S2E15: Who is Star Lord?
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Today we sit down with the one and only Star Lord!
We instantly regret not getting the story behind his trail name, as one can only imagine, is he a lord, is he a star, is he the lord of all stars? Well one can only imagine...
We begin the show by quickly going into the only subject that matters, you guessed it MARMOTS! We hope that everyone takes a moment or 5 minutes, to lose themselves inside the joy, wonder, and unbridled love that is the cutest animal in the world, marmots. We then diverge to the questions that truly matter, like what would one's choice of "animal pokemon" would you chose in Wisconsin?
We chat when love surpasses porcupine quills, Twinkies on trail, and "knowing the suck." We get a quick background into Star Lord's progression into what he calls "basically just being a bum" or what others more commonly know as thru-hiking. We chat health on trail and the growth of a hiker through junk food, to healthy food, but mostly back to junk food. We chat about the progression of lightweight backpacking in Star Lord's hiking progress, and the journey to become quicker and lighter.
We dive deep into many thoughts on the Appalachian Trail. We look into Star Lord's first long distance thru-hike and the mentality one has to have going into it and the mentality he had to maintain the joy in the journey. We talk wet. We talk the special wet of the Appalachian Trail, the only type of wet that matters, the AT rain and humidity. We dive into the appeal of hiking through 14 states, and the mentality of either getting used to it or going home.
We quickly touch on comparing the PCT and AT and West vs East hiking. Then the conversation takes on a wonderful ride along a "chatting rollercoaster" as we bounce from topic to topic. We chat near death in the Sierras, the Pacific Crest Highway, Bradwell Bay on the Florida Trail, and the crown jewel of hiking, the Continental Divide Trail. We chat route finding along the Hot Springs Trail, no filter no problem, and the underrated state of Wyoming.
We chat ground truthing and the mystery of "actual" miles done each day compared to "map" miles. We chat losing your mind to find your soul. We then dive fully into the Ice Age Trail which Star Lord finished only a few days prior. We chat about the passion of the IATA and all its volunteers and members, we discuss bars of the trail, trail magic, and road walking. We chat water carries, having a hiking companion, and assumptions vs reality along what he calls "The Florida
Trail of the Midwest."
We then finally arrive at the point in the show that we all have been waiting for... the cows of Wisconsin. Unfortunately, we get sidetracked only a few minutes into the "cow love" talk and don't give them the full time and honor they deserve, and for that we are eternally sorry. We chat cow averages per day, barbed wire fence restrictions, and embracing the only animal that matters besides marmots, the cow.
We wrap up the show with a Ramen Rating Review from Star Lord on his most recent hike, The Ice Age Trail. Wonderful rating... yet his flavor profile has us crying slightly inside.
Truly a wonderful chat with Star Lord, with many tangents, much emotion, and rambles that only two passionate hikers can accomplish together. Thank you Star Lord, now go please "knock on some corn" for good luck!
FAVORITE QUOTES:
"Deep down every animal wants to be cuddled."
DISCLAIMER: DO NOT CUDDLE WILD ANIMALS
"Everything wishes it could be a marmot."
"Weather is weather, whether you weather it or not."
"Life is short, the trail shorter."
To learn more about Star Lord:
Instagram: @chandlerstrailstories
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