Short Stories From Long Trails

“One of the sport’s most accomplished athletes.” —Eric Larsen, polar explorer, educator, and lecturer

“Humble and understated… [Justin] goes into challenging situations with the mental toughness and aplomb that it takes to turn a miserable situation into something enjoyable. [He is in] the upper echelon of long-distance hikers.” —Outside magazine


A collection of Trauma’s best stories from thru-hiking more than 40,000 miles of trails


Having hiked more than 40,000 miles of trails across the globe, Justin “Trauma” Lichter recounts the survival instincts, physical endurance, and mental resiliency needed to be a thru-hiker. Despite countless close calls, Trauma continues to push the limits of long distance hiking, safety and wilderness survival. Short Stories From Long Trails is at times frightening, stomach-turning, humorous, and heartwarming, including tales about:


• A wide variety of characters, from over-friendly motel clerks to escaped convicts
• Run-ins with lions, elephants, grizzlies, and other beasts, big and small
• All types of weather, from one of the wettest seasons on the Appalachian Trail to the extreme heat of Africa
• Questionable decisions when food or water is scarce, like consuming uncooked meat and treating water from sludge-like pools
• Losing his way in the poppy fields of Copper Canyon, Mexico, amidst heavy narcotics traffic
• His history-making winter hike of the Pacific Crest Trail, described by the New York Times as “the most daring and foolhardy expedition since Lewis and Clark”

Follow Trauma and his fearless hiking partners, including his dog, Yoni, on his hikes through America, on the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, Eastern Continental Trail, Continental Divide Trail, Great Divide Trail, International Appalachian Trail, Florida Trail, Pacific Northwest Trail, Hayduke Trail, and Long Trail, as well as his hikes abroad, in the Alps, Africa, New Zealand, Iceland, the Himalayas, and beyond.