Episode #50 - Mike Skelton (Bearded Skelton)

Mike Skelton is another listener who wrote into the show and immediately intrigued me. I'd asked for a few examples of the transformative nature of hiking and Mike provided me some thoughtful notes and personal examples. He is a hiker who has spent a lot of time on both the Appalachian Trail and other trails of America. He gave me some useful advice on how to avoid altitude sickness but, as you now know, my body refused to cooperate when I got above about 9,500 feet. Mike is selfless in his desire to get others into the woods and he told me that he led a group to the Appalachian Trail recently. It was a thrill for me when he told me that they listened to my podcast on the drive to Springer. The picture above, on the left, is of that group, while the other is Mike with a bunch of buddies at Glacier National in 2014. The photo below is Mike on his last trip to the AT. You can connect with Mike on Twitter , where he goes under the name @beardedskelton, or email him directly at beardedskelton@gmail.com . This week, John Boyet turns his attention to tents. I wish somebody had warned me that I was going to be sharing my tent with my backpack, so my advice is always going to be this; choose a double if you can. Funnily enough, I think John agrees with me on this one. Ask John anything you'd like at john@trailwalkergear.com .