Video

Good Badger Video

The Good Badger on Camping Gear TV

camping gear tv and the good badger

You’ve heard a lot about The Dusty Camel and Ian Mangiardi, both on this site and in Appalachian Trials.  Ian played a huge role in my thru-hike preparation, and ultimately, the book.  For this I am forever grateful.

But the catalyst to all of the AT goodwill began even before Ian took the reigns of Zach’s pre-trail therapist.  It was Josh Turner of Camping Gear TV who got the ball rolling, not only by putting me in touch with Ian, but also introducing me to many of the sponsors of his show (including Hi Tec, Eureka!, and Innate Gear).

The good folks of Camping Gear TV have dealt another bout of good fortune to the Good Badger (three goods, one sentence – the grammar equivalent of two girls, one cup.).  They decided to let me talk about living in the woods for a half year.  On video.  And they posted it.

If you’re into the outdoors in any capacity, I highly recommend subscribing to Camping Gear TV (either through RSS, Facebook, YouTube and/or Twitter accounts).  If REI and Santa made a superbaby, this superbaby would be Camping Gear TV.  In other words, they give you awesome camping equipment for free.  Get some.

– Side Note of Awesomeness –

Guess which book recently got a positive endorsement from Tim Ferriss (read the comments), author of New York Times NUMBER 1 Best-Selling The 4-Hour Workweek and The 4-Hour Body?  Hint: I wrote it.  The cover is currently getting a slight makeover.

Appalachian Trials- Available in Print!

Appalachian Trials by Zach Davis

HOLY HOT DAMN

Five words:

Appalachian Trials, Available in PRINT

“Sorry, I couldn’t hear you, can you say that again please?”

Sure.  I said…

MOTHER-F*#(NG APPALACHIAN TRIALS, AVAILABLE IN MOTHER-F(&!NG PRINT.

“Sorry it sounded like there was golden joy sauce pouring directly into my ear cavity.  Maybe you can say that one more time?”

Appalachian Trials: A Psychological and Emotional Guide to Successfully Thru-Hiking the Appalachian Trail, as of today, February 8, 2012 is available in print.

Here’s a short video on why you might enjoy reading it.

Read the first chapter for free

To make good on my promise, for those who purchased both the Kindle version, as well as the print version by February 15, 2012, I will send you a signed copy of the book, on the (Good) Badger.  E-mail me both of your receipts at theGoodBadger@gmail.com, and I will dedicate your book in any way you like (I’m a pretty good artist.  And when I say good, I mean laughably bad.  I’m the Nickleback of artists.  But some people like Nickleback.  Those who don’t, can at least laugh at them.  That’s the equivalent of my artistic ability.)

For those who may have noticed, the Amazon sell page isn’t completely filled out yet.  Apparently that takes a few days (Amazon’s doing, not mine).  Eventually, all of you fine folks who left wonderful reviews for the e-book version (by the way, THANK YOU), will show up on this page as well.  Again, you are doing me a huge favor by doing this.  I’m sincerely truly, truly grateful for all the wonderful words you guys have left thus far.   To be clear, I would never ask you to leave a dishonest review.  Appalachian Trials only wants to earn your 5-star review.

I’ve consumed a lot of coffee so I’m going to continue to ramble. Feel free to jump ship to the Appalachian Trail book page whenever you want.

So some of you may be wondering why the reviews matter so much?

Honesty = Best policy.

Aside from being a heavy ranking factor in Amazon’s search algorithm, it’s what fellow Amazon shoppers use as their gauge for making a purchase.  I will paint out each of the following scenarios for you:

Scenario 1 – Only a few reviews:  Badger gets few reviews on his book revealing a mixed opinion on quality.  Some think it’s garbage.  Some think it’s compost (which is only slightly better than garbage).  Appalachian Trials dies in its tracks.  Zach’s aspirations to become a word writer on published paper dies along with it.  He’s forced into the only other career path available to him (eye brow model: see intro picture).

