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

We have Patch Leonard as our guest today. Patch is the son of Emily Leonard–a previous guest on the show–and he tells us of his own Appalachian Trail thru-hike last year. He has grown up in Maine and New Hampshire, so hiking was more or less in his blood, yet the idea to hike the trail came after his mother blazed her way to Maine. You can follow Patch's YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/...

Zach Cross is starting his NOBO thru-hike from Springer on May 1. That he is even attempting this hike is something of a miracle. Three years ago, as Covid hit us, Zach weighed about 400lbs. His journey since then, aided by hiking and nature, has brought him to contemplating an epic undertaking. The simple act of committing to a daily hike up and down a mountain in Georgia speaks of his determinat...

Jim LePage is a man who spends a lot of time outdoors. He hiked the AT in 2018, having thought about it for years. The proverbial window of opportunity eventually opened, and he climbed straight through it. Jim talks about the importance of spousal support and was lucky enough to have his family either hiking with him or resupplying him. Overcoming doubts as to his ability to finish, Jim managed i...

We leave the AT behind today for a trip to Sweden and the Kungsleden, a trail that I'd never heard of before. Bob Delaney, or Jon's Dad, has a history with Sweden and returned there to hike this lesser known trail. He was so enamored by the trail that he's started a YouTube channel, a blog, and written a book about it. You can reach out to Bob directly at JonsDadHikes@gmail.com . He'll be happy to...

Kenneth Pararo is our guest today. He reached out to me, sending me a link to his podcast, and I entirely misjudged him. When I eventually spoke with Kenneth, he was articulate, thoughtful, and a lot of fun. He's an AT thru-hiker, though when he went for a second time, he took a rather different route. Why and how he did so is explained in our chat. Once you get past his intro to the podcast, you'...

Rachel Hadley-Leonard is our guest today. I heard about Rachel walking the South West Coast Path in England from one of our previous guests and wanted to know more about her hike. She instantly pushed this trail up near the top of my bucket list for a possible future walk with my brother, Mike. Rachel is a podcaster with two shows. One is specifically about her own journey, while the other is the...

Matthew Hengst, or Masochist, is today's guest. He is one of those guys who has managed to parlay his passion for hiking into pretty much a full-time gig. He's got an extensive outdoor resumé, but it is his 2021 thru-hike of the Eastern Continental Trail that we focus on today. On the trail, Matthew edited videos before getting out of camp, and his whole attitude is one of calm enjoyment in solitu...

Our guests today are a husband and wife couple who worked out their own way to share the Appalachian Trail experience, even though only one of them walked the full 2200 miles. Mike and Marla Hansen used their RV to assist Mike's hike, working out a routine that would be attractive to many, I'm sure. Marla did a lot of the resupply, as well as hiking into some of the iconic spots on the trail and s...

We have a true one-of-a-kind story today. Mel Vogel set out to hike the Trans Canada Trail in June 2017. Even when part of the trail was closed for recreational use during Covid, Mel remained on or near the trail in the Yukon, eventually completing it in November 2022. During her hike, Mel touched the Atlantic, Pacific, and even the Arctic Ocean, finding kindness and friends along the way, as well...

When Charlie Janssen was just ten miles into his Appalachian Trail thru-hike in 2012, he wondered what it would be like to complete a Calendar Year Triple Crown. He found out in 2022, and shares his story with us. Charlie's thoughts eventually solidified and the planning began. His pragmatic approach and never-give-up attitude are clear in our conversation, yet this is still an epic adventure and...

Leah Harman, or Twig, is our guest today. She is a self-confessed nomad, concentrating in the past few years on backpacking her way through many trails, both in the US and abroad. Despite the solitary nature of many of her hikes, Leah enjoys the trail community and Trail Angels in particular. You can check out Leah's many hikes in her excellent blog at https://twigadventures.com/ Mary Marks become...

I found this week's guest by reading an article he'd written about Post-Trail Depression. I know some people scoff at this concept, but it is real, and Casey Beeman articulates it beautifully. He did his thru-hike, along with his wife, Kylie, last year. They enjoyed the freedom to have a big adventure, but coming down to earth at the end turned out to be problematic, especially for Casey. I asked...

