Episode #33 - Ron Tipton (Turkey Foot)
Mighty Blue On The Appalachian Trail: The Ultimate Mid-Life Crisis
Steve Adams
4.8 • 599 Ratings
🗓️ 4 May 2017
⏱️ 69 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This week, I'm interviewing Ron Tipton, a man who has spent his entire adult life in conservation and the environment. He hiked the trail in 1978, yet it isn't his hike that we're going to discuss in any detail. When Ron completed his thru-hike, he had already determined that this was a life and a career that he wanted to pursue. He has spent more than 40 years of his career as an advocate for public land preservation and national park protection. He became the President and CEO of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy in 2013. 
Visit the ATC's website, www.appalachiantrail.org. It is full of great information about the trail and I confess that it was a great education for me. I read the strategic plan and really understood the rationale behind it. Ron and his team at the ATC are simply planning for the future of OUR trail. For that, we should all be eternally grateful. You can email them at info@appalachiantrail.org, or call them on 304-535-6331. You can even find Ron on LinkedIn. In case you were wondering, the handsome young dude with the wild beard below is young Ron. 
Jessa's backpack woes continued this week, with the resolution to her problem waistband still elusive. She seems to face these problems with a smile and a shrug. Hopefully, she'll get the matter resolved in Damascus. If you'd like to see what an utter ARSE I made of myself at Laurel Falls, click here. Be warned, it isn't pretty. I appear after about 11 seconds. The falls are pretty though, aren't they? If you like what we're producing for you on the show, please consider supporting us at www.patreon.com/mightyblue. I'm planning on adding a couple of new shows after my hiking this year, so any help with this is much appreciated.
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. |
| 0:26.2 | Hi everybody. I am so glad you found your way back to the show. We're on to episode |
| 0:32.3 | number 33 today and I was honored to have a wide-ranging discussion recently with Ron Tipton. Ron hiked the |
| 0:39.4 | trail in 1978 when the numbers on the AT were significantly lower and before the current craze |
| 0:44.8 | for lightweight gear took up everybody's time. Now an older guy talking about his hike 40 years ago |
| 0:51.0 | may not seem to be the magic ingredient for a great interview, but stick with me and trust me on this one. It isn't Ron's hike that we're going to spend the most time on. It isn't even the fact that he went by the rather badly chosen name of Turkey Foot. In fact, I didn't even have the heart to bring that up. No, the reason I'm talking with Ron is the life he's led since he touched that famous brown sign at Catardin. |
| 1:12.5 | He also turns out to be one of the reasons that the rest of us have been able to touch that sign as well. |
| 1:18.5 | At the end of this you'll be glad you're stuck around. Ron's coming up soon. |
| 1:23.2 | Because of this slightly longer interview I've pushed the next... |
| 1:26.1 | Fear and loathing on the Appalachian Trail. |
| 1:30.9 | Back a week. |
| 1:32.1 | Though, as you can tell, I couldn't resist the silly sound effect. |
| 1:35.4 | I'm aware that I've been extending the length of the shows recently, but want to remain |
| 1:39.2 | respectful of the time that you'll give me every week. |
| 1:41.7 | So I try to keep the shows between 65 and 70 minutes. |
| 1:45.3 | By the way, I'm running low on interviews in this section, so if you have a few things you |
| 1:49.1 | were concerned about before you hike, just drop me a line with your phone number and I'll call |
| 1:53.7 | and recall you. Addie has been breezing along so far as if this was literally just a walk in the |
| 1:59.5 | park. We all recognise that it actually isn't, |
| 2:02.6 | but she has maintained a positive spirit throughout. |
| 2:05.3 | I called out by the twice this week. |
| 2:07.0 | The first time she seemed to be continuing on a serene way, |
... |
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