Episode #37 - Trail Days (Part One)

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

Steve Adams

Wilderness, Sports

4.8 • 599 Ratings

🗓️ 1 June 2017

⏱️ 70 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A trip to Trail Days wasn't on my itinerary when I hiked the AT in 2014, so my visit this year had a dual purpose. I was going there to both see what I'd missed and to interview others who were attending. I was trying to capture some of the spirit of both Damascus at party time and the Appalachian Trail. This episode will focus on Trail Days and forms the first of two such episodes. I'm still following Attie, as she makes her way north. She has hit a few walls on the way but is upbeat pretty much whenever we speak and is taking each day as it comes. She has teamed up with a couple of other hikers, Bananas and The Machine. Here is her iconic shot at the glorious McAfee Knob. Another past guest, Erin McKenzie, told us about her Fear and Loathing thoughts on the AT. But this week is mainly about Trail Days. I've pulled together a number of the short, live conversations that I had with a wide variety of people. I hope you enjoy them.

First up was Nathan Harrington, the enthusiastic maker of his Katahdin sign replica. These signs are all handmade by Nathan personally, so each will be unique. Nathan also has a great story to tell about how he proposed to his lovely wife, Sharon, at McAfee Knob. You can actually see the moment he proposes on his YouTube channel, Between the Blazes, as well as other AT videos.

You can also follow him on Twitter as @ToKatahdin. If you'd like to buy one of Nathan's exquisite hand-made Katahdin signs, go to his website, www.betweentheblazes.com

Tim Keenan told me his moving story that combined his AT thru-hike with a reconciliation of his "enemy," as he referred to him, later in Vietnam. You can get Tim's book, The Good Hike, on Amazon. It has excellent ratings.

Next, I spoke with Will Ransom and his beautiful dog, Retta. They seemed to have such a calm and mutual understanding of one another and were utterly devoted to one another. I asked Will if he'd carry on if Retta couldn't continue. Interesting answer.

Dick Klane, from the Friends of Baxter State Park, kindly gave me a run-through of the new rules regarding permits to summit Katahdin at the end of your hike (as a NOBO). It is really worth listening to Dick, because you really need the climax of your hike to run smoothly on the day. If you'd like further clarification, you can check out their site, at friendsofbaxter.org. It is an excellent site and full of information on the park. It is well worth checking out before you end up in the park.

Bob Peoples is quite simply one of the legends of the Appalachian Trail. His Hardcore Crew work to build and maintain sections of the trail and his selfless devotion to all things AT is remarkable. We are so lucky to have Bob in our lives.

Last, but certainly not least, I ran into two young women at the All You Can Eat (AYCE) pancake breakfast in town. Nadia and Kathleen were at the same table as me and, when Nadia saw my podcast tee shirt, she asked if I was the podcast host. Apparently, she is a listener and I couldn't miss out on interviewing a fan!!

Transcript

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0:00.0	Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail, the ultimate midlife crisis, join Stephen his guests every week as he staggers from Georgia to Maine.
0:26.7	Welcome back to the show, an episode number 37.
0:30.8	I'm a little nervous about this one because it's something of a departure from my usual shows.
0:35.8	I would normally have a guest for the main interview,
0:38.8	then a bit of fear and loathing on the Appalachian Trail,
0:41.4	an update from Addie and a chapter of my book.
0:44.3	That's not happening today.
0:46.2	About 10 days ago, I drove from my home in Florida to Damascus,
0:49.7	in Virginia for trail days.
0:51.9	As you may recall from listening to my books,
0:53.8	I decided to give trail days a miss when I was
0:56.1	actually doing the trail in 2014.
0:59.3	The reasons are a little complicated, though they tend to be mainly around my proclivity
1:03.6	to drinking rather more than the normally recommended amount on occasions.
1:08.2	While I think it was the right decision for me at the time, visiting Trail
1:11.8	Days this year made me wish I'd made the effort back in 2014. There must be something about
1:16.3	being a current through hiker at trial days and that would have given me great joy to have been a
1:20.7	part of. As it was, I was an ex-hiker and I never really felt part of the event. I decided
1:27.2	to visit in order to capture some of the
1:28.9	flavour of the event for you, my listeners. I bought myself a fancy new microphone for my iPhone,
1:34.0	and even though I made the fatal error of leaving the pop filter back home, of which more later,
1:39.4	it worked out pretty well if I do say so myself. You'll hear some distortion in a few of the interviews,
	...

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