Episode #274 - Kera Passante and Bill Welch (Sunny and Always)
Mighty Blue On The Appalachian Trail: The Ultimate Mid-Life Crisis
Steve Adams
4.8 • 599 Ratings
🗓️ 10 June 2021
⏱️ 85 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We've got a couple of overachievers on the show today. Kera and Bill decided that an Appalachian Trail thru-hike wasn't sufficient to scratch their adventure itch, so they went straight from their 2200-mile walk to a 5000-mile bike trip, crossing the country from Bar Harbor to San Diego–taking a fairly circuitous route, it must be said!
The two of them had such a blast on the trail–and this was in 2020, Covid Year–that they regarded their journey as not a case of stepping away from their previous lives but more towards their future lives.
Going forward, Kera and Bill will be sharing their knowledge of the trail, plus their knowledge of bikepacking, so I urge you to visit their various social media sites below, as well as look out for their website coming soon.
Always & Sunny on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/AlwaysSunnyAT
Always & Sunny on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/Always_Sunny_AT/
Our Website (coming soon):
https://www.adventurememories.life/
Katie has been learning valuable lessons on the trail, but her hike is back on and she shares with Steve her last few days in Shenandoah, with reflections upon those lessons.
At last, we've come to the concluding chapter of Larry Luxenburg's Walking the Appalachian Trail, with Larry summing up the trail afterlife so beautifully and so topically, even though this was written nearly 30 years ago. Some things on the trail never change.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You are listening to the Hiking Radio Network, where we talk the walk with shows by hikers |
| 0:05.3 | about hikers for everybody. |
| 0:20.8 | Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail, the ultimate midlife crisis, |
| 0:24.2 | joins Steve and his guests every week as he staggers from Georgia to Maine. |
| 0:34.4 | Hi guys, this is me again, Steve Adams or Mighty Blue, |
| 0:41.9 | and you've found your way back to Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail, the ultimate midlife crisis. |
| 0:51.5 | Ryan's been working really hard recently and he asked if I could step back in this week to cover him. Luckily enough, I knew exactly who I wanted to introduce you all to. |
| 1:12.0 | I can't quite recall how we were introduced, but I got the chance to interview a great couple, Bill Welsh and Kira Pissanti, recently. And they've got a terrific story to share with you. The two of them will be on in a moment. Katie's hike is continuing, and at last she's leaving Shandah. I know that she's taken a time, but you're going to hear this is the lesson the trail has taught her and as ever her indomitable nature comes through. |
| 1:17.1 | Katie is on after Kira and Bill. Finally today I'm reading the conclusion of Larry Luxembourg's |
| 1:23.0 | walking the Appalachian Trail. Now I know it's been a bit disjointed in getting the book to this stage |
| 1:28.5 | and what with me being off some of the summer, but Larry has some wonderful insights to share |
| 1:33.6 | and as you listen, you'll get correlations between some of his words and part of Kira and Bill's |
| 1:39.2 | story. I found that in reading this book, while hiking the AET has changed over the generations, |
| 1:44.6 | the fundamentals remain and those guys and girls who did it in the 60s, 70s and 80s |
| 1:49.0 | experienced much of what the rest of us newer hikers experienced. Some of the parallels are quite |
| 1:54.8 | remarkable. So let's get to it. Here are Kira and Bill. |
| 2:02.2 | So we've got a couple more of those overachievers on the show today. This is Bill |
| 2:06.2 | Welsh and Kira Pissanti or Always and Sunny. Hey guys, how are you? |
| 2:11.5 | Hi. How are you, Steve? |
| 2:14.3 | Well, good see you. And I mentioned your overachievers. I know that you did the Appalachian Trail last year, which was COVID year, of course. And then, as this clearly wasn't enough for you, you decided to go on a bit of a bike ride. Where did you go? |
| 2:28.4 | We rode from Bar Harbor, Maine to San Diego, California. |
| 2:33.7 | But it wasn't just that, was it? |
... |
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