Zach has many great years flexing his forehead muscles on the catwalk and on prominent billboards, but his true passion for life, expressing the insanity that lies behind the eyebrows, never gets fulfilled.  He grows bitter and recklessly decids to spend all of his eyebrow wealth on purchasing the first HondaCopter (Honda’s first car/helicopter hybrid).  Because Zach is impatient, he arrogantly believes he can fly his HondaCopter without formal training.  Turns out he can.  Right into a tree.  Zach survives, but must spend the next half year in a hospital bed.  The nurse brings him some reading material to help pass the time.  It’s the latest New York Times Best Seller –  Pacific Unrest – A Psychological guide to hiking the PCT.

NOOOO!!!!!!!

Scenario 2 – Lots of happy reviews:  Zach makes a modest living talking about HondaCopters and making lots of awesome new friends in the process.  The end.

It’s up to you.

But in all sincerity.  Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for everything thus far.  You don’t have to do anything, I’m already indefinitely grateful for all of the support I’ve gotten.  You guys have made this an insanely fun journey.  Without you, I would be a paralyzed eyebrow model.

Thank you.

Also, I would like to give special thanks to the following people.  Without you, this book would either not exist or exist in a much shittier fashion.

Co-Editor: Michele Weiner-Davis

Some may refer to you as the best-selling author of Divorce Busting, I of course, refer to you as “mom.”  Although we often did not see eye-to-eye on this process, you refused to quit on me- even when I was an intolerable ass (see: often).  Thank you.  I love you.

Co-Editor: B. Hanson MacDonald

B- to put it bluntly, you are fucking amazing.  Not only did you make this book a much, much, much, much more polished version than the one I handed you, but your consistently kind feedback and passion for this project fed right back onto me.  You deserve so much credit in this.  Thank you!!!

Cover Design: Paula Murphy

Paula, flat out, you’re a genius.  You too had to put up with my volatile mind-changing antics, but in the end, the finished product is one that makes me very proud.  I hope you feel the same.  For those looking for some highly professional and creative design work, PLEASE check out: branditarians.com

Website Design (coming soon): Adam Nutting

Although you haven’t seen it yet, we have a new website for the book coming out very shortly.  It was designed by Founder of Hiking the Trail, Adam Nutting.  Adam gets shit done.  Adam is a great support.  Adam is a great guy.  Thank you for everything thus far Adam!  (side note: more big news coming out of the new site – stay posted!)

Contributors: Ian Mangiardi, Aubby Duggan, and Miss Janet Henley

Ian- I’m done talking about you.  The only name that exists in the book more than my own, is yours.  I kid.  You are a living manifestation of benevolence.  Without your help, it is quite likely I would have joined the 70% of hikers who fall short of Katadhin.  Without your help this book wouldn’t be possible.  Thank you.  (Side note: check out Ian’s site The Dusty Camel.  He has an amazing PCT documentary coming out later this year – I got a sneak peak.)

Aubby (Cayenne) Duggan – Your story adds an emotional layer to this book that would otherwise be missing, but even aside from that, I am truly glad our paths crossed on the trail.  I am very proud of you for sticking to your goal.  You are a badass and a kind soul.  Thank you.

Miss Janet – It is spirits like you that make the AT the surreal experience that it is.  Aside from the wonderful words of wisdom you offer in this book, the countless others that you help along the AT makes you a trail angel in every sense of the word.  Thank you.

By clicking here, I acknowledge that I will be linked to the greatest Appalachian Trail book ever written. 

Last note, this book is written for:

  1. Aspiring thru-hikers
  2. Those on the fence about hiking the AT
  3. Those who want to know what goes on inside of the head of an AT-thru-hiker
  4. Those following loved ones on the trail.
  5. Those looking for inspiration to accomplish a major accomplishment in their life

Although the book will make you laugh (I hope), it is by no means a comedy.  It is also not a “Zach Davis hikes the Appalachian Trail“, although there are stories about my hike.  The most accurate description is the book’s subtitle: A Psyschological and Emotional Guide to Successfully Thru-Hiking the Appalachian Trail.  If you’ve enjoyed this website, you will enjoy the book, but I wanted to be clear about our expectations here.

