We had such a good time drafting national parks last year (Episode 17), we had to do it again. This time, we're drafting hiking trails, on a 50 mile budget. Jeremy Jones (see Episode 1) and my brother Jeff Smith (see Episode 17) join me for four rounds of drafting our favorite hikes. Each person had 50 miles to spend (where we counted trail mileage, not hiking mileage), and amazingly enough, there were some hikes that were stolen from one another. Above is a picture of the An

My friend Will (top-left) and brother Jeff (bottom) join me to have a little fun in mixing sports and parks. We're having a draft! What park should go #1? What park is a sneaky steal in the 5th round? What park doesn't get drafted and makes you scream at us? Join us for a little fun, some adequately appropriate sports puns, and see what 15-20 parks make our draft. Our facts may be loosely accurate, but our sports punditry may be 100% on. Stay all the way through to the 15t

Ryan has a history of connecting people with local trails, having spent time with the NPS, Sonoma Ecology Center and Bay Area Open Space Council. Today, Ryan is the CEO of OuterSpatial, whose mission is to connect you with organizations that protect and manage your favorite outdoor places. The mobile app shares alerts, posts, trail conditions (closures), and events from your local parks all at your fingertips. Organizations can then use visitation information and gain insight

Marcia Argust directs Pew’s efforts to restore America’s parks, working with a team of data and policy experts to address the deferred maintenance backlog plaguing the National Park Service. Argust was previously a project director with Pew’s U.S. public lands program and senior legislative representative for the Campaign for America’s Wilderness. She guided policy on Pew’s land protection efforts, and coordinated diverse stakeholders in campaigns in several states, and helpe

Steve Iobst, former Deputy Superintendent of Yellowstone NP and Grand Tetons NP, shares his personal story of how he began with the National Park Service (NPS) while providing a unique perspective of the future of the NPS. Topics include ongoing challenges the NPS faces, his favorite park stories, and of course, our recurring segment of Trails and Ales (see below). Feature Trail: Teton Canyon (read recap here) - Trailhead: Alaska Basin Trailhead (Teton Canyon Road, Alta, WY 8