Hey friends, I'm pleased to report the completion of another project -- barefoot climbing all 67 mountains in Harriman/Bear Mountain State Parks. Now, these are modest mountains, averaging 1,100 feet tall, so this was not an ultra/athletic challenge, as much as a project to explore, observe, and learn -- much like the Grid.
Along the way, I randomly discovered Tom Brown, Jr. and his mentor Stalking Wolf of the Lipan Apache, and suddenly the gears started turning. Could it be that "your brother, Cold Wind" is the same as the Navajo wind-spirit Nilchi'i? Do the Athabaskan people have something to teach us about living in nature -- and could this be the same message passed down by Walt Whitman and, for that matter, my Grandpa Roy?
Please check out my substack essay for more -->
/p/barefoot-peak-bagging-in-harriman?r=7x92e
Thank you @joannechack
What if the trail wasn’t just something you walked through… but something you actually felt?
In this episode of Hikes & Mics, Barefoot Ken explains how hiking barefoot unlocks an entirely different relationship with the outdoors. Not because it’s shocking or extreme — but because it forces you to be present. Every rock, patch of moss, root, and change in terrain becomes information. A conversation between your body and the forest.
The way he describes it feels less like hiking… and more like remembering something humans once knew naturally.
“It’s sort of the original human mindfulness.”
This conversation made us think differently about connection, presence, and what it means to truly experience the outdoors instead of just passing through it.
Would you ever try hiking barefoot? 👣🌲
#HikesAndMics #BarefootHiking #MindfulAdventure #OutdoorPodcast #NatureConnection
This may have been my favorite podcast yet, thanks to Ivan's thoughtful questions -- check it out by visiting @hikesandmics and you'll find the links for all your favorite platforms. We covered a lot of key points:
- Importance of living in a high-energy state, and how structured projects like the Grid or my 1000-mountains project generate energy and excitement
- The real "runner's high" which is the feeling of self-empowerment that spreads confidence and positivity throughout your life when you prove you can accomplish something hard
- Connecting with nature by investing the time to experience, observe, learn until it starts to feel like home
- Importance of "good medicine" or special experiences in nature and how you can go looking for these experiences
- And how to get into barefoot hiking, which doesn't take gear or training, just carry some shoes in case your feet have had enough
- How injuries are unavoidable yet teach you about your body and how to heal, which is one of the key themes of my book, "Chasing the Grid"
I hope you have a chance to listen and enjoy it. Thank you Ivan!
What happens when you strip away the gear, the gadgets — and even the shoes? Barefoot Ken is here to show us.
This week on Hikes & Mics, I’m joined by Ken Posner — better known as Barefoot Ken — ultramarathoner, author, and barefoot adventurer on a mission to reconnect with nature in the simplest way possible.
After reading Born to Run at age 50, Ken took off his shoes… and never really looked back.
We talk about:
👣 What hiking barefoot teaches about slowing down and paying attention
⛰️ Completing the Catskills Grid and hiking the John Muir Trail barefoot
🌄 His goal of climbing 1,000 barefoot mountains
📚 The philosophy behind “stretching the rubber band” instead of snapping it
🎧 Episode out now wherever you get your podcasts
#HikesAndMics #BarefootKen #TrailRunning #OutdoorPodcast #TrailStories
Kumi makes it to the summit of Hook Mountain. ~320 miles done on the Long Path at a blistering pace of 50+ miles per day, and ~30 left, with a new record for the Long Path possibly within reach. @nynjtc
Awesome crew of six made it to the top of Rusk Mountain in the Catskills, despite 40 F and steady rain. Everyone had a good time - lots of smiles! Thanks @bongarbiz and Catskills 3500 Club for organizing!
I've been having a lot of fun in Harriman, working on a project to 👣 climb all 67 of the named peaks. With Pine Meadow and Horse Stable Mountains now complete, I have only one left to do! Harriman is really a lovely place with beautiful lakes, open forests, grassy knolls...and then there are the rocks, briars, brambles, laurel stands and endless blueberry scrub to negotiate when you move off trail to reach many of the summits. Barefoot makes all the obstacles more "intimate" so to speak, teaching you to appreciate the prickles as well as the soft spots.
Next weekend is back to the Catskills, where I'm leading an intro barefoot hike up Rusk Mountain with Catskill 3500 Club President Michael Bongar @bongarbiz@itlcatskillmtnpodcast@officialvelopress
The bad really makes you appreciate the good. That's why we wanted to wrap up with the "bad" in our Nation's fight against climate change using a healthy dose of good in this week's episode of YWIB. We discuss a few things our Country is doing to try and roll back progress against fighting climate change, but then what fellow hikers and a few hiking brands are doing to keep on bringing the fight. You don't have to take a monumental step to make some solid change. Even picking up a single piece of trash can do a world of good, whether you know it or not.
We wrap with a bit of Q&A about climate change.
***Listen wherever you get your podcasts or link in BIO.
Stories for this episode were submitted by @vagrant_viking93 , @joyseward with @recpakco , @oatshikes with @sawyerproducts , @long_brown_path , and an anonymous hiker. Thanks for taking the time to share what YOU are doing to make the world and hiking community a better place!!
#change #makeadifference #climatechange #steward #getoutside
It’s live 🎥
Ken Posner: Barefoot Running, 100 Marathons & 600 Mountains
100+ marathons.
600 mountains.
Often barefoot.
But this isn’t just about endurance—it’s about mindset, discipline, and staying calm under pressure.
Watch now — link in bio
Congratulations to Andy Garrison for being recognized by the @nynjtc with the Raymond Torrey Lifetime Achievement Award, presented here with a beautiful plaque (created and donated by @sassquadtrailrunning ) by former recipient John Magerlein and volunteer manager Katie Kourakos. Andy is a legend in the trail community for the work he's done on the Long Path, which he fell in love with while hiking it with his son around 20 years ago. Since then he's worked as a maintainer and chain sawyer, helped build the Shawangunk Ridge Trail and the Long Path reroute on Romer Mountain, and been instrumental negotiating several land parcel acquisitions and easements which have strengthened and permanently preserved the the trail in many sections, as well as significantly reducing road walk sections. He's also been a huge catalyst for use of the trail, creating the Friends of the Long Path facebook group, and constantly reaching out to thru-hikers, thru-runners, and section-hikers with information and advice., including myself back in 2013 when I thru-ran the trail.
Raymond Torrey was a big deal back in the day, founding the Trail Conference, creating a hiking community through his column "The Long Brown Path" in the New York Post, standing up to Robert Moses to protect sensitive lands in Long Island from overdevelopment, and promoting the idea of the Long Path and documenting the route, which would allow Trail Conference volunteers to begin building it years later.
Today Andy is the senior volunteer in charge of the Long Path and actively working on multiple projects to improve and promote the trail, including a recent 100+acre transaction near the town of Middleburgh. You might encounter him running on the trails or at a race, as he is an avid trail and ultra-runner, having completed iconic races like Manitou's Revenge Ultramarathon (rumor has it he's signed up for the Shawangunk Ridge Trail Run)
Congrats, Andy!
#Respect
Long bushwhack to Jackie Mountain via Pound Swamp and Irish Mountains, passing the Irish Potato (a glacial erratic dragged here all the way from Ireland), and enjoying some beautiful spring vistas before getting caught in a freak ⛈️. I'd assumed (incorrectly) that the cold winter wiped out the entire population of ticks, but I encountered 4 of them. They acted friendly and did not try to bite me 🤷. Have mixed feelings about scrub oak bloom as it is difficult to bushwhack through scrub oak I am not a fan. Lots of lichen in Harriman, indeed it seems to be thriving