I am fielding suggestions for the next book 🙂

Good chat.

Love,

Zach

5 Million Steps in 5 Minutes: Badger’s Appalachian Trail Video Slideshow

Badger before and after on the Appalachian Trail

In the picture above, you are witness to what happens when a ginger head lays unattended for five months.  Despite it’s inherent ability to repel women, the beard will remain an indefinite resident of my face.

But that’s neither here nor there.

Over the past five months, I have done my best to paint you a picture of what life looks like on the Appalachian Trail- with words.  Today, I paint this picture with, well, pictures.

The video below highlights some of my favorite pictures taken over the course of my five months on the Appalachian Trail.  I’ve been off the trail for less than a week and this slideshow already makes me feel super nostalgic.  I’ve been told that the AT will leave a permanent emotional mark.  I’m starting to understand this first hand.

Luckily I can tell people the tears on my face are merely beads of reverse-gravity beard sweat.

Quick side notes:

1)  All of the pictures were taken with my iPhone 4

2) The songs in the video below, “The Day is Coming” and “Wonderful (The Way I Feel)” are from My Morning Jacket’s latest album Circuitular.  I listened to this album no fewer than 30 times, therefore it has a strong emotional connection to the trail for me – thus my reason for the selection.

3) I saw a total of one rainbow while on the trail (photo included in the video).  It just so happened to appear while I was listening to Radiohead’s album In Rainbows.  Coincidence?

4) The video is actually much closer to six minutes. I didn’t think that “Five Million Steps in Six Minutes,” had the same ring. No need to point this out.

Enjoy.

Update: apparently YouTube is blocking the video because of the songs….trying Vimeo….stay posted.

Problem = resolved.  For anyone who’s interested, this is how you can legally bypass YouTube’s audio copyright block.

Whoops Crosses A River

During the following video, you will laugh.

Scene:

According to our Appalachian Trail guide book, there’s a campground known as the ‘Captain’s” which is basically some former thru-hiker’s backyard. Amongst hikers, it is common knowledge that he intentionally leaves a fridge full of grape and orange soda out on his patio for hikers to enjoy. There’s one caveat, you have to cross a zipline across a river to get there….

When we approach what we assume is the zipline, it appears as though the transport unit is stuck on the other side of the river.

Enter our hero: Whoop(s).

In no mood to be denied a delicious orange soda, Whoop sees the zipline and decides to cross it Navy Seal style to the other side of the river (another hiker has this video and it has been debated that it’s just as, if not funnier than the following – I hope to get this for you soon).

After getting to the other side of the river, it turns out, there is no soda (the “Captains” was actually another quarter mile away). At this point Whoop(s) has already exerted all of his energy and decides to ford the river instead. Hilarity ensues.

Without further ado, I present to you:

Whoops Crosses A River

Thanks to John for being a good sport about his hilarity.

The First 100 Days on the Appalachian Trail

100 days on appalachian trail

My friend- Lauren Lienhard- made a very nice card wishing me good luck on the Appalachian Trail. Instead of being selfish and hogging it all to myself, I made it into a video instead.

In this video, we learn of the radical transformation the Good Badger shall go through in his first 100 days on the Appalachian Trail. From sunny skies and smiles to tears and bleeding feet, this journey of a lifetime may soon be coming to an end.

I encourage all those who haven’t already – to “like” the Good Badger Facebook page as this will serve as the main feed while Zach is on the trail.

How to Prepare for the Appalachian Trail: Drunk Q&A

how to prepare for appalachian trail drunk Q&A image

The premise for this one is pretty simple.

1) You ask questions

2) I drink

3) I answer

A big thanks to everyone who submitted questions.  I’m going to try and squeeze in one last video before I embark, so be sure to like the Good Badger on Facebook and follow me on Twitter to get in on the action for the next one.

If you’re interested in watching the longer directors cut version of this video – e-mail me at theGoodBadger[at]gmail.com.

Lastly, if you haven’t already, watch the other Appalachian Prep videos on: physical endurance, how to build a tent, and diet plan.