Mighty Blue On The Appalachian Trail: The Ultimate Mid-Life Crisis

Ryan Linn has hiked both the Appalachian Trail (in 2007) and the Pacific Crest Trail (in 2010). He gained a true appreciation of the outdoors after college, combining his love of hiking with various jobs in and around the hiking business. It was while he was on the Pacific Crest Trail that he met his eventual business partner, Paul. They were both unsatisfied with the dearth of good, accessible ma...

Paul Mags is a man who simply loves being outdoors. He has hiked many trails, completing the Triple Crown of the AT, the PCT, and the CDT, in 2006. He is often alone on these trips, loving the solitude. He manages his life to fit in with his hiking, referring to hiking as his passion. He is a keenly aware of the history of both the various trails and the environment through which they pass. Paul's...

Matt Philippi is not currently looking to do a thru-hike of the AT. For Matt, biting off sections is a satisfying way to de-stress from his job. He contacted me to talk about the Chesapeake & Ohio (C&O) Canal Towpath. It is quite some towpath, running from Washington DC to Cumberland MD and measuring over 184 miles. I had previously intended speaking with Matt but I dropped the ball on that, so it...

Jack Masters is a member of the Class of 2018. While he's been interested in the possibility of hiking the appalachian Trail, a year ago it didn't seem likely. But life changes, and Jack has had a tumultuous year. Despite this, he has taken control of and redirected his life and, in a couple of short weeks, Vagabond Jack will be testing himself once more. He even decided to travel and hitched his...

I met JD Anttonen on the Appalachian Trail in 2014 and, as one often did, we shared the odd meal in a shelter and ran into one another from time to time. He was out of the military and had just suffered a traumatic life event, so his journey up the east coast of America was not without internal strife. Yet, as he made his way north, he succumbed to the beauty of the trail, the kindness of people,...

Damien and Renee Tougas have always made sure that their children were able to experience the outdoors. So it seemed a fairly natural fit to take the entire family on the Appalachian Trail in 2014. To help fund their adventure they produced a high-quality video series that followed their journey.      For each member of the family, it was harder than they had expected. Despite their hardships–comp...

We first met Nate and Sharon at Trail Days in Damascus earlier in 2017. I was initially fascinated by the signs of Katahdin that Nate was selling, but he had such a compelling story to tell so I went back to him and Sharon to do a full interview. Life (or young Hank) got in the way between then and now, so it wasn't until recently that we were able to complete the interview. Neither of the childre...

Zach Davis didn't hike a long-distance trail until 2011, yet he was intuitively aware of the need to prepare himself mentally for the hike. Establishing his "why" allowed him to be ready for the problems that he would inevitably encounter on the trail. The fact that he contracted West Nile Disease and carried it until the end of the trail is further testimony to his desire to fulfill his goal. Whe...

Julie Gayheart is a very active section hiker, having completed a 12-year thru-hike in 2017, while within 800 miles of a second thru-hike spread over a number of years. Steve and Julie find plenty to discuss and laugh about in their conversation, She has a passion for the AT that shines through, feeling that it is on the AT that she is the best version of herself. Julie had plenty of problems at M...

Meet Jim Kern, a veteran of the hiking world, yet on a mission to CLOSE THE GAPS on America's trails. He has hiked all over the world, yet his passion is here at home in Florida, with the Florida Trail. Jim started the Florida Trail in 1966, when a lot of us were in short pants back at school, while many of us weren't even born yet. Watch this short YouTube video to get a feel of what the trail is...

  Kyle Rohrig was one of the first people I wanted to interview on my podcast, so it is somehow fitting that it has taken me more than 60 episodes to finally get the chance to speak with him. For me, it was worth the wait. He comes across as a modest, quiet guy with hiking now firmly in his blood. He made an attempt on the Continental Divide Trail this summer to complete his Triple Crown. The weat...

  Jessica Mills has become something of a YouTube sensation, with her Appalachian Trail videos securing a base of support during her 2015 thru-hike. However, that support has grown exponentially this year, as she took on, and beat, the Pacific Crest Trail, battling the snow in the Sierras, then smoke from fires the rest of the way.     Her breezy delivery, thoughtful commentary, great pictures (in...

