Episode #340 - TSX Challenge (Part 2)

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

Steve Adams

Sports, Wilderness

4.8 • 599 Ratings

🗓️ 22 September 2022

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week, we have the second and concluding part of my recent 75 mile TSX Challenge hike in California, taking in Mt Whitney as its main highlight.

As many of you know, I've often spoken of my inability to hike at altitude. In this hike, I discovered that it was more about my attitude than the altitude.

We covered the first three days of the hike last week. Today, we've got contributions from other hikers, as well as my own experience of those last five days. It was epic!!

You can learn more about this and other hikes at https://tsxchallenge.com/

If you're interested in coming to our upcoming Woods Hole Weekend in early October, check out the Woods Hole site at https://woodsholehostel.com/things-to-do/the-woods-hole-weekend/ and read about what we'll be covering over those three days.

If you like what we're doing on the Hiking Radio Network, and want to see our shows continue, please consider supporting us with either a one-off or monthly donation. You'll find the donate button on each Hiking Radio Network page at https://www.hikingradionetwork.com

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.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

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. Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail, the ultimate midlife crisis,
0:24.0	joins Stephen his guests every week as he staggers from Georgia to Maine.
0:33.6	Hi guys, it's lovely to have you back with me again as I run through my recent adventure in California.
0:39.3	And I know that quite a few of you enjoyed the change of pace last week because you wrote to me to tell me.
0:44.5	If you remember, we finished last week just three days into the hike and when we went to bed that evening at Colby Lake,
0:50.9	we knew that our first big hike to real elevation was coming the following morning.
0:56.0	But before we get to that, I want to tell you what I was thinking that evening as we turned in
0:59.9	after that ludicrous football game, but I and Sarah just never got the hang off.
1:07.6	I can remember zipping up my tent that night, then lying back in my sleeping bag, resting my arms behind my head, are thinking,
1:14.9	this is all new territory for me. In my three previous attempts on the John Muir Trail, I'd only been able to complete three days each time.
1:24.1	What I was thinking, as I lay there, was that for for the first time I was making true progress.
1:29.4	However, I knew that the following morning would provide me with my toughest test so far.
1:33.9	We were currently camping at, I think it was about 10,000 feet.
1:37.8	And I knew that tomorrow we were going up to 12,000 feet before a long, intense downhill to 8,000 feet. So 2,000 feet up and 4,000 feet down.
1:48.0	It was really slated to be our toughest day of the trip so far, or even of the trip in its entirety.
1:53.9	As I believe I mentioned last week, I had no outs. There was nowhere for me to go, so I was
1:58.5	definitely going to be doing, or at least starting a fourth day.
2:02.0	I drifted off to sleep, contented, though not without a few concerns about the elevation.
2:07.9	Chris had warned us that we'd be making an early start, and because he'd been able to assess us as
2:12.8	hikers, he wanted the first group to leave about 45 minutes before the second group.
2:18.3	He wanted us all to be together at the top of Colby, and this was the best way to make that happen.
	...

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