Kayla McCarthy, her father, and her mother set out to hike the Appalachian Trail in 2014. Only Kayla and her mother reached Katahdin as her father injured himself and had to leave the trail. As Kayla told her story I was struck by how much the dynamic of their hike had to change, with Kayla stepping up into a partnership with her mother, as opposed to being the daughter of a couple. The trail throws interesting conundrums at you as you hike and any observer of Kayla and Molly could see the partnership working well between these two strong women.

Many people keep a journal on the trail and Kayla wrote every day, sharing her journey with listeners here. Go to http://www.trailjournals.com/journal/entry/446790 to read her story and, like me, you'll be amused to learn that her father's trail name was Wrong Way Jalapeno. Even funnier was the fact that she refers to him also as WWJ. That just tickled me.

If you'ds like to see a selection of her pictures on the trail, she has those in a short video on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u22OIgC7DPs

David "Digger" DiGrigorio returns in If I Did It Again, surprising me with the change that he would make if he were to hit the AT again. Considering that he's been hiking almost non-stop since we met on the AT in 2014, a return for him seems likely.

We hope that you take the opportunity to support our sponsor, Trailtopia, when you consider your next backpacking trip. Go to https://www.trailtopia.com/ to check out their wide variety of meals.