Ben Cox has been hiking his whole life. Long distance. Alone.

He will tell you he hiked for the adventure. He will also tell you that he never really hiked alone — that he carries a permanent tramily with him everywhere he goes. His grandfather, who died when Ben was 15 and left him a saddle, a skinning knife, and a specific rifle because Ben was his cowboy grandchild. The girl in West Texas who passed that same summer. The others who came after.

The Permanent Tramily is the story of a man who accumulated loss across his whole life — at 15, in the years after, and in a relationship that ended just before he bought a plane ticket to San Diego and hiked 2,650 miles north. It’s also the story of what he found on the other side.

Dark Miles is a narrative documentary series from Hiker Trash Radio.

Show Notes

Ben Cox has never really hiked alone.


He carries a permanent tramily with him — his grandfather, who died when Ben was 15 and left him a specific rifle and a saddle because Ben was his cowboy grandchild. The girl in West Texas who passed that same summer. The others who came after.


At 26, after a relationship ended and a work situation resolved itself, Ben bought a plane ticket to San Diego and hiked 2,650 miles north on the Pacific Crest Trail. He didn’t know a single soul when he started. He went anyway.


This is the story of what he was carrying, what the trail asked of him, and what he found on a Tuesday in Ocean City, Maryland when it was all over.


In this episode:



  • The year Ben was 15 — two losses, one summer, and a campus in the Smokies that changed everything

  • Alone in the crowd — 50 to 80 hours a week in public service and still somehow by yourself

  • Three weeks from the breakup to the southern terminus

  • The night the tramily fell apart and his grandfather arrived

  • Freezing to death in his underwear in the Sierras — poles in hand, looking for a flat-ish spot

  • What post-trail depression actually feels like when the trail is gone

  • A banana milkshake, a tub of fries, and a woman reading a book on a Tuesday


Dark Miles is a narrative documentary series from Hiker Trash Radio — produced stories about the internal terrain of the outdoor experience. These are the miles that don’t show up on Strava.

Connect with Hiker Trash Radio:


Website:  hikertrashradio.com


Instagram:  instagram.com/hikertrashradio


Apply to be a Dark Miles guest:  hikertrashradio.com/dark-miles


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