Backpacker Radio

In today's episode of Backpacker Radio presented by The Trek, brought to you by Topo Athletic, in honor of Valentine's Day, we are once again putting love front and center-stage. We're joined by Annie and Jake, known on trail as Pistol and Lobo, who met at mile 166 of the Appalachian Trail in 2021 and are about to come full circle, getting married at Fontana Dam, the exact spot where they first met. We get the low down on how this romance was absolutely love at first sight, how and where things evolved from flirtation to romance to a full-blown committed relationship on trail, moving into a school bus post-trail, their attempt at recreating the magic on the PCT a few years later (spoiler alert: it was less magical), and tips to aspiring romantic hiker trash on how to find and sustain love on trail. We wrap the show with which pieces of gear a Trek Writer with more than 10,000 miles has eliminated from her pack, our internal dialogue while eating ice cream (and why maybe I have a problem), my ENEMY of the week