Episode #332 - Nathan Echols

Mighty Blue On The Appalachian Trail: The Ultimate Mid-Life Crisis

Steve Adams

Sports, Wilderness

4.8 • 599 Ratings

🗓️ 28 July 2022

⏱️ 75 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Nathan Echols recently completed a sub-70 day, supported, thru-hike on the Appalachian Trail. How he was able to even set foot on trail is an extraordinary story. Just two years ago, he suffered a cardiac arrest in his sleep. It was only the rapid response of his wife that saved his life. Yet Nathan had long wanted to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail and he resolved to get it done.

He resumed his training AFTER open heart surgery and, since then, has racked up over 7800 training miles. With the help of his son, Derek, he put together a completely supported hike, with Derek meeting him every day at road crossings, logging roads etc.

He even got off trail for several days when he fell on Moosilauke and injured his face (pictured below).

Nathan's resilience is remarkable, and he wanted to tell his story to prove that, with a lot of determination, and a bit of luck, you can overcome most things in life.

Katie and Sarah are getting to the end of their respective hikes, so we caught up with them both and will check in on them both as they approach the finish.

If you'd like to find out more about "Then The Hail Came," check out George's website at https://georgesteffanos.webador.com/. You can also find George's book on Amazon at this link. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09QFG4ZR6

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If you prefer NOT to use PayPal, you can now support us via check by mailing it to Mighty Blue Publishing, PO Box 6161, Sun City Center, FL 35751. Any support is gratefully received.

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Transcript

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0:29.3	You are listening to the Hiking Radio Network where we taught the walk with shows by hikers about hikers for everybody. Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail, the ultimate midlife crisis, joined and his guests every week as he staggers from Georgia to Maine.
1:03.2	Hi everybody, it's good to be back with you again.
1:05.8	I'm Steve Adams or Mighty Blue, and you are listening to Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail,
1:10.4	the ultimate
1:11.0	midlife crisis. Today, well, we've got a kind of shocking story to tell you. Nathan Eccles
1:18.3	is our main guest, and believe me, this guy is lucky to still be breathing, let alone having
1:23.6	just completed an 80th through hike in less than 70 days. His story is one of resilience,
1:30.3	quick thinking on behalf of his wife, and an unshakable determination to carry on with his dreams.
1:36.0	We're here from Nathan in a minute. Also on today, and in fact for the next few weeks,
1:41.2	we're going to have Katie Wessling, who is closing in on her 80 dream, while Sarah, Sunny Landis, is just a couple of weeks away from our own Epic Summit on Katahdin. We're going to stay with these two to cheer them home. Once more this week, people have been checking in on my health so I can share my latest update, that is, I'm not going to be fitted with the heart monitor after all.
2:02.3	I also had the great news that I'll still be able to go on the TSX challenge at the end of
2:07.0	August for my fourth shot at Mount Whitney. All my tests are fine. I'm back down the gym. I have been
	...

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