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

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. [divider] Listen Download this episode. [divider] 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! [divider] 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 [divider] Have any praise, questions, praise, comments, praise or praise for Backpacker Radio? Reach out to podcast@thetrek.co . Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes (and please leave us a review)! Find us on Stitcher and Google Play . Support us on Patreon to get bonus content. A super big thank you to our Chuck Norris Award winner(s) from Patreon : Andrew, Austen McDaniel, Christopher Marshburn, Janelle L, S11N, Sawyer Products, and Thomas Fullner A big thank you to our Cinnamon Connection Champions from Patreon : Dcnerdwallet, Jacob Northrup, Jason Lawrence, Jeff LaFranier, Jeffrey Miller, Mark Snook, Mitchell, Peter, Peter Ellenberg, Zoe Jenkins Follow The Trek , Chaunce , Badger , and Trail Correspondents on Instagram. Follow The Trek and Chaunce on YouTube. Follow Backpacker Radio , and Chaunce on Facebook. Follow The Trek on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter .