Episode #471 - Tina Tempest (Chunky)
Mighty Blue On The Appalachian Trail: The Ultimate Mid-Life Crisis
Steve Adams
4.8 • 599 Ratings
🗓️ 13 February 2025
⏱️ 73 minutes
🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
We have Tina Tempest on the show today. Tina, or Chunky, completed a SOBO thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail in 2009. The trail had such an impact upon her life, that she and her husband, Brett, ultimately opened the Quarter Way Inn, a hostel near Marion, Virginia. Tina's breakfast at the hostel is the stuff of legend!
But it is one of her side businesses that we're talking about today, as Tina is the owner of Bead By Bead Adventures, producing necklaces for many of the long distance trails, including two that I wear.
There are plenty of ways to follow Tina, either online or in person. Check out these links: See Tina in person: AT Gateways at Amicalola Falls State Park in Georgia on February 28 - March 2, 2025. Appalachian Trail Days in Damascus, Virginia on May 16-18, 2025
Follow Tina online: Bead by Bead Adventures: Necklaces that are maps of long-distance hiking trails that hikers (or those at home) can use to track their progress. Her website is at www.gobeadbybead.com, on Instagram at Instagram (@gobeadbybead), and on Facebook at Bead by Bead Adventures.
Her hostel: Quarter Way Inn: Seasonal Appalachian Trail Hiker Hostel at mile 555-ish in Southwest Virginia. Her website, www.quarterwayinn.com, on Instagram at Instagram (@quarterwayinn), and on Facebook at Quarter Way Inn
Her Honey business is Gather Ye Honey: Pure honey and beeswax candles from Ceres, VA and Charlotte, NC. That website is at www.gatheryehoney.com, her Instagram is at Instagram (@gatheryehoney), while her Facebook is at Gather Ye Honey
We also caught up with one of our Mighty Blue Class of 2025 members, Dave Santi. Dave and I talked through his pack and the choices he has made for his upcoming thru-hike in March. Check out the gear details at https://lighterpack.com/r/xtkoon
If you have questions or topics you'd like covered by our class of 2025 members, Dave and Beth, please email them to me at steve@hikingradionetwork.com.
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.
Our new sponsor for the New Year is TSX Challenge, who turn one week into inspiration for a lifetime. And I should know. Chris at TSX told me he could get me to the top of Mt Whitney…and he did. Check out their incredible group hikes at TSX Challenge - Guided Backpacking Trips to Mt. Whitney, Grand Canyon & Beyond, and save 10% at checkout by using the code MIGHTYBLUE.
I used my hike last 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 Hike with Steve - Empowering Parents, One Step at a Time | Parenting Matters %. 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 Woods Hole Weekend - Trailer 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. Come on the show!
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 Hiking Radio Network .
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" me a donation to steve@hikingradionetwork.com. Or "Venmo" me at @‌Steve-Adams-105. They both work!
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 Stephen his guests every week as he staggers from Georgia to Maine. |
| 0:33.3 | Hey guys, good to be back with you all again. This is episode number 471 of Mighty Blue on the Appalachian trial, the ultimate mid-life crisis. |
| 0:42.2 | And I am Mighty Blue, also known as Steve Adams. It's exciting week because not only do we have Tina Tempest or Chunky back on the show to talk about something very dear to my heart, but we're also kicking off our Mighty Blue Class of 2025, |
| 0:55.1 | with the first conversation of four before he heads out on trail in early March with Dave Santee or Freebird. |
| 1:01.2 | Dave will be long after Tina. |
| 1:03.3 | And given the length of the show, I'm dividing the next chapter of Emily Leonard's Happy Hiking into two sections, |
| 1:08.9 | with the first part today as Emily enters the White Mountains, |
| 1:12.0 | then the second part, not surprisingly, next week. We've already had Tina Tampis on the show to tell us |
| 1:17.9 | about a 2009 Sobo Appalachian Trail Through hike. I met her on my own Nobo hike in 2019 when I was |
| 1:24.8 | lucky enough to stay at the aptly named Quarterway Inn, a hostel that Tina |
| 1:29.0 | shares with her husband Brett near Marion, Virginia. Now only did I get to hang out with some |
| 1:34.0 | awesome people over an equally awesome breakfast, I had the first and only experience of wearing |
| 1:39.6 | a skirt for the majority of the day. Yep, that's what an 80 hike will do for you. Anyway, we already |
| 1:45.4 | heard about most of that and I asked Tina on the show today to bring her story forward from |
| 1:49.9 | the last time we spoke with particular emphasis on one of her ventures in making crafts that |
| 1:55.1 | really touched me in a big way. Tina will be on in a moment. After Tina, Dave Santee is having a pack shakedown with |
| 2:01.9 | his reasons for taking certain items on his 80 hike next month. Beth isn't starting until April, |
| 2:07.9 | so we'll get to hear her four pre-hike conversations with me in early March. I haven't decided |
| 2:13.5 | exactly what these four conversations are going to be about yet but I know we'll talk about |
| 2:17.6 | motivation and inspiration at some point. I'd really like to do what we once did with Bruce |
| 2:22.4 | Mattson on his returning to Catardin podcast when we did a kind of takeoff of a British radio show |
... |
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