  A thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail isn't everybody's idea of the best way to spend time in the woods. Judy Mikesell became interested in the trail through her son's thru-hike several years ago. She knew that she didn't want to thru-hike but she certainly wanted to visit the various parts of the trail. Her novel approach has enabled her to build her own version of hiking the AT without ever nee...

I'm back with my class of 2014 again. This week, we have another of those powerful, independent women, Stacey Bucklin, or Stylez. Stacey had wanted to do the trail for quite some time and, when the time was right, she walked away from a job and went on her adventure. She rightly notes in our interview that interrupting your career path isn't necessarily a bad thing.        Stacey is truly passiona...

  The Appalachian Trail is a test for hikers at any stage in life and many people hike their own hikes vicariously through their family members. One of our listeners, Rick Schroeder, sent me an email to thank me for our podcast. While doing so, he mentioned that his son, Silas, had just completed a thru-hike if the trail in September. I was immediately interested in talking with Silas, as his Dad...

  From the Class of 2012, this week's guest is Jeffrey "Loner" Gray. Jeffrey gave himself the name Loner, yet he soon discovered the extraordinary friendships that we all find on the Appalachian Trail. He originally came to the trail through the simple act of walking to waterfalls. With more waterfalls to visit, the walks became longer and longer, leading him ultimately to his thru-hike in 2012.  ...

  You probably read about the couple who decided to attempt a thru-hike this summer with their 12-month old daughter, Ellie. I was skeptical myself when I read what they were attempting to do. Having found it tough enough to take care of myself on the trail, the thought of carrying an infant for nearly 2200 miles filled me with dread. Yet Derrick and Bekah Quirin were experienced hikers and really...

  I met Beans in my first couple of days on the trail. We shared a particularly funny evening in a bar in North Carolina and I found him to be a very funny, free-spirited kind of guy. He joined quite a large group of hikers who stayed together for several hundred miles. I would often turn up at a shelter in those early weeks to find them all having a lot of fun as a trail family. As these things d...

Having lived for several years in Costa Rica, Greg and Jen Seymour were searching for an adventure. They chose a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2017 and prepared meticulously so that they would arrive at Springer Mountain in good shape for their journey. Recording their daily progress through YouTube, they grew their audience with their charming–and often hilarious–interactions as they made...

We've followed several hikers this year, with Jessa covered pretty much the whole of the way. For this week's show, I decided to find out what had happened to some of the hikers we spoke to in earlier episodes. I wanted to know whether or not they finished and how things may have changed since we spoke with them previously. These three–Sarah Williams, Byron Church, and Kyle Bock–all had vastly dif...

When Jeff Alt set out to fulfil a long-held dream and hike the Appalachian Trail in 1998, he could have had no idea that his walk would eventually become the catalyst for a wonderful fund-raising effort that continues to this day. He raises money for Sunshine Homes, a facility that has been home to his brother Aaron for much of his life.   Not only did he raise an enormous amount of money for this...

  For our 52nd episode–which commemorates the fact that we've been podcasting for precisely a year–I caught up with Jessa Hackman, otherwise known as Attie. Jessa was first introduced to listeners of the show in Episode #16. She had written to me requesting Grizz's hiking preparations spreadsheet and, as I sent that to her, I wondered if she would be a candidate for a project I'd been considering....

  Daryl Fleischer is aware that his thru-hike, hopefully with his lovely wife, is several years in his future. He has work and family responsibilities, like many of us. Yet his joy at being a weekend or occasional day hiker shines through in our conversation. He is a self-confessed trail addict and is prepared to work for his hiking fixes, including sleeping in his car overnight to get a good spot...

  Mike Skelton is another listener who wrote into the show and immediately intrigued me. I'd asked for a few examples of the transformative nature of hiking and Mike provided me some thoughtful notes and personal examples. He is a hiker who has spent a lot of time on both the Appalachian Trail and other trails of America. He gave me some useful advice on how to avoid altitude sickness but, as you...

Lynne Savino wrote to me and gave me some funny examples of the differences between a section hiker and a thru-hiker. I have a lot of respect for section hikers and the way in which they have to rediscover their hiking legs EVERY time they go out into the woods. I love to hear these different perspectives so I invited Lynne onto the show. She told us about how she was introduced to camping as a ch...