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Eric von Gleich, aka “Rusty”, talks about the three iconic long distance trails in the United States - the Appalachian Trail or AT, the Pacific Crest Trail or PCT and the Continental Divide Trail or CDT. These trails are collectively known as the "Triple Crown of Hiking". Eric hiked the AT in 2015, the PCT in 2016, and the CDT in 2017. Combined this is just shy of 8,000 miles.
We are going to hear a little bit about Eric’s experience as well as nerd out on comparing the three trails in several categories: scenery, wildlife, trail conditions, weather, gear differences, hiking culture, resupplying and more. If you’re considering a thru-hike, but not quite sure which trail to hike, hopefully this episode will help you decide.
Mentioned in this episode:
- Pie on the Trail's Gear Video of Rusty
- Triple Crown Comparison
- The Last of the Mohicans
- Guthook App
- Elevation Gain
- Connect with Eric on Facebook
Show Notes:
- Rusty's gear (02:16)
- How Rusty got into thru-hiking (05:44)
- Why Rusty chose to hike the Triple Crown (07:51)
- AT, PCT, and CDT overview (11:16)
- Scenery of the three trails (12:45)
- Differences between the PCT and CDT (17:32)
- Extreme weather (20:36)
- Cowboy camping (24:30)
- Scary stuff: Lyme disease, black bears, rattlesnakes, etc. (26:28)
- Trail conditions (30:12)
- Miles on the PCT (33:57)
- Navigating through the three trails and alternative routes (37:24)
- Gear used on the trails (48:04)
- Shelters (51:19)
- Water sources (57:26)
- Rusty's favorite trail (1:03:34)
- Where you can find Rusty on social media (1:05:48)
650-Calorie Fuel