How A National Geographic Explorer Picks The Best Trails In Every State

A lot of hiking advice quietly assumes you live near a famous national park, have endless vacation time, and already know what you’re doing. We wanted something more honest and more useful, so I sat down with Stephanie Pearson, a National Geographic Explorer and longtime Outside Magazine editor, to talk about how she built 100 Hikes of a Lifetime USA and what those trail choices say about the country. From the “big three” long trails (Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail) to short, meaningful walks that highlight culture and history, her goal is clear: there’s a hike for everyone, everywhere. 

We dig into how outdoor culture has changed over the last 30 years and why the post-COVID boom plus social media has raised the stakes for trip planning, Leave No Trace, and basic self-reliance. Stephanie shares why underrated routes like the Superior Hiking Trail can be just as demanding and beautiful as the headline hikes, and how spreading use across lesser-known trails can reduce impact on overcrowded hotspots. We also get into the practical realities that catch people off guard, especially in the Southwest: Guadalupe Peak’s altitude, dry heat, exposure, and the hard truth that you often have to pack your own water. 

To close, we talk dream destinations like Alaska’s Gates of the Arctic, the push and pull of sharing trail information responsibly, the difference between solo hiking and group dynamics, and a simple gear choice that matters more than most people think: sun protection. If you care about hiking trails in the USA, public lands, and finding adventures that fit your real life, you’ll get a lot out of this conversation. Subscribe, share this with a hiking buddy, and leave a review so more people can find the show.

Book Link 

National Geographic 100 Hikes of a Lifetime USA by Stephanie Pearson

https://amzn.to/4wpeHzt

Stephanie Contact info: 

https://stephanieannpearson.com/

Transcript

Welcome And Stephanie’s Origin Story

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Welcome everybody. My name is Craig. I am also known as the Natural Medic. Today I have Stephanie Pearson with me. We are going to talk about her latest book. We'll let her get to that in just a second. I'll let her introduce herself and kind of give a little background, then we'll start diving in some questions about her projects and what's going on. Go ahead, Stephanie.

SPEAKER_00 0:20

Hey Craig. Thanks for having me. It's fun to be here. And I would say my background, I was an editor at Outside Magazine for a while, and now I am a contributing editor, and I have written a couple books for National Geographic. I've written a children's book about national parks and just general lover of the outdoors.

SPEAKER_02 0:38

And I actually have a copy of your book we're going to talk about today, which is right here. And we'll dive into the depth of that here in a in a moment. But great book with a lot of interesting hikes in there. So you've been with National Geographic, you know, involved with them and outside editor or editor for outside magazine, sorry. Was there any specific moment or trip early in your life that made you realize that storytelling and the outdoors were your true calling?

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Yeah, it's funny. I was just looking through my old diaries. I just had one from 1976, and one of the entries was I fell in the lake and had to get stitches. And so that's like the first recorded journal entry. And but since then, I grew up in northern Minnesota, grew up around lakes and paddling, and and so I've I've really always had an organic relationship to the outdoors, and then really loved magazines and storytelling, and went to graduate school. And by coincidence, Outside magazine was based in Chicago at the time, and that was the magazine that I really wanted to work for, and that's where I was going to graduate school. So they were moving down to Santa Fe, New Mexico, the year I graduated. So that was like a cosmic convergence because New Mexico was where I wanted to be, and Outside was going to be there. So I got an internship in 1995, and that's really been a 30-year relationship. So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

Wow. Kind of funny how things work out. Like so I can understand your fascination with the state because it's a yeah. Uh what so how you

How Outdoor Culture Went Mainstream

SPEAKER_02 2:10

know, look at you know, all the places that you have been, I mean, how have you seen that the culture of outdoor exploration change over the years? What is your thought on that?

