About
Pepper Steps is the outdoor project of Pepper, a creator who shares backpacking, hiking and running experiences while thinking about how to make time outside feel more accessible. Readers and viewers can follow her trips, learn about gear and trail basics, or explore resources for their own hikes. Her website brings those parts of Pepper Steps together.
Backpacking journeys with Pepper Steps
Pepper says she started Pepper Steps after her first solo backpacking trip, initially to organize and share her outdoor adventures. On her YouTube channel, she invites people to follow backpacking trips from home. That makes the videos an option for anyone curious about the experience of being on the trail, whether or not they are ready to plan a trip themselves.
Her interests extend beyond recording a journey. Pepper says she likes learning about hiking gear, trail tips and what she encounters outdoors, from redwood trees to banana slugs, and began sharing educational content alongside her adventures. Her own introduction to Pepper Steps, published April 10, 2025, explains how the project grew from that first solo trip into a place for both stories and learning.
Guides for different stages of hiking
Pepper’s resources serve different needs, so their scope matters. BABY STEPS is a 54-page digital guide focused on preparing for first day hikes. It covers finding beginner-friendly trails, understanding trail types and elevation, choosing what to wear, and packing for a day hike. Its listed extras include a packing checklist and pages for recording hikes. It is not presented as a backpacking, advanced wilderness survival or technical navigation guide.
For readers interested in multi-day trips, Pepper also offers a free ultralight gear-list download describing the kit she says she uses. She reports a base weight as low as 7.79 pounds (3.5 kilograms), but calls the list a suggestion rather than a universal setup. In particular, she says it does not account for extended rain or cooking hot meals. Those qualifications help readers understand what the list can, and cannot, tell them about preparing their own kit.
Community, artwork and a podcast conversation
Pepper points people who want to discuss gear and hiking toward a Discord community. The Pepper Steps shop also features the Happy Steppin’ collection, which its page describes as including her hand-drawn outdoor artwork. These sit alongside her videos and guides rather than replacing their practical trail focus.
In a May 29, 2025 episode of The Life Outside Podcast, Pepper discussed solo backpacking, content creation and neurodivergence. The episode description called her a full-time outdoor content creator and solo backpacker at the time. For readers interested in the person behind Pepper Steps, that dated conversation offers another perspective on her first solo trip and her approach to sharing the outdoors.