Emet Baker, or Quickbeam is our guest today. He was able to complete his first year college finals before heading out on trail last year, with a mission to accomplish and complete the trail before he needed to return to camp. Emet was suggested to me by a previous guest, who wrote such kind words about him, that I wondered if they were hyperbole. They weren't. He's an impressive young man with, I'...

Our guest this week is Toby Busch, a young man who lives out of his Ford Connect and records his life adventures on YouTube. Last year, he fulfilled a long-held dream and moved out of his van and onto the Appalachian Trail. Along the way, he found his mix of solitude and community, and he reached Katahdin as a joyful thru-hiker. He's now back in his Connect and often moving about the country findi...

Amanda Wylie is an independent, strong young woman from Queens, NY. She hiked the Appalachian Trail last year and, despite loving the impact it had upon her, she had to address a few issues on her journey that were unexpected, and often unwanted. Despite that, she wants her experience to inspire women to take on the trail and embrace the experience. You can follow Amanda on Instagram at http://Www...

Today, we hear from one of the unsung heroes of our hiking world. He's not a thru-hiker–though his son did one–but he's a member of the Board of ALDHA, the Appalachian Long Distance Hikers Association. Where the ATC concerns itself with the well-being of the trail itself, ALDHA focuses on hikers. John joined the board quite recently and is coordinating the ALDHA Care project, bringing a new enthus...

We have one of our younger newly minted thru-hikers today. Julia Widmar was only 20 when she hit the trail last year, though she had learned so much in the previous five years as she looked forward to this journey of a lifetime. Julia is an EMT nurse who was thoroughly prepared at Amicolola to take on the trail and, despite a three-week break in the middle, she pushed on to complete it in just ove...

Nick Gagnon is an elite level hiker. He completed the Great Western Loop in 2022 in under 200 days, a remarkable achievement in that the loop is just shy of 7,000 miles. Virtually by definition, Nick spent a lot of time by himself, and he shares with us his coping mechanisms for such a solo endeavor. He was so disciplined in his approach, sharing why this is so necessary for this particular trail....

Our guest today, Billy Arthur, or Backwards, met and fell in love with another hiker on the AT this year. Billy had wanted to get on the trail since his scouting days, yet he left it until his late 20s and found more than he'd bargained for! Backwards and Pigpen bonded throughout their hike and stayed together once they reached Katahdin. I'd always wondered about these on-trail romances, and Billy...

Jason Tompkins is our guest today, with his stories about a new long-distance trail; The Carolinian. It's new because he named it, then hiked it this year. Yet that isn't all of Jason's story. He's worked out his life for the foreseeable future to spend pretty much all his time out on a trail! We agreed that he should come back on next year when (not if!!) he completes the East Coast Trail, from K...

We're sticking with the Class of 2022 hikers once more, with Brittany Rosendahl–one of my Facebook friends–sharing the story of her hike and what brought her to the trail. She's lived a demanding life as a nurse and recalls some really tough times during the Covid Pandemic. Sharing some more intimate details, she opens up about relationships and attitudes that she found to be so reassuring on the...

This week, our guest, Samuel Crisp, is another of the Class of 2022 thru-hikers. His mature approach to the trail, his understanding and treatment of his injuries, and his intentional reflections, make for a fascinating conversation. Sam was lucky enough to summit Katahdin with his mother; indeed, he summoned up that image to keep him motivated on the trail when the going got tough. To see more of...

Today, we have a visitor from the Netherlands. Frank Dutman first heard about the trail in some unrelated research back in the late 90s. Since then, he's immersed himself in further research, and this year he achieved his dream of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. We hear a European perspective, even a European sensibility, in his approach to the trail and the preparations he made towards achievi...

Today's guest, Lauren Adamczak, described herself as "the quiet 30-year-old that never spoke up in groups, often looked down at the ground in public, and wouldn't dare leave the house in mismatched clothes." Four days into the trail, she accepted–with glee–the trail name, Airbag. When I read a post she made on Facebook, I knew I wanted her on the show. Lauren didn't make it to the brown sign on Ka...

Stuart Phelps, or Puppy Love, is our guest this week. Stuart had set himself a goal to thru-hike the trail when he turned 50, yet, as often happens, the window opened a little earlier and he set out in 2021, turning 48 on the trail. His story is a mixture of fun, mutual respect, love, and illness, and makes for a fascinating conversation. Wait until you hear how his first date with his girlfriend...