Episode #16 - Jessa Hackman
Mighty Blue On The Appalachian Trail: The Ultimate Mid-Life Crisis
Steve Adams
4.8 • 599 Ratings
🗓️ 5 January 2017
⏱️ 56 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In this first episode of 2017, I'm introducing Jessa Hackman, our very own member of the Class of 2017 thru-hikers. She is from Madison, Wisconsin, is 25 years-of-age and has just qualified as a lawyer. The picture below is of Jessa at her graduation with her grandfather, the man Jessa credits with her decision to go to law school in the first place. Jessa contacted me to get a copy of Grizz's logistics spreadsheet from Episode #6 and I reached out to her in the hope that she would share her preparations for the hike, as well as give us regular shorter updates from the trail when she starts on March 23. With a bit of luck, we'll be following her all the way to Katahdin, sometime in August. In this first interview, Jessa tells us her concerns for the trip as well as recounting her current preparations. She is aware of the rite of passage that will result in a trail name but is open to suggestions from our podcast listeners, so please email me with any of your ideas. Jessa has just started a blog that you may wish to follow. You can find it here. If you'd like to contact her directly, she is happy to share her email address, jessahackman@gmail.com. Given the fact that this initial interview was shorter than some others, I've included the first of an intermittent series of product reviews. This is based upon the things that I took with me and starts with an interview with Henry Shires, of Tarptent. During our conversation, I refer to a setup video for the tent. Click here for that. I'm sure that you can see why it was so attractive to me. Henry provided me with great customer service, so if you have any questions, I urge you to get in touch with him here. 
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail, the ultimate midlife crisis, joined Stephen his guests every week as he staggers from Georgia to Maine. |
| 0:27.4 | Welcome to 2017 and the second year of the Mighty Blue podcast. The fact that we started |
| 0:33.7 | in September last year, I only have 15 episodes under a belt. Doesn't undermine my |
| 0:38.4 | enthusiasm in the slightest. You've got to take your victories, however small, when they come. |
| 0:44.4 | You'll certainly learn that on the trial. This is episode number 16, and in recognition of the |
| 0:50.6 | new year, I'm introducing a new feature in the show that I'm excited about and hope that you're going to love as much as I already do. I mentioned this briefly last week, |
| 0:58.9 | so here's the deal. A few weeks ago, and I've been thinking about this for a little while, |
| 1:04.6 | I had an email requesting Gris' spreadsheet from episode number six. For those of you who have seen it, |
| 1:10.5 | there is tons of detail to really help you plan a |
| 1:13.1 | through hike. |
| 1:14.4 | Gris is a logistical king and I highly recommend it. |
| 1:17.7 | The person who sent the email was planning a through hike from March this year and they |
| 1:21.8 | struck me as organised and determined, so I reached out, and there's a spoiler alert, to her. |
| 1:28.3 | I've chosen a member of the class of 2017 to follow during her preparations for the Appalachian Trail |
| 1:33.7 | and from March the 23rd to follow from the trail itself. |
| 1:38.0 | You'll hear a first interview in a few moments. |
| 1:40.9 | By the way, if I sound like I've got a cold, that isn't the audio, it's me. |
| 1:44.9 | I have got a cold. |
| 1:46.5 | Florida's brutal winter, which took place a couple of days ago, saw the temperature plummet |
| 1:52.5 | to the 60s for a day or so. |
| 1:54.7 | Shocking! |
| 1:56.3 | The year is over and I continue to hear from listeners, all positive and several really quite moving. |
... |
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