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Hikes & Mics is where the trail meets the conversation. Each week, host Ivan Orozco brings together hikers, backpackers, and outdoor adventurers to share the stories, lessons, and inspiration they’ve found in the great outdoors. From life-changing summits to quiet moments on local trails, our guests open up about how nature has shaped their journeys—physically, mentally, and spiritually. Every episode blends thoughtful storytelling with a dash of fun, closing out with our signature This or That: Hiking Edition lightning round. Whether you’re a weekend wanderer, a long-distance thru-hiker, or someone who simply loves the outdoors, this podcast is your campfire circle for connection, community, and adventure. New episodes drop every Monday—plus occasional bonus episodes on Fridays. Lace up your boots, plug in your headphones, and join us on the trail.
182 Episodes
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Send us Fan Mail Season 14 is HERE — and we're kicking things off with a reunion three years in the making. Welcome back to Hikes & Mics! For our Season 14 premiere, I recorded in person on the banks of the Salt River in Arizona with two beloved returning guests: Tami and Elise — first featured back in Season 2. In this episode, we cover: 🥾 Elise's life on two coasts — guiding women through her business HER (Hike, Explore, Recharge), REI gear testing, volunteering with the Fountain H...
Send us Fan Mail Season 14 of Hikes & Mics launches March 23rd — and it's our biggest season yet. This season's guests include the first American woman to ski solo and unsupported across Antarctica, an ultra-endurance athlete setting FKTs on some of North America's most demanding routes, a conservation photographer documenting climate-threatened wildlife in the alpine and the Sonoran Desert, an outdoor storyteller and author behind a celebrated Colorado Trail anthology, a community organi...
Send us Fan Mail Kelsey Kurtis: Antarctica, Adventure Photography, Branding Yourself as YOU & the Legend of the Crotch Pot 🎒📸🐧 We're closing out Season 13 with an episode you will not want to miss. Kelsey Kurtis — photographer, author, adventurer, and certified force of nature — joins us for a conversation that covers everything from the Sierra Nevadas to the South Pole, and somehow ends with crotch-baked brownies. Kelsey grew up hiking in Mammoth Lakes, California, and now calls Bellingh...
Send us Fan Mail 🧀 From the AT to the PCT: Tramily, Trail Grit & Life Off the Beaten Path with Pimento 🥾🌄 What does it actually mean to find your people on trail — and what happens when the trail ends and real life begins? In this episode of Hikes & Mics, we sit down with Jacob, better known as Pimento — a thru-hiker from Indiana who's hiked the Appalachian Trail, the Arizona Trail, and the Pacific Crest Trail alongside one of the most tight-knit tramilies you'll ever hear about. We t...
Send us Fan Mail 🚨 Survival Starts Before the Trail: Wilderness Safety & Smart Preparation with Dr. Rob Scanlon 🥾💧 What actually gets hikers into trouble on the trail — and more importantly, what keeps them alive? In this episode of Hikes & Mics, we’re joined by Dr. Rob Scanlon — physician, backpacker, and author of Surviving the Trail: Five Essential Skills to Prepare Every Hiker for Adventure’s Most Common Perils. With more than two decades of trail experience and a career in critic...
Send us Fan Mail 🎻 Creativity, Courage & Kula Cloth: Finding Joy in the Wild with Anastasia Allison 🏔️✨ In this special milestone episode of Hikes & Mics, we’re joined by Anastasia Allison — founder of Kula Cloth, outdoor educator, former Washington State Park Ranger, professional violinist, and one half of The Musical Mountaineers. This conversation also marks a first for the podcast as our official video episode, now available on our YouTube channel alongside the audio release. Anas...
Send us Fan Mail ❤️ Love on the Long Trail: Thru-Hiking, Partnership & Shared Miles with Melanie & Dave 🥾✨ In this special Valentine’s Day Week episode of Hikes & Mics, we’re joined by Melanie (Poppi) and Dave (La Bamba), a thru-hiking couple whose love story unfolded one step at a time across some of North America’s most iconic long trails. From the Pacific Crest Trail to the Colorado Trail, Arizona Trail, and beyond, their relationship has been shaped by shared miles, hard-earne...
Send us Fan Mail 🌿 Belonging on the Trail: Motherhood, Healing & Community with Alexandrie 🥾🤍 In this powerful and deeply grounding episode of Hikes & Mics, we’re joined by Alexandrie, founder and organizer of Black Hikers Explore, for a conversation about how hiking, motherhood, and community-building can come together to create spaces of healing, belonging, and joy in the outdoors. Born and raised in Haiti, Alexandrie shares how her earliest experiences in nature were rooted not in ...
Send us Fan Mail 🏔️ Leadership at Altitude: Hiking, Resilience & Reflection with Ketul Patel 🥾📘 In this episode of Hikes & Mics, we’re joined by Ketul Patel—author, hiker, and business transformation leader—for a powerful conversation about the intersection of hiking, leadership, resilience, and self-reflection. Ketul is the debut author of A Journey of Elevation, a book inspired by his life-changing 12-day trek to Everest Base Camp—an experience that reshaped not only how he hikes, b...
