05, 2022•14 min
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 r...
Jun 28, 2022•45 min
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...
Jun 21, 2022•19 min
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 find t...
Jun 14, 2022•32 min
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 origin...
Jun 07, 2022•16 min
We have a panel discussion for you today about spirituality on the trail. Who better than these three ladies to talk with on this fascinating subject? Anne Gardner Writer. Minister. Adventurer. After spending twenty-five years working at two of Boston’s premier educational institutions, Harvard University and Phillips Academy, Andover, the author currently leads the chaplaincy program at Harvard-Westlake, a private secondary school in Los Angeles. An Episcopal minister by day, Reverend Gardner a...
May 31, 2022•58 min
My name is Em, trail name, In Tune. I’m into a lot of outdoor adventure-type activities and also all things music. I’m 24 years old, from Canada, and currently attempting to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail! Guest Links- Em on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/c/Em%E2%80%99sOutdoors Em on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/em_aroundtheworld/ 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: https://www.t...
May 24, 2022•50 min
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 origin...
May 17, 2022•13 min
Writer. Minister. Adventurer. After spending twenty-five years working at two of Boston’s premier educational institutions, Harvard University and Phillips Academy, Andover, the author currently leads the chaplaincy program at Harvard-Westlake, a private secondary school in Los Angeles. An Episcopal minister by day, Reverend Gardner also finds time to work as a freelance writer. Her essays and columns have been featured in The National Catholic Reporter, The Boston Globe, The Providence Journal,...
May 10, 2022•55 min
More trail lessons as my friend, LiteShoe, tests out her gear, and pushes out of her comfort zone, getting closer to hitting the AT! 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 meeting...
May 03, 2022•13 min
Courtney has had an on-again/off-again relationship with mountains, hiking and primitive camping, starting in Alaska in her very early life. She also often hiked and “car camped” in the high desert and Sierra Nevadas in California growing up. After living almost 20 years at Sea Level, the mountains were calling again. After “accidentally” stepping onto the Appalachian Trail in Georgia in 2020, the affair was back on! Now Courtney, aka “Unfiltered”, has created a podcast to indulge in research on...
Apr 26, 2022•46 min
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...
Apr 19, 2022•13 min
Chelsea McCurdy is a queer plus-sized hiker who advocates for body positivity, health at every size, and joyful movement. She believes that nature is healing, and that everyone deserves to enjoy the outdoors, regardless of their body type or fitness level. She lives in Arkansas and owns a business (Hobbit Hikers) dedicated to hikers who love to take their time, enjoy the view, snack a little along the way, and experience nature on their own terms. She is also a video creator on TikTok and Instag...
Apr 12, 2022•37 min
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 ...
Apr 05, 2022•25 min
I am a mom to three amazing kids, a wife to the love of my life, a retired veterinarian, a team member of our local search and rescue squad, a certified naturalist, and an active adventurer whose second home is in the Great Outdoors (and a chronic insomniac, which is why I can pack so much into one life). Guest Links- Nancy’s Blog- https://www.hopeandfeathertravels.com/ Nancy’s Facebook Group- https://www.facebook.com/groups/campingandhikingdeals/ Nancy’s search and Rescue Group- https://www.fac...
Mar 29, 2022•39 min
Natalie Bonthius is the founder of Survival Med. She earned her Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Central Florida, and is combining a career in austere medicine with her background in neuroscience. Dr. Bonthius is a Fellow in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine, Advanced Wilderness and Expedition Provider, Advanced Wilderness Life Support instructor, and board member of the International Association of Near-Death Studies. She researches and teaches about what happens to the mind and hu...
Mar 22, 2022•50 min
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 who 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...
Mar 15, 2022•15 min
Megan Militello | Founder + CEO at Elevated Oats | Army Staff Sergeant | MS, Embry-Riddle | Mountaineer As an Army air traffic controller, Megan held key leadership and trainer positions, learned first-hand how to run a highly coordinated operation, and received a bronze star during her second Iraq deployment. She continued air traffic in the DOD and FAA, but ultimately felt unfulfilled, and following a lifelong goal of being an entrepreneur, Megan combined her passion for healthy eating and hel...
Mar 08, 2022•41 min
Nancy is a mom to three amazing kids, a wife to the love of her life, a retired veterinarian, a team member of her local search and rescue squad, a certified naturalist, and an active adventurer whose second home is in the Great Outdoors (and a chronic insomniac, which is why she can pack so much into one life). Guest Links- Nancy’s Blog- https://www.hopeandfeathertravels.com/ Nancy’s Facebook Group- https://www.facebook.com/groups/campingandhikingdeals/ Nancy’s search and Rescue Group- https://...
Mar 01, 2022•11 min
Kelly Howard is the Fitness Consistency Coach with a touch of adventure! She helps busy women prioritize their fitness so they can feel great and have more time and energy for the things they love. When we feel strong, confident, and empowered, we can do anything. Kelly loves adding fun and a little adventure into life with outdoor activities like hiking, biking, backpacking, SUP, and kayaking. Her Fit is Freedom podcast, courses, and events have changed the lives of thousands of women. As a fre...
Feb 22, 2022•54 min
Natalie Bonthius is the founder of Survival Med. She earned her Doctorate of Medicine from the University of Central Florida, and is combining a career in austere medicine with her a background in neuroscience. Dr. Bonthius is a Fellow in the Academy of Wilderness Medicine, Advanced Wilderness and Expedition Provider, Advanced Wilderness Life Support instructor, and board member of the International Association of Near-Death Studies. She researches and teaches about what happens to the mind and ...
Feb 15, 2022•8 min
Charles Huthmaker, CEO and Founder of CJ Crew Co., has been immersed in rowing since 1988 when he was walking across campus and saw the same sign that thousands of rowers have seen, “If interested in trying crew, show up to the meeting at (fill in the blank).” Since then, he has been a student of the sport. Having first jumped into a coaching launch in 1991, he has since coached at all levels of the sport from novice juniors to elite athletes at world championships. Universities where he has coa...
Feb 08, 2022•30 min
