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

When Edwin Thullen decided to hike the Appalachian Trail he had several challenges to overcome. His sheer size made gear acquisition a formidable process, but he gathered what he could and headed for Georgia. The previous winter had been spent living out of his car, so he was expecting Georgia to be warm. It wasn't. Watch the astonishing physical and mental transformation that Bear undergoes as he...

Bethany Varner completed her hike on July 1 this year. She had zero overnight backpacking experience, yet she adapted so well to the challenge that she was even able to squeeze in a cruise with her boyfriend while on the trail. On the way, she rediscovered her faith in humanity, sharing her journey on YouTube with an ever-growing following. She also blogged regularly, at The Trek.       You can se...

When Robby King and his daughter, Meredith decided to hike the Appalachian Trail, his wife Nancy decided that she could support them far better by driving an RV to various road crossings and providing them sustenance and a bed for the night. While Robby and Meredith covered the standard 2,200-mile length of the Appalachian Trail, Nancy chalked up over 10,000 miles of driving to back up their effor...

This week's guest is another from the Class of 2014; Tim McGann, or Tadhg. He shares his story with us and provides the perfect example of how the trail always provides. Indeed, on his first date with Erica, now his wife, she enthusiastically embraced the idea of his hike and supported him along the way, ultimately summiting Katahdin with Tim at the conclusion of his journey.         Tim can be fo...

  Jan Leitschuh, at the time more comfortable on a horse than hiking through the woods, found herself contemplating a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail following the death of her mother in 2001. To prepare, Jan hiked over 500 miles, including the entire length of the Long Trail. In 2003, she was ready to go. She had already done a trail journal from the Long Trail so it seemed natural to keep tha...

Chrissy is a woman who came to the trail in search of herself. She had endured a difficult personal life and fallen out of love with the person she had become. While the trail can't provide every answer, it can certainly soothe, perhaps even heal, one's soul. She posted several visceral videos on her Facebook page and seemed to be conducting a thorough self-assessment. The trail had several surpri...

Digger was one of the guys I met during my 2014 journey and, as often happened, this short acquaintance proved to assist me in my own hike. Once he'd completed the AT, Digger went on to many other adventures, including the PCT, the Camino and a kind of freestyle journey through France, England and, ultimately Ireland. Digger is currently plotting a beautiful trail through Italy with his 10-year-ol...

I was introduced to Craig McPherson by a listener. He sent me a link to Craig's final video, one that served to represent a summary of his hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2016. It was arresting, to say the least. I've since sent this video to several friends who have been similarly moved and I can say with some authority that this is exactly how the trail feels. Interviewing Craig was just as riv...

Kelly Anderson is a former professional tennis player from South Africa. She came to the US to attend Georgia Tech in their tennis program before taking up coaching positions, first at USF and then as Head Coach at Stetson. She even has her own Wikipedia entry! A chance meeting with a number of AT thru-hikers intrigued her and planted within her a desire to take on the Appalachian Trail someday.  ...

This week, I've got another diverse array of guests from Trail Days in Damascus a few weeks ago. While I guess a parade of hikers could have been interviewed, I preferred to go with others associated with the Appalachian Trail, so I've managed to get another interesting mix together.   Dan Bedore is hiking a kind of alternative AT, keeping the pioneering spirit of the trail alive by spending large...

  Kyle Bock has had some dark days, not least because he lived in Alaska for over fifteen years with no running water and, for the past few years, with no electricity. Kyle has taken on the challenge of an AT thru-hike with an almost professional approach, yet enjoyed his journey as he contemplates what the trail means to him. He is expressing himself with his beautiful photographs, altering them...

A trip to Trail Days wasn't on my itinerary when I hiked the AT in 2014, so my visit this year had a dual purpose. I was going there to both see what I'd missed and to interview others who were attending. I was trying to capture some of the spirit of both Damascus at party time and the Appalachian Trail. This episode will focus on Trail Days and forms the first of two such episodes. I'm still foll...