SPEAKER_00 2:17

Yeah, that's really interesting. I mean, the interesting thing that with the start of my career was it was bookended by at the beginning by John Krakower's book Into Thin Air. That was the first year that I was at Outside, the first year or two that I was outside. And so that was really outside was very much sort of the maintainer of the outdoor culture. And now things have become so much more mainstream, so much more easily accessible in terms of information. Everybody's a storyteller, and that is both a good thing and a bad thing. I think that we used to see the world through the lens of great national geographic photographers or whatever, and now everybody has that ability and that access, but they also have the responsibility to do the right thing out in the outdoors, and so it goes both ways. But it's changed a lot in the last 30 years, I would say.

SPEAKER_02 3:10

Oh, for sure. Yeah. I mean, I I think just even like we mentioned before we started recording here, talking about just the change of venue with COVID and how many people I think probably were being stuck inside during that whole event made a lot of people come out. There's record numbers of people going to national parks, and some of the, like you said, some of the people are not as prepared maybe as they need to be. And so they're seeing, you know, a lot of different, a lot of different experiences with that.

SPEAKER_00 3:39

Yeah, I'm sure as an EMT that a lot.

SPEAKER_02 3:42

Oh, for sure. Yeah. Right here in my immediate area, we don't really have any rescues that, but I know that in the surrounding states, some of the four corners, I'm pretty close to, you know, Arizona and Utah and Colorado. There's a lot of things that I read about about people, you know, not making the best decisions and having to get some help. But that's all part of it. So what

Becoming A National Geographic Explorer

SPEAKER_02 4:05

do you think about being a being a National Geographic explorer?

SPEAKER_00 4:09

How does that Yeah, that's a huge honor. I received a grant from National Geographic, and so National Geographic the magazine and National Geographic Society are two separate entities under the same umbrella. And the National Geographic Society is the one that that gives money to a different different money to scientists, they give money to educators, they give money to what they call storytellers. And so I was given a grant to study Lake Superior, which is my backyard. And so that is how I came into that National Geographic Explorer fold. And then once you're an explorer, you're always an explorer. So there's thousands of us across the globe. So it's a really cool community because they really encourage connection among the community, and there's different disciplines within the community. So it's exciting. It's a little intimidating. I always feel a little imposter syndrome for sure, but uh it's really it's inspiring to see all these other explorers when we get together. So it's fun.

SPEAKER_02 5:09

Oh, yeah, for sure. I mean, I remember as a kid reading the magazine and I guess it was a TV show, right? I mean, wasn't there a TV show?

SPEAKER_01 5:16

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:17

So, you know, it's kind of a big you know, it's a big out there kind of situation, and you know, being thrust into that, I bet feels kind of interesting. And talking about your book, which I'll race it up again here, and 100 hikes of a lifetime, we've got a very big diverse country.

Choosing 100 Hikes Across The USA

SPEAKER_02 5:35

So, how did you how did you take the entire US and narrow it down just a hundred to a hundred hikes? I mean, I had to be a monumental task to figure that out.

SPEAKER_00 5:44

Yeah, that was tough. I mean, I first of all, my editor at National Geographic said that there are a couple of hikes that they wanted us to include, namely the three biggies, the Pacific Crest, the Continental Divide, and the Appalachian Trail. But then it was like fair game, anything was fair game. So what I really wanted to do was include every state and every territory. And a lot of the hikes in here are they're big hikes, but then there are some really small hikes that, like in Georgia, I think it's less than a mile. And the reason that I included that was more for the cultural aspect of it than the actual hiking experience. And so that's really what I wanted to convey in this book was that there's a hike, no matter where you live in this country, there's a hike that you can do that will either inspire you physically or intellectually, or it will speak to your cultural heritage. So I really try to make sure that I included all of the country in this book.

SPEAKER_02 6:44

I mean, that's great because I agree with you. There's hikes in people's backyard they don't even necessarily investigate. They just, you know, people focus on the big, you know, national park ones or the or the you know the ones that go all the way across the country, like the Appalachian or something like that. And you know, there's if you look, there's always something in your backyard, I think, that's offers a lot of benefits and a lot of things that you can get from it.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

Yeah, totally.

