Episode #377 - Spencer McKay (Warpzilla)
Mighty Blue On The Appalachian Trail: The Ultimate Mid-Life Crisis
Steve Adams
4.8 • 599 Ratings
🗓️ 8 June 2023
⏱️ 99 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Our guest today, Spencer McKay, completed his thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2007. The poignant reason he went on the trail at that time is told in his conversation with Steve this week.
As an Eagle Scout, he always believed he'd hike the trail at some time during his life, but events of the previous winter pushed his timeline up considerably.
You can see more of Spencer on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/warpzilla and if you'd like to read his book, Walk With You, you can find it on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Walk-You-Spencer-Warpzilla-McKay/dp/0692178929/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2FY4V2Y59EGIN&keywords=walk+with+you&qid=1685651232&sprefix=walk+with+you%2Caps%2C87&sr=8-1
Three more members of our Mighty Blue Class of 2023 give us recaps of their progress so far.
First up, Dale Shotkoski is through the Virginia Triple Crown, having to endure a whiteout at McAfee Knob. With more than 700 miles to his credit, Dale is killing it.
Then, Jessica Lang-Wright has shown so much resilience to still be out there. I met her in Damascus and she looked so well. This week, she continues to thrive and we celebrate her passing the 600-mile marker.
Finally in our group, Joanne Flagg is way up north, pushing through Vermont on her flip flop. Can't wait to hear how she gets on in the two big states of New Hampshire and Maine up next.
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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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You are listening to the Hiking Radio Network, where we taught 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 Steve and his guests every week as he staggers from Georgia to Maine. |
| 0:33.4 | Hey guys, good to be back with you once more. |
| 0:36.0 | You're listening to Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail, the ultimate midlife crisis. |
| 0:39.6 | I'm your host, Steve Adams, on Mighty Blue. |
| 0:41.9 | You've probably noticed how our shows keep getting longer, |
| 0:45.1 | often over an hour and a half, and today is no exception. |
| 0:48.3 | We have a terrific conversation with a guy who threw height the 80 back in 2007. |
| 0:53.1 | His name is Spencer Mackay or Warpzilla, and he had a very specific reason to go on his through hike along with the colour buddies. I'm not going to preempt it but I'm sure you're going to be drawn into Spencer's poignant tail and I'm very sure you'll understand his emotions at the top of Katarden. Spencer will be on shortly. After Spencer we catch up with three more of our |
| 1:12.0 | Mighty Blue Class of 23 and the good news is they're all still in north. We're catching up today with |
| 1:17.4 | Mr Dale, Bluebird and Garmin, otherwise known as Dale Shokosky, Jessica Lange Wright and Joanne Flagg. |
| 1:24.3 | They're going to be on in that order after Spencer. Spencer. Thence Jor Saffanus is continuing |
| 1:28.6 | with his day hikes in Vermont. Unfortunately, he's yet to get going before noon. But just |
| 1:35.9 | for I introduce you to Spencer, I'm afraid I've recently heard some terrible news from a member of the |
| 1:40.8 | Mighty Blue family and somebody I met on my 2014 through hike who I got |
| 1:44.9 | quite close to on my return from the trial. Some of you may recall one of our early guests |
| 1:49.7 | on the podcast, Gabe Burkhart, otherwise known variously as Hermes or Sketch. Gabe and I communicated |
| 1:56.5 | regularly after our interview and I was a bit surprised when he just stopped responding. |
| 2:03.8 | I knew he had faced demons from his military service. |
| 2:08.3 | He talked to me a lot about that, but he's seen happy with life in Romania with his wife. |
| 2:14.1 | It turns out that Gabe passed away on a day hike in Romania in 2020. |
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