By Steve Barrett
For hiker/backpacker/Youtuber Taylor Tognacci, her love for the outdoors of New Hampshire knows no limits.
Taylor has a popular YouTube channel, titled “Taylor the Nahamsha Hiker,” where her love for hiking can be viewed across 250-plus videos and counting.
The avid outdoorswoman said she embarked on her first-ever hike five years ago at the age of 21, three months after moving to New Hampshire.
“I moved from Massachusetts to New Hampshire when I was a senior in college to live more independently, and I was looking for something fun and challenging to do after I moved there,” she said. “So, I started conducting a great deal of research on hiking and backpacking, and the more I researched, the more excited I got about exploring trails.”
For her first hike, she did not take it easy on herself. She hiked along a trail 4,000 feet on Mount Tecumseh, which is located in Grafton County, New Hampshire. She then continued to find more trails and hike them, with her most memorable hike being her 48th along Mount Cannon, another 4,000-plus footer near Franconia, New Hampshire.
Though she has a lot of fun embarking on these hikes, she also takes what she does very seriously. She has compiled a very comprehensive list of places that she wants to hike, and she said she fully intends to eventually check them all off of her list.
As for her popular YouTube channel, viewers can find a wide array of information in her videos. As of this writing, her channel has nearly 30,000 subscribers.
Taylor said her videos are not so much educational as they are natural and viewer-friendly, consistently showcasing the fun and lighthearted side of hiking. Topics of the videos include her finishing the 2021 Appalachian Trail Thru-Hike, summiting Mount Katahdin (the highest mountain in the state of Maine at 5,269 feet), answering questions from viewers and listing her favorite trails to hike.
Although her fiancé does not join her on many hikes, Taylor said he is very supportive of her passion and she is happy that her dog, a lab and terrier mix, embarks on many of her journeys.
When she is not hiking or planning upcoming trips, she is busy managing Nahamsha Gifts, a unique shop that is open all year round. At the gift shop, patrons are able to buy a wide array of products, including shirts, hats, board games and stickers.
In addition to visiting the store in Meredith, New Hampshire, patrons can also purchase items on the shop’s website, www.nahamshagifts.com, where viewers can also read blogs and photos from Taylor.
In addition to her YouTube channel, Taylor can also be found on Instagram and the Nahamsha Gifts website.
As for her love of hiking, Taylor said embarking on trails and taking on mountains gives her a great sense of freedom, especially since she mostly hikes by herself.
“When I go out on a hike, I like being able to make my own decisions and hike any mountain I want and go as fast or as slow as I want,” she explained. “Hiking is really good for me … I get really creative when I’m out on a trail – I like being able to think about my business and about my goals I want to achieve in the future.”
“Hiking also fulfills that competitive aspect in me,” she continued. “And I love that it is a big part of my life that I continuously work on, that always changes and evolves. And I keep pushing myself to finish checking off everything on my list.”
Follow Taylor Herehttps://www.instagram.com/nahamsha.hiker/https://www.youtube.com/c/TaylortheNahamshaHikerhttps://www.nahamshagifts.com/
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