Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail, the ultimate midlife crisis, joined Stephen his guests every week as he staggers from Georgia to Maine.

Hi again and welcome back. We're at episode number five today and as promised my guests,

for there are two, are Maud Dillingham and Caesar Bacera. These two did not hike the trail in

2014, and even though I didn't know them prior to our conversations, I gleaned from them the

same wonder of the trail that afflicts us all. Theirs was a very different trail in a very

different world back in 2001.

The two of them introduced me to their own concept of thorough hiking as opposed to through

hiking. I'll let them explain the concept but when I tell you that they spent over a year

on the trail you'll understand that theirs was a very special commitment indeed. In the way that these things go,

I ended up with a couple of interviews that were nothing like what I'd expected. I'd been hoping to

learn more about hiking with a dog, not that I had any intention of doing it myself, and a little

about the movie that they made. While we covered that, particularly in the conversation

with Maud, we also went in a number of different directions, for which I was extremely grateful.

The AT lead you along a hidden path, full of surprises, in much the same way. I initially considered

splitting the interviews into two separate programmes, but it seemed silly to do that when they

were about

the same hike, so this week's podcast is a little longer than usual. I should also warn you that the

sound quality isn't fantastic, as neither of them was able to gain access to Skype for our conversations.

That said, we did the best we could with my cell phone perched precariously on a bunch of books

right next

to my microphone. I bet Rush Limbaugh and Michaelson McConaish don't have to put up with this sort of

problem. At the time of recording this introduction, which is just a day after the previous

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