343 Weird Hiking Hacks Make Life Easier On Trail

It’s the Halloween episode of The Backpacking Podcast, and somehow Mario and Ghost Rider have a lot of opinions about hiking.

John and Jeremiah kick things off with nine weird hiking hacks that supposedly make life on trail easier. Hiking backwards for back pain? Holding your hands over your head to fight sausage fingers? Warming food in your crotch? Cuddling a bottle of pee for warmth? And storing dog poop next to your gas cap?

Some of these might actually work.

Others… we have questions.

Then in That Don’t Make No Sense, we revisit one of the great outdoor arguments: rock cairns. Are people actually damaging ecosystems by stacking rocks, or has the internet exaggerated the problem? And what about the people who dedicate their time to kicking every cairn they see back over?

Next, Trail Court is officially in session.

With hunting season approaching, who needs to adjust—the hiker or the hunter? Should hikers avoid areas open to hunting during rifle season? Is wearing blaze orange enough? Or should hunters expect hikers to be using the same public land?

Then we debut a brand-new segment:

SHOULD I EAT THIS?

John finds a Greenbelly meal buried in his basement that he believes he bought around 2020.

Naturally, he eats it live on the podcast.

It starts surprisingly well.

Then he finds the fermented part.

Finally, Jeremiah gives a Red River Gorge backpacking trip update with Mr. Backpacking with Jason and the Kentucky crew. There are Oreo balls, hard miles on Swift Camp Creek, a broken Silky saw, questionable navigation, muddy trails, old friends, and—most importantly—Jeremiah somehow manages to win the “Don’t Poop in the Woods” game for the entire trip.

At least until Monday.

Stick around until the end for John’s Halloween-inspired version of The Backpacking Podcast theme song.

🎒 The Backpacking Podcast with Jeremiah Stringer and John Kelly — backpacking gear, trail stories, hiking debates, outdoor culture, questionable decisions, and whatever else happens once the microphones turn on.

📧 Send us your stories, gear finds, pro tips, guest ideas, backpacking meals, and show suggestions:
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