SPEAKER_02 7:14

So you kind of touched on this in the previous question, but you know, you have the heavy hitters in there, like is rim-to-rim is in there in Grand Canyon?

SPEAKER_00 7:22

Yep, yep. I think it's the first one in the book.

SPEAKER_02 7:24

Yep. But you said it was important to represent something from all of the states. So how with you know, kind of just diving a little bit deeper, like how did you figure out other trails that were, you know, maybe not as flashy or not as well known?

SPEAKER_00 7:40

Yeah, it was a combination. A lot of these trails I've hiked personally, so not all of them. I will tell you, I haven't hiked 4100. But then through the community of people, I know I reached out to people in areas who I know are hikers and who I know their areas really well, and I asked them for some trails that may be really interesting for a specific reason. And then I also included trails that I want to do and that I wanted to learn more about. Yeah, and over the course of the the time in my outside reporting, I've come across most of these trails at one point or another and just wanted to learn more about them if I hadn't done them myself. So yeah, I learned a ton reporting this book.

SPEAKER_02 8:24

Oh, I bet.

SPEAKER_00 8:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 8:26

I bet. Including your research and your formatting the book and getting your, you know, doing your on the boots, I guess, kind of grounds stuff in addition to collaboration. Like, how long did it take to get this whole project like start to finish, do you think?

SPEAKER_00 8:39

For a book, it's a quick turnaround. I think it's about two years from assignment date until publication date. And so the first process is you have to submit an outline. You have to do the research to submit an outline that the editors will approve. And then I went on this big road trip after that to report probably about 10 trails, and that's really all that I had time for in that time slot. And so then I started, I had a pretty rigorous schedule to keep in order to report out all of this until when it was due. I think my first draft was due in April, so it was like a year cycle, and then the second year is editing and photography and proofreading and all that stuff. So from start to finish, it was two years.

SPEAKER_02 9:26

Okay. Well, a lot of moving parts, of course, I'm

Two Years From Outline To Book

SPEAKER_02 9:30

sure.

SPEAKER_00 9:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:31

And we kind of touched on this a little bit with the previous questions, but I mean, you you've got other trails people don't think about as much, like, for example, the superior hiking trail. Which is, I guess, right there in your backyard.

SPEAKER_00 9:44

It is literally, it's 50 yards from where I'm standing right now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:48

And it's yeah, and just noting that it's talking about the elevation gain. What's that?

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Yeah, I'm not sure what exactly the elevation gain is. It's I know it's a lot, but the superior hiking trail is a perfect example of a Midwestern trail that people don't know about, but it's incredible. And one of the reasons it's so incredible is because it goes up and down. It it has to, it follows the the northern, the northwestern shoreline of Lake Superior. And so it has to go up and down these river, these very steep rivers. And so you pass a lot of waterfalls, you pass a lot of inland lakes, you're bordering, you're on the cusp of the boundary waters, canoe area wilderness. So it's just beautiful country, and it's a mountain range, but it's it's a lot of elevation gain, and it's rocky and rooty, and it's a tough trail, a very tough trail.

SPEAKER_02 10:38

Yeah, some of those ones in the Midwest are really interesting because you don't think about them being as rugged or as you know, maybe as interesting as, you know, the ones that are, you know, more promoted out west or the AT or the Continental Divide or PCT, something like that. You know, they're not people are not thinking about that, and that's kind of amazing that those are in there and were included. So why how do you feel about those kind of lesser, you know, those kind of unsung heroes, I guess you'd say, trail-wise.

SPEAKER_00 11:12

You know, not everybody can hop in their car and hike the Grand Teton or climb the Grand Teton every weekend, you know. So so I love that people are in great proximity. Like the Buckeye Trail in Ohio, it circles the state. And so somewhere in the state, you're gonna be close to some point on that trail, you know. So, so I love the accessibility to some of these trails. And I also just think that they're the beauty that they offer is unparalleled in, you know, and is just it's maybe more subtle than a summit, but it's absolutely

Underrated Trails Worth Your Time

SPEAKER_00 11:45

as beautiful in its own way. Oh, yeah. And I like to disperse, I also like to disperse the the impact of hiking too, if possible. Because that can be an issue.

