Triple Crowning with a Trombone, Working as a Hiking Guide, and the South Dakota Centennial Trail with Amy "Slider" Hunsucker
Backpacker Radio
Zach Davis
4.7 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 10 November 2025
⏱️ 137 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In today's episode of Backpacker Radio presented by The Trek, brought to you by Topo Athletic, we are joined by Amy Hunsucker. On trail, Amy is known as "Slider" because she hikes with a trombone- something she's done for the entire triple crown. We of course learn all about this fun quirk, including which animals were most appreciative of her on-trail concerts, which parts of trail provided the best acoustics, the reactions she'd get from other hikers and the broader trail community, and her go-to on-trail trombone jams. Slider also gives us the low down on getting her sawyer certification, her trail maintenance work with the Carolina Mountain Club, hiking South Dakota's Centennial Trail, and life as a hiking guide in North Carolina.
We wrap the show with the pieces of thru-hiking advice we wish we'd never given, Chaunce gives her take of whether she'd rather be alone in the woods with a man or a bear, we do the triple crown of freezer foods, I give a one-minute gear review of my current rain jacket, and a listener lectures us on how we dropped the ball on our interview with Liz Kidder.
Topo Athletic: Use code "TREKWINTER15" at topoathletic.com.
Gossamer Gear: Use code "LT520" for 20% off LT5 Trekking Poles at gossamergear.com.
[divider]
Interview with Amy Hunsucker
Time stamps & Questions
00:04:50 - QOTD: What's more upsetting, the Bills' loss or losing your ceremony footage?
00:06:40 - Reminders: Take the AT Thru-Hiker Survey, apply to blog for the Trek, and listen to our episodes ad-free on Patreon!
00:11:00 - Introducing Amy
00:11:34 - How did you get your trail name?
00:12:12 - How do you find an ultralight trombone?
00:14:40 - Give us the background on playing the trombone
00:18:55 - Did you learn new songs as you hiked?
00:22:40 - Have you ever used your trombone for anything other than music?
00:24:30 - How did you get into backpacking?
00:27:50 - What was starting the AT like?
00:30:54 - Why don't you think your trombone is a luxury item?
00:31:48 - Is there a GOAT of the trombone world?
00:36:10 - Tell us about getting onto the CDT
00:37:30 - What's your hot take on the PCT?
00:42:50 - Why'd you decide to go southbound on the CDT?
00:45:15 - Why'd you decide to flip flop the PCT?
00:52:15 - How did you keep up your mindset during the flip flop?
00:53:55 - What was your best day on trail?
00:56:10 - What was your worst day on trail?
00:57:40 - What was your scariest day on trail?
01:00:02 - What was your stupidest day on trail?
01:02:45 - Tell us about working for Blue Ridge Hiking Company
01:10:40 - What was being in Asheville like during the hurricane?
01:17:12 - Tell us about getting your Sawyer certification
01:20:30 - What's chainsaw 101?
01:23:20 - Tell us about the South Dakota Centennial Trail
01:28:05 - Would this be a good trail to do using PTO?
01:30:54 - Peak Performance Question: What's your top performance-enhancing hack?
Segments
Trek Propaganda: 6 Pieces of Thru-Hiking Advice I Wish I'd Never Given by Katie Jackson
QOTD: Would you rather be alone in the woods with a man or a bear?
Triple Crown of freezer foods
One-Minute Gear Review
Mail Bag
[divider]
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | In today's episode of Backpack, already |
| 0:02.0 | are presented by the truck brought to you by Topo Athletic. |
| 0:04.0 | We are joined by Amy Hunsucker. |
| 0:06.0 | On trail, Amy is known as slider because she hikes with a trombone, |
| 0:10.0 | something she's done for the entire Triple Crown. |
| 0:13.0 | We of course learn all about this fun quirk, including which animals were most appreciative of her on-trail concerts, |
| 0:19.0 | which parts of trail provided the best acoustics, |
| 0:22.0 | the reactions she'd get from other hikers |
| 0:24.1 | and the broader trail community, |
| 0:26.0 | and her go-to on-trail trombone jams. |
| 0:29.8 | Slider also gives us the lowdown on getting her Sawyer certification, |
| 0:33.4 | her trail maintenance work with the Carolina Mountain Club, |
| 0:36.3 | hiking South Dakota's centennial trail, and life is a hiking guide in North Carolina. We wrap the show with the pieces |
| 0:43.4 | of through hiking advice we wish we'd never given. Chaunce gives us her take on whether she'd rather |
| 0:48.9 | be alone in the woods with a man or a bear with the triple crown of freezer foods. I give a one-minute gear review of my current rain jacket and a listener lectures us on how we drop the ball on our interview with Liz Kidder. But first, a backpacker's most important piece of gear is their footwear. You can have the rest of your pack absolutely dialed in, but if your feet aren't happy, you are not happy. And that's why we're thrilled to introduce today's sponsor, |
| 1:16.0 | Topo Athletic. If you've tuned in to our footwear episode with Dr. Courtney Conley, you already |
| 1:21.3 | know that Topo Athletic was on her short list of brands she recommends for hikers. That's because |
| 1:26.4 | Topo Athletic makes trail runners with a zero |
| 1:28.6 | or minimal drop in a roomy toebox. The minimal drop promotes a more natural gate, while the |
| 1:34.4 | wide towbox allows your toes to fully display. Throughhikers are catching on to Topos as well. |
| 1:39.5 | According to the Treks Appalachian Trail through hikiker survey, Topo went from not even cracking the list |
| 1:44.8 | in 2021 to being the most used brand in the Trek's most recent survey. Topo Athletic is loved |
... |
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