Australian Hiker

270-The Triple Crown

Show notes

I first fell in love with long distance hiking in about 2014 and surprisingly it had nothing to do with the movie ‘Wild’ that was released in the same year. I’m a goal-oriented person and the whole concept of hiking for multiple weeks or months was something I could aspire to, if I was allowed.

The more I looked into the concept of long-distance hiking, the more I liked the idea of doing one of the well-known Triple Crown trails:

Appalachian Trail
Continental Divide Trail, and the
Pacific Crest Trail

In all honesty I don’t think I will get around to doing all three of these trails, but I can live vicariously through other hikers who have. In this episode we catch up with hiker Simon Morris and get a firsthand introduction to these three trails that make up the US based Triple Crown.

Podcast Overview

Podcast and Episode introduction (time index 0:01:39)
- Introduction to Simon Morris (time index 0:02:34)
  - Before we discuss your amazing achievement please provide a brief introduction to yourself.
    - Your general background
    - An overview of your hiking resume
- Now for those people not familiar with the ‘Triple Crown’ what is it? (time index 0:05:26)
  - - - Brief overview
        
        Appalachian Trail
        
        Pacific Crest Trail
        
        Continental Divide Trail
- Before we talk about each of the trails, what inspired you to do the triple crown? Was it a ‘do one walk’ and you were hooked or did you go into the first trail intending to do all three? (time index 0:07:14)

- The US long distance community uses trail names. What are your trail names and how did you get them? (time index 0:07:14)
- Language on the trail (time index 0:016:13)
  - Jargon
- Footwear (time index 0:024:09)
  - Problems solving component of a hike (time index 0:025:20)
- Now let’s talk about each of the trails. (time index 0:027:21)
  - Pacific Crest Trail PCT
    - Why was this the first one?
      - Open with lots of variety
      - Northbound
      - Didn’t finish in one go back came back later to finish it off
  - Appalachian Trail AT
    - Green tunnel
    - Faster trail than the PCT
    - Northbound
  - Continental Divide Trail CDT (time index 0:40:03)
  - Northbound
    - Logistics Apply across most of the trails
      - Overseas Hikers
        
        Visa application
        
        COVID negative
        
        Organising a mobile phone service
        
        Local permits
    - CDT is a bit of a ‘choose your own adventure trail’
    - Wildlife/Bears (time index 0:55:15)
    - Hunters (time index 0:59:01)
    - American food vs Australian food (time index 0:057:16)
      - Not always a lot of choice but Ramen was always a staple
    - The mental impacts of hiking (time index 01:01:06)
    - ‘Tramilies’ (time index 1:03:21)
    - Arranging a PCT permit at a time of your choosing (time index 1:05:59)
      - Roughly 1 in 4-5 that start finish the trail
    - Final Questions (time index 1:08:20)
      - What was your favourite trail
        
        PCT!
        
        CDT was demanding
        
        AT
        
        Not an easy trail
      - What’s your next great adventure?
        
        Te Araroa in New Zealand
- Tim and Gill final thoughts (time index 1:11:54)

Close (time index 1:30:03)

Trail web sites

The following links will take you through the the managing agencies for each of the trails:

Monarch and WoW (image by Simon Morris)

Monarch and WoW in the Mojave Desert

WoW McAfee Knob on the Appalachian Trail in the USA. This is one of the iconic landmarks on this trail

Water source with Veggies on the Continental Divide Trail in the USA. Sometime you have not choice about where you get you water from on this trail

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