SPEAKER_02 11:57

Yeah, it kind of just goes back to what you're saying, those lesser-known kind of unsung heroes. There's something for everybody, even in their backyard, you know, a couple hours away, you have probably some kind of cool area that's not really as well known, and you can still get a good experience.

SPEAKER_01 12:15

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 12:17

Okay, the American Discovery Trail. We talked about that one in there.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

Yes, that's the big one.

SPEAKER_02 12:24

Yeah, I mean, that's a big one. And I as we said, not everybody has time to do an AT or uh North Country or anything like that. So what do you think is a realistic goal for somebody that wants to do something like that?

SPEAKER_00 12:38

I think I I think anything is possible. It depends on how much time you have, it depends on how much money you have, it depends on how interested you are in being uncomfortable. I think if the American Discovery Trail literally traverses the country and all you have to do is put one foot in front of the other to some extent. But big hikes require a lot of planning, they require a lot of money in some cases, and they were they require a lot of training. And so I would just say do your research and find a trail. And a lot of these trails in this book are precursors you can do to one of the bigger trails. Like a lot of the trails are so you want to try the Appalachian Trail, try the Benton Mackay Trail before you try the Appalachian Trail because it's a shorter distance, it's actually more difficult. But there are trails of all lengths, so I would just say build up to these bigger ones, or else you might find yourself in a world of hurt. A la Cheryl Strait, you know.

SPEAKER_02 13:36

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 13:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:38

California's Lost Coast Trail. It's famous for the its raw, untouched nature, you know, and and the and you know, and I think as we become more and more separated from nature, just in our society, you know, how do you how vital

Planning Big Hikes Without Regret

SPEAKER_02 13:55

do you think these connections are to it's talking about a particular, you know, a coastal experience, but any wilderness experience, do you think that's a vital and part part of our life now?

SPEAKER_00 14:06

Oh, I think it's increasingly difficult, but I think it's increasingly important. The last coast trail is one of those trails, and that that's a tough trail because it's got tides that you have to deal with, and you really have to understand tidal charts, and it's really remote. So you have to do your research, but also I think it just places wilderness areas that we have left, they're under attack right now, unfortunately, with our current administration, every public land is, and so for one, you have to enjoy it while we still have it, but also two, I think like the old saying is if you don't understand what you have, you you you're not going to understand what you've lost. And so I think it's it really important for people to get out there and to see these places, whatever comfort level they they're at.

SPEAKER_02 14:56

Absolutely. And you know, and it goes back again to what we were saying about getting out in your own backyard. I mean, there's so many opportunities that people don't really think about because, you know, maybe they're focused on some other, you know, I've got to go to Yellowstone or I've got to go to Great Smoky Mountains or something to have that wilderness experience when they can actually have that same experience a little bit closer. And I think people don't, you know, they're kind of sidelining that experience because, you know, I've got to do this and I've got to do this. And everybody's so busy. And I think it's an important, essential part of nowadays society is to try to take that time away and get out into nature and enjoy it.

SPEAKER_00 15:35

Yeah, 100% agree.

SPEAKER_02 15:38

Now, this next one, next question we have is talking about Guadalupe Peak in Texas, which of course, me being a Texan, I've been on top of that one two times.

unknown 15:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:46

The first time I hiked, it was back in college. A little different experience. Of course, I was younger and etc. I don't remember it being that difficult.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

Yeah, that's a difficult piece.

SPEAKER_02 15:57

But I did it, let's see. I believe I did it in October of 2024 was the last time I did it. But what do you, from your perspective, what do you think is a common misconception about hiking that one, especially just in general hiking in the southwest? What do you think? And I can allow that.

