Fancy Feast 2.0: Drinking “Pig Water”, Hiking Through Poodle-Dog Bush, and Trail Work with the PNTA (BPR #342)
Release Date: 01/26/2026
The Santa Fe to Taos Trail, Backpacking with Your Dad + Brother, and the Transcaucasian Trail with Lauren Roerick 2.0 (BPR #244)
Backpacker Radio
In today's episode of Backpacker Radio presented by The Trek, brought to you by LMNT, we are joined once again by outdoor filmmaker and long-distance backpacker, Lauren "Longway" Roerick. Lauren shares the highs and lows of a massive year of international backpacking and adventure, including dragging her "indoor cat" brother along on the 88 Temple Pilgrimage in Japan and her not in such great shape dad on the Camino del Norte in Spain, her less than stellar experience on the Via Dinarica and how one especially unfortunate stretch in Montenegro ultimately forced her off trail, quickly...
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Hookups, Trail Grooming, and Chafing: Guy Stuff with The Real Hiking Viking and Lt Cookoo Bird (BPR #343)
Backpacker Radio
In today’s episode of Backpacker Radio presented by The Trek, brought to you by Topo Athletic…today’s episode is pure chaos. If you’ve listened to any of our Hiking Viking episodes, you already know what I’m talking about. After four “Girl Stuff” episodes, Chaunce figured it was only fair to balance the scales with what we’re officially calling the Guy Stuff episode, a panel-style conversation that goes off the rails almost immediately, featuring Jabba and Lt Cookoo Bird. We cover everything from trail grooming strategy (aka pube management), to whether you’d rather...
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Fancy Feast 2.0: Drinking “Pig Water”, Hiking Through Poodle-Dog Bush, and Trail Work with the PNTA (BPR #342)
Backpacker Radio
In today’s episode of Backpacker Radio presented by The Trek, brought to you by LMNT, we are joined yet again by our pal and Hall of Fame trail name holder Marla Davidson, better known as “Fancy Feast”. Fancy Feast is a wealth of knowledge and unfortunate and embarrassing stories. She shares a nasty medical mishap involving poodle dog bush on the PCT, we look back at her time with the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, where she and other "malnourished minors" subsisted on moldy bread and Sriracha, which was presented as a vegetable. Fancy Feast gives us an overview of her...
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Andrew Skurka & Katie Gerber: Vapor Barrier Layers, Beginner Backpacking Mistakes, and Off-Trail Route Ethics (BPR #341)
Backpacker Radio
In today’s episode of Backpacker Radio presented by The Trek, brought to you by Topo Athletic, we are joined yet again by our pal Andrew Skurka and wayyyyy back former guest and now co-director of Skurka Adventures, Katie Gerber aka “Salty”. Today's episode covers a lot of ground. Today’s conversation is part backpacking advice, part gear nerd chat, part a glimpse inside the operation at Skurka Adventures. We first dive into Katie’s list of the five biggest mistakes she made as a beginner backpacker and her take on why she loves her alcohol stove- after a decade of use....
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How to Start Off-Trail Hiking and Routes with Eric Volk (BPR #340)
Backpacker Radio
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8 Epic Shorter Thru-Hikes: the Long Trail, Teton Crest Trail, and More (BPR #339)
Backpacker Radio
In today’s episode of Backpacker Radio presented by The Trek brought to you by Topo Athletic, we are talking “shorter” thru-hikes. We’re joined again by our guy, Michael Grizzly Ivey, to give you an overview of eight standout US thru-hikes that you can hike in four weeks or less. We cover the Long Trail, Teton Crest Trail, Superior HIking Trail, Timberline Trail, Tahoe Rim Trail, Foothills Trail, and Uinta Highline, give you the trail overviews, relative difficulty, resupply strategy, the best time to hike, which direction, travel logistics, permit requirements, resupply strategy,...
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Adventure Alan on High Routes, the Evolution of Ultralight, and Maintaining Health & Fitness (BPR #338)
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Girl Stuff 4.0: Disordered Eating, Chronic Illness, PCOS, and Waxing (BPR #337)
Backpacker Radio
In today’s episode of Backpacker Radio, presented by The Trek, I’m sitting this one out because it’s the fourth edition of Girl’s Stuff. Chaunce is joined by former guest Christine Reed and BPR first-timer Maggie Schoemann. The three cover hiking with a partner, where to get a vag wax on trail, birth control, weird body changes, including managing a beard on trail as a woman, eating disorders and how thru-hiking can trigger or resurface disordered eating (trigger warning), and much more. These are Chaunce’s notes, so I’m just going to assume they’re all accurate. We wrap...
