During his John Muir Trail thru-hike, Beta (a.k.a. Zach Terpstra), woke up in the middle of the night by the loudest noise he had ever heard in his life.

Being an outdoor enthusiast his whole life, Chad Lubinski set out on a PCT section hike to see if the long-distance hiking lifestyle was for him. He shares about his experience and what he learned being pushed out of his comfort zone.

Deserrae Potts, a.k.a Early Bird, shares the story of how she went from a completely broke student and inexperienced backpacker to a thru hiker in one year.

Let’s throw it back to about three years ago. My first backpacking trip. I was just a wee little caterpillar in college and had never really experienced what real “backpacking” was. But I loved to hike and I loved the outdoors, so it would be pretty easy right? HA, wrong.