Send us Fan Mail 🌋 Geysers, Wolves & the Stories Beneath Our Boots with Micah 🐺🏔️ In this episode of Hikes & Mics, we’re joined by Micah — geologist, educator, and Museum Manager for the City of Farmington, New Mexico — for a powerful, story-rich conversation about geology, wildlife, public lands, and what it truly means to understand the landscapes we hike through. Micah shares how his love of the outdoors began in Washington State, bivy camping on summits in the Olympics and Cascade...
Send us Fan Mail 🎬 Season 13 Premiere — Tina Grimm: From Outlast to Thru-Hiking, Healing & Rediscovering Strength in the Mountains 🏔️✨ For the Season 13 premiere of Hikes & Mics, we’re joined by Tina Grimm — model, artist, thru-hiker, and contestant on Season 2 of Netflix’s survival series Outlast — for a deeply moving conversation about identity, resilience, and the transformative power of wilderness. Tina shares how growing up with a survival-minded father sparked her lifelong love ...
Send us Fan Mail 🏔️ Season 13 Bonus Episode — Stephen’s Road to Denali: Blue-Collar Mountaineering, West Coast Peaks & The Power of the Journey ❄️🥾 In this special Season 13 bonus episode, returning guest Stephen takes us inside his relentless, months-long push to prepare for Denali — the highest peak in North America — by launching a full-scale mountaineering campaign across the U.S. West Coast. From expedition-style living on Mount Shasta, steep technical routes on Mount Hood, and a hum...
Send us Fan Mail Winter trails, fresh stories, and a brand-new season of Hikes & Mics. We’re kicking things off with a special bonus conversation — a returning mountaineer whose journey from the Pacific Northwest to the summit of North America’s tallest peak reminds us what resilience really looks like. Then we launch into Season 13 with guests who push the edges of adventure and creativity — from a survivalist whose time in the wilderness tested grit and teamwork, and who now brings that...
Send us Fan Mail 🌿 Season 12 Finale: One Year Later with Chickpea — Movement, Mindfulness & Coming Home 🥾✨ For the Season 12 finale of Hikes & Mics, we welcome back Chickpea for a powerful, full-circle conversation—one year after her first appearance on the podcast. In that time, Chickpea has taken bold leaps off trail and in life, becoming a full-time traveler, backpacking and mindset mentor, yoga instructor for hikers, and writer, helping others take their first brave steps into the...
Send us Fan Mail 🎙️ The Trail Angel With a 7-Course Welcome This week we sit down with Ben — better known on trail as Paladin — whose story threads together the Appalachian Trail, the PCT, Trans-Catalina sunrises, and a whole lot of good humanity along the way. From childhood summers tracking animals on his grandfather’s farm to section-hiking the Smokies in college, his path into long-distance hiking runs deep. The AT became home. The PCT became a dream. And somewhere between snowfields an...
Send us Fan Mail 🎙️ The Artist Who Climbs Into Her Own Paintings 🏔️ This week we sit down with Erin — Central Washington hiker, contemporary landscape artist, and the creative force behind Nuwave Gallery — whose journey blends trail time, faith, and art in a way that feels both grounded and expansive. She shares how hiking pulled her away from the computer and into a decade-long art career, how plein-air painting taught her to embrace imperfection, and how moving from Seattle to Ellensburg op...
Send us Fan Mail This week on Hikes & Mics, we caught up with a familiar face: John Mark, last on the show back in 2023 — and a LOT has happened since then. Over the past two years, he’s shifted careers from college professor to full-time court interpreter, giving him the flexibility to chase waterfalls, wander ridgelines, and sneak in micro-adventures between jobs. He’s camped nearly every month for two years straight, endured freezing nights in Savage Gulf, refined his pack system dow...
Send us Fan Mail 🎙️ A Life Built on Adventure, Partnership & Big Peaks This week we sit down with Amy — phys-ed teacher, adventurer, and newly crowned Adirondack 46er — whose journey through all 50 states, 52 national parks, and decades of road trips has become a lifelong mission to explore the outdoors. She shares how a chance reconnection with her now-husband sparked 26 years of adventure, how Mount Marcy in winter lit the fire, and how every summit has taught her something abo...
Send us Fan Mail 🎙️ A Conversation on Healing, Service & the Power of the Trail Just in time for Veterans Day, we sit down with Chappy, Program Director for the Veterans Engagement and Trail Stewardship Program with the Arizona Trail Association. He shares how the trail became a bridge between healing, service, and purpose after military life — and how “mission therapy” gives veterans a new way to connect, give back, and rediscover themselves through the outdoors. 🇺🇸 We talk about carryin...
Send us Fan Mail 🎙️ Chasing National Parks: A Father–Son Quest 🥾🌄 In this special Hikes & Mics episode, we’re joined by Grant for his return to the podcast — and for the first time ever, his dad John steps up to the mic! Recorded in person at a lookout over a freshly snow-covered Washington Pass near North Cascades National Park, this heartfelt conversation explores what becomes possible when a shared love for the outdoors turns into a 13-year legacy of adventure. Grant and John...
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