David "Moondog" Roop on Thru-Skating the Florida Trail and Natchez Trace Trail
Backpacker Radio
Zach Davis
4.7 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 29 January 2024
⏱️ 109 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In today’s episode of Backpacker Radio presented by The Trek, we are joined by David “Moondog” Roop. Moondog, alongside his buddy, has done the Natchez Trace Trail, Florida Trail, and 500 miles through New Mexico, not on foot, but instead on skateboard which he refers to as a thru-skate. We learn all about what goes into such a unique adventure, including how his gear differs relative to traditional backpacking, what terrain is skateboardable and what isn’t, how sore his push muscles get over the course of a full day of skateboarding, and more.
We wrap the show with the first edition of the 2023 AT thru-hiker survey results, the weirdest things we’ve brought home after a night out, and our triple crown of campaign promises.
Sawyer Products: Check out Sawyer’s Permethrin Pump at REI.
Gossamer Gear: Use code “DINGLEBERRY” for 20% off backpacks at gossamergear.com.
Ka’Chava: Get 10% off at kachava.com/backpacker.
[divider]
Interview with David “Moondog” Roop
Time stamps & Questions
00:03:01 - Reminders: Subscribe to the Trek’s newsletter to hear when the Tyvek wall is available, subscribe to us on YouTube, and apply to be a 2024 blogger!
00:05:35 - Introducing Moondog
00:06:00 - Tell us about Madrid, NM
00:09:21 - How did you get your trail name?
00:11:18 - How does thru-skating work?
00:16:00 - How many miles can you normally skate in a day?
00:16:44 - What was your backpacking experience prior to starting skateboarding?
00:17:50 - What muscles get sore after a full day of skateboarding?
00:19:06 - Do you factor in the weight of the board?
00:21:00 - How hard was the learning curve?
00:22:06 - How much of the trail do you need to skate to consider it a thru-skate?
00:24:38 - Tell us some wipeout stories
00:27:08 - Do wipeouts make you consider more what you wear?
00:29:20 - Compare and contrast the Florida Trail and the Natchez Trace
00:32:00 - Discussion about skating effort and strategy
00:34:03 - How was your experience doing a full trail end to end?
00:36:00 - Discussion about wildlife on the Florida Trail
00:37:05 - Do you ever have gear malfunctions with the skateboard?
00:38:23 - Discussion about ultra skating
00:40:10 - Are there any interesting things skaters do that hikers don’t?
00:42:13 - Tell us about your New Mexico thru-skate
00:45:12 - What portion was hiking versus skating?
00:46:50 - What’s a standout moment you’ve had while thru-skating?
00:49:30 - How did you land on the Natchez Trace Trail?
00:51:12 - What’s the best time of year to do it?
00:52:22 - Have you considered using a mountain board to do something more rugged?
00:53:20 - How do you protect your board?
00:55:00 - How would you design your dream board?
00:55:45 - What did you do in Puerto Rico?
00:57:26 - What thru-skates are on your bucket list?
Segments
Trek Propaganda: The 2023 Appalachian Trail Thru-Hiker Survey: General Information Part 1 by Kate Richard
QOTD: What’s the weirdest thing you’ve brought home on a night out?
Triple Crown of our presidential campaign promises
Mail Bag
5 Star Review
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Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | In today's episode of Backpacker Radio presented by the trek, we are joined by David |
| 0:04.2 | Moon Dogg Roop. Moondog, alongside his buddy, has done the Notches Trace Trail, Florida Trail, |
| 0:09.9 | and 500 miles through New Mexico, not on foot, but instead on skateboard, which he refers to as through skating. |
| 0:17.0 | We learn all about what goes into such a unique adventure, including how his gear differs relative to traditional backpacking, what terrain is skateboardable, |
| 0:24.9 | and what isn't, how sore his push muscles get over the course of a full day of skateboarding, |
| 0:29.6 | and much more. We wrapped the show with the first edition of the 2023 AT through Hiker survey results, |
| 0:35.3 | the weirdest things we've brought home after a night out, and our Triple Crown of Campaign Promises. |
| 0:41.6 | But first, if you've listened to this podcast before or have |
| 0:44.8 | researched through-hiking gear at all, you're already very familiar with the |
| 0:48.5 | through hiker favorite Sawyer Squeeze. This has been the top water filter for |
| 0:52.5 | backpackers for many years running and for good reason. It's lightweight |
| 0:56.0 | weighing just three ounces and you can take another half ounce off for the |
| 0:59.0 | micro squeeze reliable, easy to back flush, very effective, and affordable. |
| 1:04.1 | But because Lyme disease sucks very much, |
| 1:06.8 | I want to talk about their permethrin, |
| 1:08.1 | an insect killing repellent for your clothing and gear, |
| 1:11.1 | which is your best defense against those tiny terrorists we call ticks. |
| 1:15.0 | Soyers permethrin is 100% odorless after drying and it does not harm any fabrics or |
| 1:19.8 | finishes. According to a study by the University of Rhode Island, you are 73.6 times less likely to get bitten by tick if you are wearing permethrin treated shoes and socks. |
| 1:30.0 | Of course, we encourage hikers to also treat all of their clothing and gear as well as this will increase your defense against Lyme disease carrying ticks. |
| 1:38.0 | In fact, ticks only need to crawl across one inch of treated fabric in order to start the dying process. |
| 1:44.3 | A death, we encourage and celebrate. |
... |
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