Episode #367 - Rachel Hadley-Leonard
Mighty Blue On The Appalachian Trail: The Ultimate Mid-Life Crisis
Steve Adams
4.8 • 599 Ratings
🗓️ 30 March 2023
⏱️ 79 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Rachel Hadley-Leonard is our guest today. I heard about Rachel walking the South West Coast Path in England from one of our previous guests and wanted to know more about her hike. She instantly pushed this trail up near the top of my bucket list for a possible future walk with my brother, Mike.
Rachel is a podcaster with two shows. One is specifically about her own journey, while the other is the official podcast of the Path itself. You can check them out here. https://open.spotify.com/show/0yz3aPkq27XcwOtrN8ip7N and https://open.spotify.com/show/2IVnHYXMC1SCWmT1MUmqA4
If you'd prefer to see that pics rather than hear the audio, you can follow Rachel on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/keepingtheseaontheright/?next=%2F, or the SouthWest Coast Path at https://www.instagram.com/southwestcoastpath/?hl=en
You can also learn a lot about hiking the South West Coast Path from their website, at https://www.southwestcoastpath.org.uk/
Two of our Class of 23 members check in this week. Bostonian, Steve Nota, is back from Australia to complete his AT hike after several stops last year, while Mary Marks records her own (and Wiley's) steady progress as she nears Damascus.
We had awful new as I was writing the commentary. A fellow Class of 2019 member, Ray Kroebl has passed. I didn't meet him on trail–we were always just a few days apart–but he was still my brother. Ray was a guest on the podcast last year, so I'd like to let you listen again to him if you remember him. Rest in Peace, brother. https://www.hikingradionetwork.com/show/mighty-blue-on-the-appalachian-trail-the-ultimate-mid-life-c/episode-261-ray-kroebl-sparky/
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
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.
If you'd like to take advantage of my book offer (all three of my printed hiking books–with a personal message and signed by me–for $31, including postage to the United States) send a check payable to Mighty Blue Publishing at the address just above.
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. Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail, the ultimate midlife crisis, joined Steve and his guests every week as he staggers from Georgia to Maine. |
| 0:33.3 | Hey guys, welcome back to the show. My name is Steve Adams or Mighty Blue and you are listening to |
| 0:38.6 | Episode 367 of Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail of the ultimate midlife crisis. This week, with more |
| 0:45.6 | of our Mighty Blue Class of 23 actually on or just about to hit the trail, as well as the story of |
| 0:51.0 | George T Fanless's 80-hike in the 1980s, we're bringing a different trail to you again with our first guest. A few months ago, we had a Brit, Andy Hood, sharing his story of the South West Coast Path in the UK, and how he ran a section of it. Well, that more than piqued my interest. I kind of wondered out loud what the trail would be like to hike and Andy responded |
| 1:11.2 | by putting me in touch with today's guest Rachel Hadley Leonard. Rachel was actually doing her |
| 1:16.5 | hike of the South West Coast path at the time and once she was done of course I got in touch with |
| 1:21.4 | her. She tells a great story of the path and I think you're going to really enjoy hearing from her. |
| 1:26.1 | After Rachel, we have our Bostonian from Australia. Steve Noda started the AT last year and had so many interruptions |
| 1:32.8 | to his hike that he's come back from Australia this year to complete it. He's a great guy and |
| 1:37.2 | we'll be hearing from him soon. Then Mary Marks is back on. Mary and a dog Wiley started fairly |
| 1:43.1 | early and she's already 400 miles into it, |
| 1:45.6 | proving, if ever proof was needed, that this race goes to the slow and steady. We're here |
| 1:50.9 | from Mary after Steve. Our series with Dr. Lynn is over, but I did get a couple of questions that I |
| 1:56.9 | put to her and I'm going to read the answers out to you between interviews. Finally, then the hell came finds George almost desperate to get home to Connecticut to recharge |
| 2:06.5 | his failing batteries. So let's get on. Here's Rachel Hadley Leonard. |
| 2:14.4 | This week, we head back across the Atlantic. |
| 2:17.9 | Several months ago, we had Andy Hood as our guest on the show. |
| 2:22.0 | He was running part of the Southwest Coast Path. |
| 2:25.1 | And of course, as soon as he started talking about there being a path, |
| 2:27.8 | I immediately wanted to know more what it was like as a hike. |
... |
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