Episode #378 - The Mighty Blue Class of '23 Update

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

Steve Adams

Sports, Wilderness

4.8 • 599 Ratings

🗓️ 15 June 2023

⏱️ 109 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This week is all about the members of the Mighty Blue Class of 2023. We've never had the opportunity to track them down all at the same time, so I thought this week, in the middle of June, would be as good a time as any to take stock.

We hear the latest disappointments, as well as the wonderful moments that they have all experienced. In editing this, I was made more aware than ever of the fickle nature of the Appalachian Trail and its ability to still surprise me.

If you'd like to find out more about "Then The Hail Came," (even though I'm not reading to today) 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.

You can also support our shows by visiting our online "Merch" store. Check it out at https://hrntradingpost.com/ , or click on the store button on our network website at https://www.hikingradionetwork.com .

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, joins Steve and his guests every week as he staggers from Georgia to Maine.
0:33.0	Hey, welcome back to the show. You are listening to Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail, the ultimate midlife crisis. I'm your host, Steve Adams, on Mighty Blue. Now, today's show is going to be a little different than normal. We don't have just one guest. We have a whole load of them. As many of you know, I've been following a bunch of hopeful through hikers every year since 2017. That year we followed Addy. The following year it was
0:55.4	RTK and it was me in 2019 as I podcasted from the trail. We all made it and I started expanding my reach.
1:03.0	Fast forward to this year and we started with 16, actually 17 people as Erin Conrad went with
1:08.1	their mum. I've been keeping in touch with them all in the past six months, covering their preparation, their fears and their hopes. All of them are either on the trail or back home at this stage of the year. So I thought it might be interesting to catch up with them all to let you know their current status. Consequently, over the past few days I've interviewed all of them, other than the three who were on last week. However, I will be updating their progress as well this week. I've edited some of the conversations for brevity. You all know how I've stripeders can go on, given the shots, as to how all of our conversation would have taken the cut of hours. I may dip in and out with some minor commentary from time to time,
1:48.3	but we're just going to see how it goes. So let's get it going. And I'll first mention the people who we already know aren't still on the trail. Part of this, by the way, is to demonstrate
1:53.7	that hiking the AT for about six months and getting to the end is about a 20, 25% chance.
1:59.9	All these people wanted to do this so badly, but as we all know,
2:03.9	fate, life and desire changes over time. Samantha Galbaal was the first to drop out. In fact,
2:10.3	her plans for the year changed and she was out very early on. Erin Conrad and her mother
2:15.0	was so up for it when we spoke, but the realities of how tough the trial can be came up pretty quickly for them
2:20.7	and they were back home in just a couple of days.
2:23.8	Then Sunny Blackwall was forced off when an old shoulder injury
2:26.7	from a neck vertebrae fusion a few years back flared up
2:30.0	and he had tingling and numbness in his hand.
2:32.6	A visit to the neurologist confirmed that sunny's through was done for the year.
2:36.3	He hopes to come back and get it done next year.
2:38.9	Finally, Steve Cordercamp had a hard issue and pretty soon ended his hike for the year,
2:43.6	so we were down to 12.
2:45.5	We heard from Joanne Flagg, Jessica Langwright and Dale Shotkoski last week,
2:49.9	and they were all going well. Their quick
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