EPISODE · Jul 25, 2026 · 28 MIN
Trail Stories - "She Just Wants to Exist" with Maria "Beans" Romfoe
from Hiker Trash Radio · host Bleav + Doc
About the Guest Maria "Beans" Romfoe is an ABNM Triple Crown hiker — Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Continental Divide Trail minus New Mexico — a beanfluencer, and the sole representative of what she describes as the bean community on the internet. A Wisconsin native who found her way to Alaska and then Washington State through a trail crew and outdoor studies background, she has been hiking with cans of beans since her college days and is currently sponsored by Eight Trak Foods, a woman-owned organic bean company. She posts on Instagram as @thebeansbabeoutdoors and plans to finish the CDT in the fall. Episode Highlights The Bean Empire The Science of Carrying Cans ABNM — All But New Mexico The Walmart Bike Solo Female Hiking Links & Resources Beans on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebeansbabeoutdoors Eight Trak Foods: https://www.eightrakfoods.com Wild America — YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Wild+America+Marty+Stouffer Pacific Northwest Trail Association (PNTA) — Currently seeking trail crew volunteers as federal budget cuts reduce maintenance capacity. Details at pnta.org. Connect with Hiker Trash Radio Email: mailto:[email protected] Social: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok — search Hiker Trash Radio. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts — it takes 60 seconds and makes a real difference. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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What this episode covers
Maria Romfoe has been carrying cans of beans up mountains since she was a broke college kid in Alaska who posted a summit photo with the caption #bushsbeanssponsorme as a joke, and the joke has not stopped paying off since. She is now an ABNM Triple Crown hiker — All But New Mexico — after a case of giardia acquired by trusting the vibes of cattle-adjacent water in the San Juans ended her CDT, led to what she describes as the most miserable night of her life at a backcountry hot springs, and then inspired a one-day, 46-mile bikepacking attempt on a Walmart bicycle that she returned the next morning with mud still on it. This episode covers the bean empire origin story, the ZPack frame that snapped in half under three family-sized cans of smoky barbecue baked beans, and a giardia evacuation that was genuinely harrowing before it became funny. It also covers something else: what it actually feels like to be a woman walking alone through the world, and what she wishes people understood about it. The full interview with Beans drops Wednesday on the Hiker Trash Radio feed.
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Trail Stories - "She Just Wants to Exist" with Maria "Beans" Romfoe
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