Episode #379 - Jillian Hitt (Buckets)
Mighty Blue On The Appalachian Trail: The Ultimate Mid-Life Crisis
Steve Adams
4.8 • 599 Ratings
🗓️ 22 June 2023
⏱️ 61 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This is an unusual show for us. Our guest, Jillian Hitt, who attempted a thru-hike in 2018, isn't on the show, though three important people in her life are on to share her story.
Centrally, we hear from Jillian's mother throughout the show, with contributions from her best friend Jessica Berringer and one of her hiking partners, Thomas Steiner, or Scatter. This is all intended to celebrate Jillian's life and the legacy and imprint on the lives of people she knew.
As you can see from the picture below, Thomas eventually carried Jillian's "bucket" to Katahdin and proudly showed it off.
Jillian's mother, Dana, is the thread that runs through her daughter's story, and both Dana and her ex-husband were instrumental in instilling the love of the trail to their daughter.
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 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. |
| 0:33.4 | Hey guys, welcome back to the show. You're listening to Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail, |
| 0:37.8 | the ultimate midlife crisis. I'm your host, Steve Adams, on Mighty Blue. Last week, I devoted |
| 0:44.1 | the entire show to my Mighty Blue Class of 2023, where we caught up with the current status of |
| 0:49.5 | all our team. As you heard, we've lost a few, but quite a few are still out there but this week it's going to be |
| 0:55.0 | another very different show so different in fact that we're talking about just one guest |
| 0:59.5 | there'll be no class of 2023 catch-ups they'll return next week there'll be no resumption of |
| 1:05.4 | george to valise's epic telling of then the hell came that's also coming back next week |
| 1:09.4 | today we're going to be |
| 1:11.0 | talking about Gillian Hitt or Buckets. Buckets went on the AT as a 19 year old in 2018. She didn't |
| 1:19.2 | finish the trail, she got injured, yet she left a legacy that I like to share with you all today. |
| 1:25.0 | We're going to hear from three people. First and throughout the podcast actually, we're going to hear from three people. First, and throughout the podcast |
| 1:28.3 | actually, we're going to hear from Gillian's mum, Dana Johnson. We'll also hear from my best friend, |
| 1:33.7 | Jessica Berringer, who has a particularly poignant part in the show, which will become obvious as we |
| 1:38.5 | move forward. And last but not least, we'll talk with Thomas Steiner, or Skatter, who shared |
| 1:43.6 | some of Gillian's |
| 1:44.3 | hike and did something for her that was incredibly meaningful for a family. |
| 1:48.8 | At the end of these interviews, I'm going to be answering a question from a listener that I think |
| 1:52.8 | is so appesite to this week's show, so stick around for that. |
| 1:57.3 | But let's get started and let's meet Gillian's mother. |
| 2:00.1 | This is Dana Johnson. |
... |
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