#72 | Luke "Strider" Jordan on the North Country Trail and Great Plains Trail

Backpacker Radio

Today we are joined by Luke “Strider” Jordan. Strider has a couple of very impressive treks on his resume including the North Country Trail (NCT), which is more than twice the length of the Appalachian Trail, as well as the 3,100 mile Great Plains Trail (GPT), which runs from Texas to North Dakota. We also discover the wild world of naked pooping, a fan-submitted poop paradise on the John Muir Trail, and another edition of Backcountry Matchmaking.

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• The Trek's Pledge to Do Better
• BACKPACKER RADIO MERCH
• Interview with Luke Jordan "Strider"
  • Facebook
  • North Country Trail
  • Great Plains Trail
• QOTD: “What is the proper poop dress code?"
• Hikerlink!
• Intro Song: Walking Slow by Animal Years
• Intro beats: Pauly Boy Shallcross
• Check out Trail Correspondents
• Check out The Attempt!

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00:02:00 – Gardening Updates!

00:04:18 – QOTD: What is the proper poop dress code?

00:10:00 – BPR Merch!

00:12:11 – Intro to Strider (Has hiked the North Country Trail and the Great Plains Trail)

00:12:47 – Where does your interest in backpacking come from?

00:17:30 – Did you have any mentors that told you how crazy it was to start with the NCT?

00:19:24 – How road walks affect the NCT.

00:20:40 – Where the NCT goes!

00:21:30 – Mosquitoes in the upper peninsula

00:27:09 – Support for the North Dakota section

00:30:15 – Inspiration from Andrew Skurka and Nimblewill Nomad

00:31:15 – “We Build Trail in Low Places” – NCT music video on vimeo

00:32:59 – Did Strider meet all 8 people who live in North Dakota?

00:34:40 – Is Strider affiliated with the NCT?

00:36:15 – How big is the non-profit team at the NCT?

00:38:08 – Plans to move the road walks to trail?

00:41:40 – Snow in Minnesota

00:49:39 – Patent Pending: A Dinner Knife that Attaches to Your Shoe to Make Ice Skates

00:58:18 – Any issues with deer ticks/ticks in general?

01:02:45 – What's it like having celebrity status as a thru-hiker on a less travelled trail?

01:07:30 – Ohio and the Buckeye Trail

01:15:00 – Blazes in the NCT Backcountry

01:17:13 – Hiking with maps instead of a smart phone

01:17:40 – How many people have thru-hiked the NCT?

01:19:00 – Stopping his trans-Ozark trail

01:22:00 – Hundreds of tiny ticks in Strider’s ankles

01:28:11 – How is New York?

01:31:30 – Could you do the Finger Lakes section as a wine hike?

01:40:08 – Strider met Ron Strickland

01:44:00 – James Lunning did 5 scenic trails back to back

01:46:10 – Is Strider the only person to have thru-hiked the Great Plains Trail?

01:54:00 – Starting in the desert was a new experience

01:57:30 – You need a support crew to get through New Mexico

01:59:00 – What is there to look forward to walking through Kansas?

02:00:00 – What is the wind like?

02:06:00 – Have you done the cave tours in Wind Cave National Park?

02:23:30 – If you want ______ you should hike the Great Plains Trail

02:25:00 – Where should people go to help out with the NCT or GPT?

SEGMENTS

Trek Propaganda:

• The Ultimate Guide to Backpacking Sleeping Bags and Quilts by Kelly Floro
• A Complete Guide to Resupply on the John Muir Trail by Inga Aksamit

Pupdate: Harper is Huge and Misbehaving

Triple Crown of Things That Make You Uneasy (?)

Mail Bag!

5 Star Review

Backcountry Matchmaking:

• Jeff aka "Chef Boy R.D.": @Pieceof_jake
• Kate "Stickerz": @katieb3th11
• Buckeye: @therealjyoungs

Buy Chaunce's book!

Find Strider on Facebook: @StriderNCT

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