In the Spring of 2015, writer Chilton Tippin quit his job and set off on the Continental Divide Trail, a 3,000-mile hiking route that runs from Mexico to Canada along the Rocky Mountains. 

In the five months he spent on the trail, Chilton made friends with fellow hikers, pushed himself to exhaustion, delighted in the natural splendor of the American West and got a taste for what it's like to live life as a vagabond. 

In some ways, he learned lessons you'd expect someone to learn on a trip like this, like how to rely on himself in the wilderness. But the trail did something else to him too -- something quite unexpected. On this episode, he shares his story.

Last summer, writer Erin Jones set out to hike the Colorado Trial, a 500-mile footpath through the Rocky Mountains. 

Erin was pursuing her master's degree, and as is so often the case for grad students, her future seemed uncertain. She felt powerless, oppressed by adulthood. And so, she decided to hike. The journey, she hoped, would help her find out what she wanted, allow her soul to unfurl. 

But it didn't work out that way. On this episode, Erin shares the story of her hike -- the story of what happens when you strive for something big, and fail.

Last year, I quit my job, packed everything I needed into a backpack, and started walking. The plan was to thru-hike the Colorado Trail, a long-distance footpath through the Rocky Mountains.

I was a total novice at backpacking, but I craved an escape from the daily grind of work and life. And so, I decided to escape from society for a summer and head to the wilderness.

In this episode, poet Amy Strieter interviews me about the hike, and how it changed both my career path, and my mental health.