In today's episode of Backpacker Radio presented by The Trek, we are joined by our long lost former intern turned Production Assistant who ABANDONED the podcast to go for a silly little hike, called thru-hiking the CDT, Elise "SOS" Ott alongside her fiancé, Josh "Kid" Gribble. 

This is a Sunday morning interview, which of course means mimosas are involved, setting the mood perfectly to learn all about Elise and Josh's adventures on the CDT. We chat in depth about their epic proposal (spoiler alert), the highs and lows of their trek, we get a thorough primer of fly fishing, especially in the context of backpacking, and much more. It goes without saying, but this is a fun conversation amongst pals and if you disagree you are wrong.

We wrap the show with a triple crown of spices, our top food buzzwords, and some details of the Holiday Hiker Meetup Extravaganza that we're hosting on December 10th in Golden (head to our Instagram to get the full deets).

RTIC Outdoors: Shop at rticoutdoors.com.

Organifi: Use code “backpacker” for 20% off at organifi.com/backpacker.

Enlightened Equipment: Use code “trekit20” for a 2 day head start to 20% off and free shipping on November 3 and November 17 at enlightenedequipment.com.

Gossamer Gear: Use code “takelesstrekmore” for 15% off at gossamergear.com. 

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Interview with Elise & Josh

• Elise's Instagram
• Elise's Youtube
• Josh's Instagram

Time stamps & Questions

00:05:24 - QOTD: What are your food buzzwords?

00:14:28 - Reminders: Hiker Meetup, Saturday December 10!

00:15:34 - More Reminders: Badger Sponsorship launching in January - sign up for The Trek’s newsletter!

00:16:20 - Introducing Elise & Josh

00:17:08 - The engagement story

00:19:00 - The engagement story actually starts

00:31:16 - How did Josh get the ring size?

00:33:02 - Discussion about trail runners

00:35:22 - Who’s taking whose last name?

00:37:20 - What is Zach’s wedding advice?

00:40:14 - What are your honeymoon ideas?

00:43:37 - Elise’s trail resume & BPR resume

00:46:41 - Josh’s trail resume

00:47:35 - Josh’s trail name story

00:51:44 - Tell us about fly-fishing on the CDT.

00:55:28 - What are the appropriate questions to ask people who fish?

00:58:27 - Tell us about the rod you used.

00:59:21 - Tell us about backcountry fishing gear.

01:02:09 - What’s the difference between fly fishing and regular fishing?

01:07:50 - Floating versus sinking bait

01:10:01 - What’s the appeal of fishing?

01:13:25 - Are there certain fish that are notorious?

01:15:44 - Do you have any universal backcountry fishing truths?

01:16:44 - Tell us about bait and flies.

01:21:40 - How do you gut and cook a fish in the backcountry?

01:28:03 - Do different types of trout taste different?

01:30:12 - Tell us about the fires in New Mexico.

01:44:42 - Tell us about the National Forest fire closure and getting to Colorado.

01:47:50 - Tell us about hiking through the snow in the San Juans.

01:55:12 - Did you ever consider skipping the snow section?

01:57:02 - Did you seriously consider quitting the trail?

01:58:33 - Discussion about cow/grizzly closure in Glacier

01:59:20 - Quadzilla’s quads

02:00:46 - Discussion about grizzlies on the CDT

02:07:43 - What thoughts about gear did you take away from the trail?

02:14:19 - How does the CDT compare to the PCT and AT?

02:15:49 - Josh, what are the best and worst things about hiking with Elise?

02:17:45 - Elise, what are the best and worst things about hiking with Josh?

02:19:30 - Can you give us some impromptu trail related vows?

02:20:49 - How did your pre-trail anxieties live up to your expectations?

SEGMENTS

Triple Crown of spices

5 Star Reviews

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A super big thank you to our Chuck Norris Award winner(s) from Patreon: Andrew, Austen McDaniel, Jason Lawrence, Christopher Marshburn, Sawyer Products, Brad and Blair (Thirteen Adventures), Patrick Cianciolo, Paul Packman Sealy, Matt Soukup, Jason Snailer, Greg Mac,  Tracy “Trigger” Fawns, Mike Poisel, and Kristina Diaz.

A big thank you to our Cinnamon Connection Champions from Patreon: Liz Seger, Cynthia Voth, Emily Brown, Dcnerdlet, Jeff LaFranier, Peter Ellenberg, Jacob Northrup, Peter Leven.