SPEAKER_00 16:12

Yeah, I mean, the southwest is a huge area too. There's New Mexico, there's Arizona, there's Texas. And one of the first experiences in a

Why Wilderness Still Matters

SPEAKER_00 16:20

national park I had was Big Ben National Park, and I was so just blown away by the scale and size and geology of that park and the ability to look into Mexico. I grew up in northern Minnesota and there were javelinas running around, and that was really exotic. And also that was a formative place for me, and then going to Carlsbad Caverns, that was so different than where I had grown up. And the Southwest, I've spent a lot of time in Sedona, which is totally different. It's very, a very concentrated, just incredibly beautiful area of red rocks that is a place that can be overcrowded, but it's so beautiful. Guadalupe Peak in Texas, I think people don't understand the altitude in Texas. That's a high peak and it's a steep peak, and it's straight up. And so I I think most people, when thinking of Texas, don't think of that kind of altitude for one, as well as just steep scramble. Oh, for sure. Um, but I love hiking in the southwest. It's one of my favorite places to hike. I love New Mexico too.

SPEAKER_02 17:28

Yeah, uh and the Guadalupe's, of course, are sitting across the border into New Mexico. They're almost more New Mexican than they are Texan, because you, like you said, you don't really think about that. And of course, my part of Texas that I grew up in was on the other side, East Texas.

SPEAKER_01 17:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 17:42

So I was out there with the lakes and the rivers and pine trees and things like that, and you get out to West Texas, especially the Guadalupe Peak area, Big Bend, and you're like, it's like a totally different experience.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

Yeah, it's crazy. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 17:56

And people don't think about how rugged that terrain is and how little water there is, and how much they have to like pump in there to stay hydrated because you feel it, and probably up there in Minnesota too. It's you know, it gets humid, I imagine. You know, in East Texas, same thing. You can you feel that sweat just dripping off of you, and over here in the southwest, you don't even like, where's my shirt wet? I don't even know.

SPEAKER_00 18:18

Yeah, and I actually I love that about the southwest, just the dry heat of the hiking. And and you're right, water that's the Arizona Trail. I think they do a really good job of caching water along the way, and you can't obviously rely on that, but there are people who there's bike races along that trail. And so, but a lot of these trails, yeah, you're right. I mean, you have to pack in your water, and you know, or you could get in trouble, which yeah, is something you really need to think about.

SPEAKER_02 18:43

Yeah, I think backpacking in that park, I think you have to pack in your own water because whatever minute amount of water is available from old ranching operations. So I pretty much just reserve that for the wildlife because it's so dry.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

Yep.

SPEAKER_02 18:55

But yeah, it's a great park and a great area. I need to go back to Big Bend sometime. Not right now because it's it's June. Yeah. But in the fall, maybe. Who knows?

SPEAKER_01 19:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:06

So tough one here as we finish up this section of the questions. If you had to pick this one trail out of the book, we had no logistical barriers. So money's not an object, time's not an object, which one would you go

Southwest Reality Altitude Heat Water

SPEAKER_02 19:20

to?

SPEAKER_00 19:20

I would have to go for gates of the Arctic. And that's actually in Alaska. I love Alaska. I've been to Alaska a number of times, but I've never been to Gates of the Arctic. And that's back to your question about wilderness. That's a true wilderness where there's not you're not really following a trail and you won't follow a trail, but you just get dropped in, and you can just have the opportunity to see the huge caribou herds and grizzly if you run across them, and so many other wildlife, which I just I think that opportunity to have that opportunity to be in that kind of expansive wilderness would really be exciting to me. If I were with somebody else. I don't think I'd want to be out there by myself.

SPEAKER_02 20:05

Yeah. I I tend to do a lot of solo stuff when I go out because if I was waiting for somebody, I'd be waiting a long time. But but Alaska would definitely not be a place I would want to go by myself.

unknown 20:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:14

At least have a buddy or buddies. Okay, so photography-wise, there's some really great photography, of course, and in all the National Geographic things. That's kind of one of their highlights of their beautiful photography over the years. How closely do you get to work with those photographers to make sure that imagery matches with what you're trying to get across in your writing?

