Ep. 1026: Thru-Hike of the Eastern Continental Trail - Madison Blagden
Adventure Sports Podcast
Curt Linville
4.6 • 579 Ratings
🗓️ 30 April 2024
⏱️ 69 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In today’s episode, we delve into the extraordinary journey of Madison Blagden, the second female thru-hiker of the more than 5,500-mile Eastern Continental Trail. Since her first encounter with thru-hiking in 2017, Madison, aka “Peg Leg” has been captivated by the trails, embarking on epic adventures that defy the ordinary. Despite facing setbacks like losing her job during the COVID-19 pandemic, she turned adversity into opportunity, spending two years traversing the US in a vehicle.
From tackling 1,300 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail between college semesters to completing the entire PCT in 2022 via a SOBO/flip-flop hike, Peg Leg's determination knows no bounds. Her latest conquest, the "Bama to Baxter" journey, saw her connecting trails from Alabama to Maine, including the Pinhoti Trail, parts of the Benton Mackaye Trail, and the Appalachian Trail. But Peg Leg's thirst for exploration didn't stop there; inspired by an encounter with an ECT hiker in Vermont, she extended her trek to include the International Appalachian Trail, spanning 1500 miles across diverse landscapes. From Maine to Newfoundland, Peg Leg's footprints left a trail of resilience and passion. Currently en route from Alabama to Key West, Florida, she has become the 2nd woman in history and the 9th person ever to complete the entire Eastern Continental Trail, a testament to her unwavering spirit and love for the great outdoors. Join us as we uncover the highs, lows, and unforgettable moments of Peg Leg's awe-inspiring journey.
Madison’s IG: https://www.instagram.com/madisonblagden/
Blog on the Trek https://thetrek.co/author/madison-blagden/
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey folks, welcome to the Adventure Sports podcast. I'm your host, Mason Gravely. Today we're talking about a new trail concept called the Eastern Continental Trail. It's not brand new, but very few people have done it. In fact, Madison Blagden here, aka Pegleg, |
| 0:21.7 | and yes, you're going to hear the story behind that name. It's awesome. Great name. She is the |
| 0:28.2 | second female ever to do this full trail, and only the ninth person ever to do this trail. |
| 0:33.9 | I mean, thousands upon thousands of people have done the Appalachian Trail. So this |
| 0:38.1 | trail is really taking the AT, imagine the Appalachian Trail on the eastern side of the United States, |
| 0:44.4 | so adding 1,500 miles to the northern segment of it, going from the northern end of the Appalachian Trail, |
| 0:51.7 | all the way to Newfoundland, 1,500 miles more of trail, |
| 0:55.7 | and then adding another 1,500 miles on the southern end going from Georgia all the way down to |
| 1:00.9 | Key West, Florida. And yeah, a lot of it's on the road, a lot of it's brand new. A lot of it |
| 1:05.6 | is not finished, but it's piecing together existing trails like the Florida Trail, the |
| 1:10.1 | Pinholy Trail and some |
| 1:11.1 | other trails up in Canada, and making it basically the new challenge. I foresee this being a huge |
| 1:17.9 | challenge to through hikers in the coming years as it can be completed in a year. It is obviously huge. |
| 1:24.5 | It's almost like people that do marathons are now looking at Ultras as like the new |
| 1:29.9 | marathon. I think one day this ECT is going to be the next big thing. 5,500 miles, nearly a year of your life, |
| 1:37.7 | keeping the party going, and you get so much diversity in this experience. Everything from, I mean, |
| 1:44.0 | you truly almost get to the Arctic |
| 1:46.0 | circle. It feels like there's polar bears at the northern end, and at the southern end, you're down |
| 1:51.2 | where there's crocodiles and alligators and sharks, and you're down in the tropics. You're down in |
| 1:57.1 | basically the Caribbean. What a cool, vast array of experience. |
| 2:02.0 | So this was a really cool conversation. |
| 2:04.3 | If you want to check out more in depth of the blog that Madison wrote daily, go to |
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