#34 | Ken Ilgunas on Trespassing Across America
Backpacker Radio
Zach Davis
4.7 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 15 April 2019
⏱️ 103 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In today's episode of Backpacker Radio, Smiles and I sit down with author Ken Ilgunas. To put it simply, Ken is a guy who marches to the beat of his own drum. We talk at length about his time hiking the length of the Keystone XL Pipeline both where it was developed and supposed to be developed, where had to not only trespass for much of this hike, but knock on complete strangers doors for help on many occasions. He shares his take on public vs. private land, why we should have hiking access on private land, the threats to public land, and how this is handled in other countries. Ken also shares about his time living out of his van, before #vanlife was even a thing. We close out the show with a new thru-hiker of the week, some Trek propaganda, and a new segment, two lies and a truth. This is another juicy show. So strap in.
Subjects discussed in the episode include:
- Recorded at Wayfinder in Denver
- Gossamer Gear Anniversary Video
- Use code "TREK15" at GossamerGear.com to save 15%
- Gossamer Gear The One
- Gossamer Gear GorillaVasque Boots
- Sawyer's International Website
- Sawyer Squeeze vs. Sawyer Micro Squeeze
- Use code "thetrek" at us.foursigmatic.com (our link) to save 15%
- Interview with Ken Ilgunas
- His second hike ever was in the Brooks Range in Alaska
- Hiking the Keystone XL
- Trespassing Across America (Ken's book about this hike)
- The Montana Posse
- Why he didn't take on a more traditional long trail such as the Appalachian Trail or Continental Divide Trail
- The Right to Roam
- This Land Is Our Land: How We Lost the Right to Roam and How to Take It Back (Ken's most recent book)
- His Gear
- Walden on Wheels (Ken's book about his time living out of his van in college)
- Thru-Hikers of the Week
- Trevor Pyke (@crunchmaster_hikes) and Aaron Johnson (@lismic).
- Read the story here.
- Planning a Thru-Hike as a Member of the PCT’s 1.6% by Sam Cooper
- Apply to be a Blogger / Vlogger for The Trek
- Two Lies and a Truth
- Danny Devito
- Song: Walking Slow by Animal Years
- Check out Trail Correspondents!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | In today's episode of Backfactor Radio, recorded at Wavefinder Co-op in Denver, |
| 0:05.8 | Smiles and I sit down with author Ken Elgunis. To put it simply, Ken is a guy who marches to the beat of his own drum. We talk at length about his time |
| 0:14.4 | hiking the length of the Keystone XL pipeline, both where it was developed and |
| 0:18.8 | supposed to be developed, where he not only had to trespass for much of this hike, but knock on complete strangers doors for help on many occasions. |
| 0:27.0 | He shares his take on public versus private land, why we should have hiking access on private land, the threats to public land, and how this is handled in other countries. |
| 0:36.5 | Ken also shares about his time living out of his van before hashtag ban life was even a thing. We close out the show with a new through |
| 0:44.9 | hiker of the week some trek propaganda and a new segment two lies and a truth. |
| 0:49.5 | This is another juicy show, so strap-in. |
| 0:53.2 | But first, if you've listened to backpacker radio, you know that both Chons and I are big |
| 0:57.5 | fans of gossamer gear, manufacturers of lightweight backpacking gear and accessories. |
| 1:02.1 | Their packs carry comfortably, their |
| 1:03.6 | roomy shelters protect in harsh weather conditions, and their trekking poles are |
| 1:07.4 | some of the lightest on the planet. Gossamer gear is changing the perception of delicate ultra-light gear. |
| 1:13.2 | Chaunts and I are both users of Gossamer Gears |
| 1:15.2 | packs and shelters. |
| 1:16.3 | I use the Gorilla, their 40 liter pack on the PCT |
| 1:19.4 | a couple of years ago, and we'll be using their new model |
| 1:22.0 | on some shorter hikes this year. |
| 1:24.0 | Also use a handful of their accessories such as the smartphone shoulder strap pocket and their |
| 1:29.2 | fanny pack. Chaunces is out romping around on the AT right now, rocking Gossamer Gears, the one shelter, |
| 1:35.1 | which as you know is the one that you need. It's both roomy and light weighing in at less than |
| 1:40.5 | one and a half pounds. Listeners of this podcast can score an exclusive deal on Gossamer Gear products. |
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