SPEAKER_00 20:36

National Geographic is so good at that and so expert at that. I had the opportunity after it was written, I had the opportunity to go through and look at all the photos and comment on the photos and especially make sure that they were in the right place. And there weren't many, there were one or two photos maybe that were maybe not the right place. But otherwise, I didn't have any objection to the photos that they had. I just are such masters at evoking awe. But I so I didn't take any of the photos. I wish I did, but I didn't. Um, but I think they did a really good job of diversity and just beautiful images.

SPEAKER_02 21:20

Yeah, yeah. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 21:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:22

Yeah, that's the one thing I could say definitely about. I think if you talk about Natural Geographic Magazine or any of their television productions or whatever, everything is really just stunningly, the visuals are very like very well done. Yeah. It's like can't get any better than that.

unknown 21:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:40

So what a fortunate thing.

SPEAKER_01 21:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:42

And of course, you know, the whole thing about making people aware of these these areas is you know, it can increase the popularity. I mean, I'm sure since social media and YouTube and everything has come along, you know,

Gates Of The Arctic Dream Adventure

SPEAKER_02 21:55

people are in the Appalachian Trail more often, and there's a lot more impact to that, just as an example. So how do you balance? And I have the same problem with some of this content that I'm putting out as well. How do you what's how do you balance that?

SPEAKER_00 22:08

That's a good question. And it's one I struggle with increasingly as more and more information is out in the world. But I do think that there's a way. I go back to my dad's advice. Take responsibility for yourself. Take responsibility to be out there, be educated. I was an educated outdoors person. I worked up in the boundary waters as a guide. I took emergency wilderness training. I I took the steps I needed to take to be out there as responsibly as I could be, given the fact that there are also acts of God and nature. So I think not everybody needs to take an EMT course, but there's basic leave no trace. And I think it's we have to put a little bit more of the responsibility on the people who are going out there and say, listen, if you want to be out there, you need to take some responsibility for being out there. You need to and then it is if we're putting something like this out there, we need to, it's our responsibility to educate them for sure. But I think it's also our all of our responsibility to take care of what we've got. It's our land collectively.

SPEAKER_02 23:14

Yeah, the United States is definitely a unique just the evolution of you know our public lands is kind of a unique, you know, testament to you know what we have access to, and that's a great thing. But like you said, we have to we have to each take our own responsibility to be somewhat self-reliant on taking care and you know not leaving our trash and having at least some understanding and training about what we're you know, what we're out there doing.

SPEAKER_00 23:44

Yeah, and I would take that even a step further too, and just have some awareness of what the land is, who what traditional lands you're on, or you know, what's the history, like the Chilcoot Trail. There's just so much historical there. So many of these trails have been there for so long and have held such history, and that's really a cool part of them. So it just enriches your experience.

SPEAKER_02 24:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:07

So yeah.

SPEAKER_02 24:08

Yeah, for sure. Like here in my, you know, in my area, you know, I I keep running into different places that I've been venturing. Like I was just up in the Dinosaur National Monument. I guess the end of May and the Escalante, like the kind of the beginnings of the Spanish Trail, which they started off in Santa Fe, about the same time that the United States declared independence. Like in 1776, and they they didn't make it to California, but their idea was it's like, okay, we can, yeah, we can do this. We got all the yeah, we're gonna make it to California. But I keep running into the that trail, and they they actually crossed the Green River right there in what is now Dinosaur National Monument.

SPEAKER_00 24:46

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 24:46

You know, how all that stuff kind of links together.

SPEAKER_00 24:49

Yeah, it's so cool.

SPEAKER_02 24:51

Yeah. And you know, we already talked about solo. We not we're not gonna go to Alaska

Share Trails Without Loving Them Down

SPEAKER_02 24:55

solo. We both decided that. But, you know, you've you've and then I can say the same thing. We both done solo trips, we've gone with other people or major expeditions, you know. How do you how do you feel that solo wilderness experience compares to you know going with other people?

