Episode #279 - Gretchen Pardon (Braids)
Mighty Blue On The Appalachian Trail: The Ultimate Mid-Life Crisis
Steve Adams
4.8 • 599 Ratings
🗓️ 15 July 2021
⏱️ 64 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We return to the world of YouTube this week, with another interview of a woman who successfully thru-hiked the trail and recorded her experiences along the way. Gretchen Pardon shared her joys, and her sorrows. So, when we spoke, I always knew we'd get to talk about her depression and anxiety. Her sunny disposition masks an inner strength and occasional anxiety that she faces. It was important to Gretchen that she was able to share this part of herself.
If you'd like to connect with Braids or see some of her adventures, she can be found on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/c/HikingwithBraids/,
on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/hikingwithbraids/, and on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/hikingwithbraids
Katie has returned home for a family birthday, so this week we took the chance to reflect on her first third of the trail. When we next hear from her, I'll be back from the JMT, so I look forward to catching up with her then.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You are listening to the Hiking Radio Network, where we taught the walk with shows by hikers |
| 0:05.3 | about hikers for everybody. Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail, the ultimate midlife crisis, joins Stephen his guests every week as he staggers from Georgia to Maine. |
| 0:33.7 | Hi everybody, it's wonderful to be back with you all. You are listening to me, Mighty Blue, and this show is Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail, |
| 0:41.2 | the ultimate middle-life crisis. |
| 0:43.4 | This week, as we did last week with Dixie, we're talking with somebody who shared a hike of the Appalachian Trail via YouTube. |
| 0:49.8 | I spoke with Gretchen Pardin, or Braid's recently. |
| 0:53.6 | Now, Braid started her YouTube channel as a response to what she saw as a need. She hadn't planned on hiking the trail at the time, but she wanted to share the information she had learned when she'd been out hiking in the smokies. She saw that there wasn't much out there, so she went ahead and provided it herself. Braid has quite the story to tell, |
| 1:11.2 | and I think you're going to appreciate one or two of her insights, particularly with regard to |
| 1:14.7 | depression and anxiety. Braes will be on shortly. I spoke with Katie yesterday. She's gone |
| 1:20.6 | home for a few days to celebrate a family birthday, so it seemed like quite a good time to get her |
| 1:25.2 | to summarise the first third of her AT hike |
| 1:27.5 | and the changing nature of her plans, something we all have to do during the course of a hike. |
| 1:32.7 | If you're not adaptable, you may find that medicates against you as the hike unfolds. |
| 1:37.3 | Katie has certainly learned to do that and we're going to be hearing from her after Braids. |
| 1:41.4 | So let's hear from Braids now. |
| 1:42.7 | Here's Christian Pardon, far better known, as Braids. So let's hear from Braids now. Here's Gretchen, pardon, far better known as Braids. |
| 1:50.1 | Now, I'd like you all to meet Gretchen, better known to her YouTube followers as Hiking |
| 1:56.1 | with Braids or Braids. |
| 1:57.4 | Hey, Gretchen. |
| 1:58.0 | Thanks for coming on the podcast. |
| 1:59.9 | Hi, Steve. |
| 2:00.4 | It's nice to be here. Thank you. |
... |
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