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Jess "Stitches" Guo, the First Woman to Connect the CDT and GDT in a Calendar Year (BPR #336)
Backpacker Radio
In today’s episode of Backpacker Radio presented by The Trek, brought to you by LMNT, we are joined by Jessica Guo known on trail as Stitches. This year, Stitches became the first woman on record to connect both the Continental Divide Trail and Great Divide Trail northbound in one calendar year. We talk all about this logistically and physically impressive feat, hiking through the Sierra during a record snow year, how she earned her trail name the hard way, her unconventional relationship with pain, how 10 her day silent meditations better prepare her for thru-hiking and gives us a sample 2...
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Walking the Length of the Americas: Culture Shocks, Risk Mitigation, and Her Security Dog with Lucy Barnard (BPR #335)
Backpacker Radio
In today’s episode of Backpacker Radio presented by The Trek, we’re joined by Lucy Barnard. Lucy, along with her pup Wombat, has walked from the southern tip of Argentina all the way through the Great Divide Trail in Canada, and she’ll be picking up the final leg of this monster journey — through northern Canada and into Alaska — later this winter. We get into what compelled Lucy to take on such an audacious mission, especially given that she had virtually zero long-distance hiking experience beforehand. She shares some truly wild stories from the trail, including being held at...
info_outlineIn today’s episode of Backpacker Radio presented by The Trek, brought to you by LMNT, we are joined yet again by our pal and Hall of Fame trail name holder Marla Davidson, better known as “Fancy Feast”.
Fancy Feast is a wealth of knowledge and unfortunate and embarrassing stories. She shares a nasty medical mishap involving poodle dog bush on the PCT, we look back at her time with the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps, where she and other "malnourished minors" subsisted on moldy bread and Sriracha, which was presented as a vegetable.
Fancy Feast gives us an overview of her 2024 calendar hikes of the PCT and CDT, her experience navigating the Hayduke Trail with Horsepower (former guest) after he convinced her with a PowerPoint presentation, and the hilarious mismatch in hiking styles from this somewhat random pairing.
She details what it’s like being a PNTA crew lead, and the challenges associated in light of funding cuts and crews being reduced to a skeleton staff.
Feast also shares standout stories from her international travels, including a "pig water" disaster in the Andes, her time at the Green Mountain Club with a persistent bear that turned her food box into a rolling pinata, and her hot takes on thru-hiker "main character energy" and entitlement.
We wrap the show with whether we'd rather have three butt cheeks or just one, the triple crown of mild yet particular icks or phobias, and the news of how one Hayduke hiker got caught in quicksand. Yes, really.
LMNT: Get a free sample pack with any order at drinklmnt.com/trek.
[divider]
Interview with Marla Davidson aka Fancy Feast
Time stamps & Questions
00:05:05 - Reminders: Apply to vlog or blog for the Trek, apply to be a Trail Correspondent, listen to our episodes ad-free on Patreon, and subscribe to The Trek's Youtube!
00:10:00 - Introducing Fancy Feast
00:14:00 - Remind us of your trail name origin story
00:19:25 - What was the first trail you hiked after you were on the podcast?
00:22:50 - Tell us about your encounter with poodle-dog bush
00:31:55 - What was worse, poodle-dog bush or poison ivy?
00:33:17 - How was your experience in the conservation corps?
00:37:40 - Tell us your bear story
00:42:20 - How did you handle the CDT when you don’t like black bears?
00:45:50 - What is the ManHump/HumpMan challenge?
00:50:00 - Discussion about Fancy Feast’s Allegheny Trail FKT attempt
00:52:30 - Why do you think you should have dropped out of school to do seasonal work?
01:00:50 - Why did you go to Peru?
01:11:50 - Tell us about dumpster diving
01:19:12 - How did you like the Oregon Coast Trail?
01:30:11 - At what point did you get a job with the PNTA?
01:36:25 - What’s the deal with mayonnaise?
01:41:38 - What’s your best chafe prevention strategy?
01:42:53 - Tell us more about your trail maintenance work and the current state of the PNT
01:46:08 - What volunteer opportunities are there with the PNTA?
01:48:11 - Tell us about working smarter and harder
01:53:55 - How would a former thru-hiker get involved with volunteering?
02:03:30 - How did you end up on the Hayduke?
02:13:50 - What was it like hiking with Horsepower?
02:16:15 - Did the Hayduke make you want to do more off trail routes?
02:20:10 - What questions should you ask someone you might hike with?
02:27:25 - Tell us about the Ice Age Trail
02:42:10 - Stay Salty Question: What’s your hottest take in the world of backpacking?
Segments
Trek Propaganda: Hiker Trapped in Quicksand on Hayduke Trail: “Nothing About It Seemed Unusual or Dangerous” by Kelly Floro
QOTD: Would you rather have one butt cheek or three butt cheeks?
Triple Crown of mild yet particular icks or phobias
Mail Bag
5 Star Review
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