# Dark Miles - The Permanent Tramily with Ben "Paladin" Cox

An episode of [Hiker Trash Radio](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1497165058), 25 May 2026, 16 min.

Audio: https://pscrb.fm/rss/p/mgln.ai/e/1385/injector.simplecastaudio.com/6d2da267-75e0-4996-8f52-dc96c283fcb3/episodes/778c4685-36f4-4571-971f-82a54c3a1a02/audio/128/default.mp3?aid=rss_feed&awCollectionId=6d2da267-75e0-4996-8f52-dc96c283fcb3&awEpisodeId=778c4685-36f4-4571-971f-82a54c3a1a02&feed=TGxnwCmZ

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 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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