SPEAKER_00 25:12

I mean it it tests you mentally and physically. You have to be so much more aware of your surroundings, you have to be aware of how you're doing things, and then also you just get that fullness of the experience when you're by yourself and just can can experience that solitude. And solitude's a wonderful thing. And when you're with other people, there's just I would say more dynamics. I think one of the things about hiking that can be challenging is not everybody hikes at the same pace. Yeah, you know, people's idea of fun may be a little bit different. Some people might really want to crush the summit, whereas other people might not have as much of interest in that. And so I think sometimes when you're hiking with others, there's just more group dynamics, and they can be awesome or they can be challenging depending on the group. But I think I haven't done a solo wilderness trip for quite a while. I traveled by myself quite a lot, but I haven't done that in recent years as much, which I need to do. It's a good thing to think about. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:16

Yeah, and I think being a solo person, you have to, like you said, you have to kind of know your limitations. But you know, the the benefits of the solo, I think, in a lot of ways is that you know, you're not really on a time schedule other than your own. You know, well, I don't want to say want to go hike this trail, I don't necessarily want to go here, I don't want to do this, you know. You that's you have a lot more freedom, but you know, like I said, it comes with you know more responsibility of taking care of your own your own experiences and needs.

SPEAKER_01 26:42

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 26:43

Um let's talk about gear for a second. So, you know, outdoor, and I've seen this as well, is I I 30 years ago is when I was in my for my bachelor's degree and I was you know going out to from East Texas to West Texas to Big Bend and Guadalupe's and uh all that kind of stuff. And you know, tech is outdoor tech has changed and evolved. And what if you have this one piece of gear that you refuse to hit the trail with, what is that one piece of gear that you take with you?

SPEAKER_00 27:12

I guess it would depend where I am. I'm prone to a little bit of melanoma. So I need some sun protection. So I have a like a Patagonia sun hoodie that I hike in all the time that I just love because it's cooling and it protects me from the sun. So I'm a big proponent of sun protection. So I would say that would be one of the first things I would take off the top of my head.

SPEAKER_02 27:35

Okay, it's a good choice. Yeah, I have I don't have a Patagonia one. I have one that I found on Amazon that was I feel it's up to par. It's probably not as good, but it's yeah, no, it protects you. But being out here in the southwest, you know, sun protection is very important because many of these trails out here have no shade or very little shade compared to where I come from in East Texas. The trees are only so tall, and yeah, so it's a little bit different, and then of course it's a lot drier, and good to have that that protection. So moving on to our next little area here. So

Beginner Hiking Advice That Works

SPEAKER_02 28:10

you have this book, says hikes of a lifetime, and it I don't feel like it'd be intimidating to me because I'm an avid hiker, been an avid hiker for a long time. But for somebody that just picks up this book for the first time, or they see this book at the bookstore, they're like, I think this sounds cool, but like, what do I how do I get started? So, what what would your advice be for a beginner hiker to get started and being in a hiker?

SPEAKER_00 28:35

Yeah, that's a yeah, that's a good question. And I think you're right too. In writing a book like this, you want to include all the big ones. But I think I wanted this book to be aspirational. Like maybe you don't necessarily do all of them, and it's not necessarily a guidebook, but I I do think that you can take sections of trails. And so I I I would say just for a beginner, know, like you said, actually have a good sense of your limitations. Don't limit yourself to your limitations, but when you're starting out, just try a couple mile section. If you're if you live on the east coast and you have a section of the Appalachian Trail near you, just try a section, try a five-mile section of it. Or if you have, if you're in Massachusetts, there's a trail that goes through multiple towns. So you have a lot of bail-off points in a lot of these hikes. And I would just say know your limits and then know that you don't have to reach the summit if if you're out trying to hike a fortune yard. There's really no rules. You make up your own rules, and so just do as much as you want because if you're out there for 20 minutes, you're gonna get a benefit. And there's not a big investment in terms of what you need for hiking, and that's one of the reasons I love about it. You need a good pair of shoes, you don't even need a pair of hiking shoes, really. And eventually you might need to build more of a kit, but you don't need much to start off with. And I'm also a big proponent of trekking poles when you do bigger hikes, just because I think they use your arms and take a little load off as you start doing bigger distances and stuff, things like that you can take along. But yeah, I just say start and start small and keep incrementally moving up.

