Episode #458 - Frank Mularcik (Snowman)

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

Steve Adams

Sports, Wilderness

4.8 • 599 Ratings

🗓️ 14 November 2024

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Frank Mularcik, who recently completed a 100-day SOBO thru-hike, is our guest today. Frank reached out to me a few weeks before he finished, then followed up once he reached Springer Mountain.

You'll be impressed by Frank's can-do attitude, bringing a practicality to his hike that stood him in good stead. He discovered on the trail–as we all do–that faith in humanity that we may have thought was lost.

Frank documented his hike by vlogging every night on trail, producing an impressive record that is available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@frankmularcikbeyondinvesting

After Frank, I have a few words to share about my recent trip to Hot Springs to help out after Helene, accompanied by listeners–now friends, Ellen Langford, Allan Anderson, Rob Diamond, and Stuart Phelps. To each of you, my heartfelt thanks for stepping up.

Our book reading, Happy Hiking, by my friend, Emily Leonard is–of course–written from a woman's POV and a woman's voice. I hope you enjoy listening to my reading of it. If you'd like to buy the book, you can find it on Amazon at Happy Hiking: Falling in love on the Appalachian Trail, or on Emily's website, at Happy Hiking.

I used my hike earlier this year on the South West Coast Path in the UK to help raise money for my absolute favorite charity, Parenting Matters, on whose board I've been privileged to serve for over a decade. You can learn more about the hike and the organization–and donate–by visiting https://parentingmattersfl.org/eventer/hike-with-steve-empowering-parents-one-step-at-a-time/edate/2024-04-15/. I hope you want to support this critical mission.

Don't forget. Our entire series of videos from our Woods Hole Weekend in 2022 is now FREE and available at my YouTube page at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA8ImK4qpNc&list=PLu8u88nsJtgWZxT8DLwEW2yXcz4gT6HXs There, you'll find all sorts of tips and tricks that our guests took away from the weekend that helped them with their own hikes this year. Check it out.

I often ask listeners for ideas on who to interview, and I'm sure several of you say, "I could do that. I've got an awesome story to tell." You're the person we need to hear from. If you'd like to be interviewed on the podcast, just register as a guest on the link below, and I'll be in touch. https://www.hikingradionetwork.com/show/mighty-blue-on-the-appalachian-trail-the-ultimate-mid-life-c/guests/intake/

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.

Additionally, you can "Zelle" us a donation to steve@hikingradionetwork.com. It works! Trust me!

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

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

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, joins Stephen his guests every week as he staggers from Georgia to Maine.
0:33.7	Hey guys, so nice to be back with you all after spending time last week in Hot Springs, helping out with the cleanup.
0:39.9	You're listening to Mighty Blue and the Appalachian Trail, the ultimate midlife crisis, and I'm going to be telling you something about last week after our main interview.
0:46.9	Our main guest today is Frank Mulasic. Frank was a southbounder this year, and he reached out to me a couple of weeks before he finished and offered me an interview. As many of you know, I'm always so impressed by these young self-motivated hikers who seem to possess such a calm assurance in all that they do. It isn't the cockiness of youth, rather it's a clear-eyed view of the job in hand and their own ability to get it done. I love that, as you know. Then, as I say,
1:12.3	I'll tell you about how last week went, when a few listeners and I headed to Hot Springs and did
1:16.8	whatever we could to help in the much-needed clean-up there. After that, the second half of Chapter 14
1:22.0	of Emily Leonard's book Happy Hiking finds Emily and a tramley in one of the more memorable
1:26.7	shelters on the trail,
1:28.1	the enclosed shelter at the top of Chestnut Knob, with its glorious view across Burke's
1:32.9	garden, or God's Thunprint. Unfortunately for Emily, by the time she got there, there were no
1:38.2	views to be had. So, and we really don't have enough Southbounders on the show, here's Frank
1:43.5	Mulasic, or Snowman, who completed his 80th through hike this summer in exactly 100 days.
1:50.2	Here's Frank.
1:54.0	A few weeks ago, I had a message from a guy who told me that he was actually so bowing
1:59.3	the trail, and he had two weeks to go to complete the Appalachian Trail in 100 days. His name was, in fact, it is Frank Molarsik or Snowman. Hey, Frank, thanks for coming on the show. Hey, Steve. It's good to be here, and I'm excited to talk a little bit with you. Well, the first question of course is, did you finish it within 100 days?
2:20.4	Yes, I did exactly on day 100.
2:23.2	And that was pretty exciting.
2:25.5	I had a pretty good experience at the end.
2:28.1	And yeah, I really enjoyed the trip as a whole.
2:32.2	And I pretty much had set out the goal of 100 days at the
2:35.3	beginning and I had a plan and definitely changed some throughout but in the end I was able to finish
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Steve Adams, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Steve Adams and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.