Episode #48 - Edwin Thullen (Bear)
Mighty Blue On The Appalachian Trail: The Ultimate Mid-Life Crisis
Steve Adams
4.8 • 599 Ratings
🗓️ 17 August 2017
⏱️ 61 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When Edwin Thullen decided to hike the Appalachian Trail he had several challenges to overcome. His sheer size made gear acquisition a formidable process, but he gathered what he could and headed for Georgia. The previous winter had been spent living out of his car, so he was expecting Georgia to be warm. It wasn't. Watch the astonishing physical and mental transformation that Bear undergoes as he learns how to do a thru-hike on the fly. 
Follow Bear's journey as he constantly readjusts his expectations for his eventual finish and modifies his gear to meet the many challenges along the way. His is a story of resilience that will make you laugh, bring a tear to your eye, and fill you with admiration as he battles on toward his goal. The fact that our conversation has a happy ending is a bonus that will please all of you. 
John Boyet returns this week with advice on what to look for when you are deciding upon which backpack to buy. You can ask more of John by emailing him at john@trailwalkergear.com Don't forget that you can still pledge a few bucks for my Last 10,000 Feet Challenge to support Family Partnership Center here in Bradenton, Florida. My John Muir Trail is being dedicated to this great cause. Email Bridget Harry at the center at bharry@familypartnership.org. Thanks so much for the support.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail, the ultimate midlife crisis, joined Stephen his guests every week as he staggers from Georgia to Maine. |
| 0:27.9 | Welcome back to the podcast. |
| 0:30.0 | This is another of those recorded at the end of July 2017 |
| 0:33.6 | and uploaded for release on August 17th. |
| 0:36.8 | By now, I'm hoping to be well on my way on the |
| 0:39.3 | John Muir trial with my friend, The Dude. I hope that you're following my progress on my Facebook |
| 0:44.1 | page, which is when I'm 64. I'll be uploading pictures whenever I can and if I'm able to work |
| 0:50.9 | out how to do it, I may even have my location on the map to share, |
| 0:59.5 | though I wouldn't hold your breath. These shows are necessarily a little shorter than those I put together prior to going away, yet they should stand up in their own right, because it really |
| 1:03.8 | is about the interviews and the people I speak with who make the show. I know that in the last |
| 1:08.4 | couple of shows I did in July, I went on for more than an hour and a quarter because I really wanted to fit everything in. |
| 1:14.3 | When I return and get back into recording again, I'll be trying to circle back with one or two people who have hiked this year and with whom I've spoken to get their updates. |
| 1:22.4 | Some have made it, some haven't. |
| 1:24.6 | You can also help shape future shows. |
| 1:27.0 | If there's an area you'd like to see me cover, |
| 1:28.8 | then drop me an email at Steve at Mighty Blue on the AT.com and I'll work out how we can sensibly |
| 1:34.0 | incorporate the idea into the show. If we keep shaking things up, the podcast will remain dynamic. |
| 1:39.6 | So please, there are no dumb ideas. This week, I've got an interview with a guy |
| 1:45.6 | who had probably the most bizarre hike of anybody I've spoken with. |
| 1:49.5 | Now I come to think about it, |
| 1:51.3 | I've always said that we all do a different hike |
| 1:53.2 | and that is what is great about hearing |
... |
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