SPEAKER_02 30:16

Yeah. I totally agree with you. I think that's a good way to tackle it. The fortunate thing about here being in Farmington in New Mexico is we have a lot of nice trails that go along our rivers here because we have three different rivers that go through Farmington. So we have a lot of nice trails with a lot of nice views, and it's cooler down there, and and that's a good place to get started. And then additionally, like I said at the you know, beginning, I think before we started recording, you know, I can jump in the car and go north, and I'll be in the San Juan's, you know, around Durango, Colorado, in an hour. So I mean fortunately, there's a lot in this area, but I think anywhere you are, I think you can probably find someplace a local park or a state park or whatever. Doesn't it doesn't have to be Yellowstone for your first hike.

SPEAKER_00 31:03

Yeah, exactly. Yeah, it's funny you say that. Whenever I drive south, I stop at state parks and eat lunch, and I just go for a little hike. State parks have beautiful little hikes. Yeah, sometimes not little.

SPEAKER_02 31:15

Yeah, that's true. Yeah, some of them are are kind of uh kind of a little bit more than you expected. So anyway, you've written about a bunch of different things. What

Next Trips Final Lesson Where To Find Her

SPEAKER_02 31:25

is your next project on the horizon? Do you have anything in the works?

SPEAKER_00 31:30

Yeah, I have some projects this summer. I don't have a big book project. I'm planning to go to Canada in a couple of weeks to explore some lesser-known parks in Ontario that I love. And also I'm gonna do a little trip on the Mississippi River. And these are just for smaller stories. But yeah, I love being in Minnesota in the summer. It's just such a beautiful place in the summer. So I definitely try to stay close to home at this time of year.

SPEAKER_02 31:58

Very cool. For our final little takeaway, somebody reads your book, which I'll show it again here. What is thank you? What is that what is that overarching lesson or feeling that you want the reader to come away with once they explore this book?

SPEAKER_00 32:16

Yeah, that's a great question. I mean, what I would love them to come away with inspiration. There's so much beauty in our country. We're going through a hard time in our country for a lot of different reasons, but there's still a lot to be proud of in the US, and there's still a lot to protect. Hopefully, this book will give a little inspiration to see it and then try to work toward protecting it. So that's what I would hope that people would get from it.

SPEAKER_02 32:41

Okay. Just a good appreciation of what we have.

SPEAKER_00 32:45

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_02 32:46

And where and where can they pick up this book?

SPEAKER_00 32:48

Uh you can pick it up really anywhere. It's on Amazon, it's in hopefully your local bookstores, and just search 100 hikes of a lifetime USA. And I will say there's a 100 hikes of a lifetime, which is an international book that precursed this book written by Kate Sieber, that's also a really good one. Okay, I'll check that one out. Yeah, it's beautiful too.

SPEAKER_02 33:08

So awesome.

SPEAKER_00 33:09

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 33:10

Is there do you have social media or anything that people could find you?

SPEAKER_00 33:14

I'm on Instagram and that's Stephanie Pearson. I don't even know. I should check my Instagram. It's okay. Um it's Stephanie Pearson. And I also have a website, StephanieandPearson.com.

SPEAKER_02 33:26

Okay. Okay, folks. Hope you've enjoyed our little visit today. If you have any questions, comments, just leave those below. Or if you're listening on the podcast, there's a section on there where you can just click on there and send an email message to me, and I'll forward it on to Stephanie if you have a question for her. And we will go from there. So thank you, Stephanie, for coming on and thanks everybody for listening. We'll see you out there on the trail.

SPEAKER_00 33:53

Thank you, Craig. Fun talking with you.

SPEAKER_02 33:56

All right. Bye bye.

SPEAKER_00 33:58

Bye.