Sarah Williams is a true force of nature. Her goal is to inspire women and girls to think beyond the boundaries of their previously limited lives, and she has earned her recognition as a true leader in her community. To challenge herself further, she is attempting a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail from June 2017 and hoping to complete that challenge in 100 days. Her defiant self-belief and powe...

  Byron Church has had his sights set on the Appalachian Trail since he read Bill Bryson's book in High School, nearly two decades ago. Section by section, he has completed more than 2,000 miles of the trail and will be finishing this year. As all section hikers do, Byron has had to earn his hiking legs every year. He reached out to me to tell his story as he is soon to set out for his final leg l...

John Vonhof should be everybody's best friend. For years, he has been tending the feet of the people who most abuse them—hikers and runners. His experience as an ultra-runner led him to a life-long interest in the treatment of feet, and he understands what we do wrong and how we can correct it. I, along with many of my fellow hikers, completely ignored my feet on the trail. They hurt, my toenails...

This week, I'm interviewing Ron Tipton, a man who has spent his entire adult life in conservation and the environment. He hiked the trail in 1978, yet it isn't his hike that we're going to discuss in any detail. When Ron completed his thru-hike, he had already determined that this was a life and a career that he wanted to pursue. He has spent more than 40 years of his career as an advocate for pub...

  In early November 2013, John Bock had a triple bypass following a completely unexpected heart attack. He and his wife, Melody, had planned to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail from March 2014—which is what they did. They flip-flopped and completed their adventure at Harpers Ferry in November 2014, just over a year after the news that would have postponed, or even abandoned the dreams of less deter...

  As this is my show, I thought I'd get myself interviewed and, in the absence of any questions from my listeners, I went ahead and asked Diane, my lovely wife, to interview me. She asked me a few things I hadn't really thought too much about and, listening back as I edited the show, I realized how much I'd changed in the past few years. The thought say, ten years ago, that somebody would one day...

  When Jean Sobus decided that she was going to hike the Appalachian Trail, she didn't let a little thing like plantar fasciitis stand in her way. In much the same way, stage 3 breast cancer wasn't going to deter her from the Pacific Crest Trail. Jean's solution to obstacles and negativity is to go for a very long walk. Her adventures included a 60-mile walk through the night, fueled by espresso m...

Trevor Thomas was an adrenaline junkie in his mid-thirties when he started to lose his sight. Six months later, he was completely blind. After a spell of understandable bitterness, Trevor refused to allow his new circumstances to define him. Approaching the logistical issues with a precise attention to detail, he set out on a new journey. This has led him to hike nearly 20,000 miles in the past te...

  The Hiker Yearbook is fast becoming a must-have item for thru-hikers of recent years. Matthew Odie Norman is providing a great service to hikers as he not only provides trail magic but also puts together his own version of magic with this glorious keepsake from that magical time in the woods. He is reaching out to his community to allow them to reconnect after the trail, answering his own questi...

  Did you ever wonder what it is like for those we leave behind? Listen to my wife Diane talking about the impact that my hike had on her life. She is forthright and brutally honest in our.conversation, telling me a couple of things we'd never really discussed before. I even left in something that I'd originally intended to leave out when she hit me with another revelation. When I was editing this...

    Erin McKenzie loves her dogs. She hiked nearly half of the Appalachian Trail with her favorite, Chevy, before having to leave the trail through injury. Chevy was such a star that Erin was totally aware, yet totally happy, to be a sideshow in the Camaro and Chevy team. She then took on the Colorado Trail with three of her dogs, for reasons that will become apparent in her story. Her resilience...

    You get very few opportunities in life to spend time in the company of a living legend, so it was gratifying to learn that Janet Hensley, or Miss Janet, was the real deal. I was lucky enough to have a wide-ranging conversation recently with Miss Janet about all things Appalachian Trail. She proved to be incisive, engaging, and generous with her time and opinions. She is truly the hiker's best...

  Jason is an experienced hiker with a purpose. This year, 2017, will be his fourth attempt at an Appalachian Trail thru-hike. His calm demeanor and desire for simplicity in his life made for an interesting conversation as he prepared to hit the trail in the next few days (March 2017). I'll be following his progress and wish him well as he moves toward Katahdin.   You can follow Jason's progress y...