Welcome to yet another backpacking blog! This website was created by Peaches (Jeff Kessler), and is intended to help folks better learn about backpacking, and to aid them in planning their own trips. Obviously, I enjoy thru-hiking and ultralight backpacking in the great outdoors (how trite). For whatever reasons, I’ve also created a variety of fairly-technical tools (models) that can be used to better calculate thru-hiking costs, and can help tech-savvy backpackers (are there 5 of you?) plan some trips.
While trying to navigate backpacking implications during the COVID-19 pandemic, I created a framework and model to help improve our understanding for how to backpack responsibly, while evaluating community and individual risks affiliated with spreading COVID.
This site will be used primarily to post photos and general things about ultralight backpacking and thru-hiking. As I am a bit of a data geek, I’ll also be posting gear lists, trail commentary, reviews, and anything else relevant to the kinds of backpacking that I do. Updates will occur as necessary.
When I’m not backpacking and hiking, I’m often thinking about climate change and energy policy. I co-produce a podcast called Watts Radio, which is currently on hiatus. I hope to produce some new content in the not-too-distant future!
Are you curious about thru-hiking, or hiking the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT)? Do you want to know more about ultralight backpacking? Are you considering going ultralight yourself? I encourage you to read my afterward to the trail blog post as a great place to start. This is an email I sent out immediately after completing the PCT in August of 2018. Even after many more miles of hiking and backpacking, and far-too-many hours stuck in a cubicle, I still think it is a fair assessment of the PCT.
If you have questions, need an adventure buddy, or want to connect, then contact me through the usual means!
Keep on hiking! =)
<3 Peaches (
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@peaches_offtrail on instragram