Episode #517 - Tom Margaria (Father Tom)

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

Steve Adams

Sports, Wilderness

4.8 • 599 Ratings

🗓️ 27 November 2025

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Tom Margaria, a retired FDNY firefighter, set out on January 1st from Key West to hike the 5700 mile Eastern Continental Trail. On the way, Tom met up with–and joined–the "Over the Hill Gang," the group including Dave Santi, one of my Mighty Blue Class of 25 this year.

Tom, a man of deep faith, would ask people he met along the way how he could pray for them. This kind request came with a variety of answers, though Tom always saw the positives.

He made it to the end, and reflects upon his mammoth journey with Steve.

Also on the show today, is Tayson Whittaker, owner of Outdoor Vitals, an interesting gear company with an impressive business model and an equally impressive boss. Check out their website at https://outdoorvitals.com/

Finally, we hear the latest entry in my accountability blog, with big decisions being made over gear.

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!

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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, joins Stephen his guests every week as he staggers from Georgia to Maine.
0:33.4	Hey guys, it's so good to be back with you all again, and may I be the first to wish you
0:37.8	Happy Thanksgiving if you're listening early on Thursday morning. This is episode number
0:42.1	517 of The Mighty Blue Show and I'm gearing up my third Appalachian Trail through hike in March
0:47.1	26. You know, what I started doing this podcast and I published that first episode back in
0:52.9	September 2016, I never realized how Apatite the title would become. After all, I'd only done that one hike at the time, so Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail was a bit of a stretch at that time. Since then, of course, I feel like I've basically lived on the trail, with the second through hike in 2019, several visits back to the trail for three or four day hikes,
1:11.4	and now a third through hike attempt next year. If there was one thing I could change,
1:15.6	maybe the subtitle, referring to my midlife crisis. I think it should be an advancing years
1:20.6	crisis now. We have three sections to the show today. First up, we're going to meet Tom Margaria
1:26.0	or Father Tom, who was part of
1:27.5	Dave Santies over the hill gang on the AT. Tom was actually partway through his Eastern
1:32.5	Continental Trail, a 5,700 mile behemoth, and I think he'll enjoy his reflections this week,
1:39.1	especially how meeting up with the Over the Hill gang was just what he needed at that time.
1:44.1	After Tom, we're going to
1:45.0	meet Taysen Whitaker, a real-life entrepreneur and owner of Outdoor Vitals, an organisation I hadn't
1:50.6	heard of before, but one which is extremely impressive in its business model and the scope of services
1:55.5	that it offers will meet Taysen after Tom. Then the ladies in my accountability blog, during which I talk about
2:02.1	Tason a bit more and the value his company is providing to me. In this week's post, I track my
2:07.4	training progress after nearly four weeks of sweat and tears, and I tell you more about the choices
2:12.0	I'm making with regards to the gear that I've accumulated so far, as well as the companies I'll be
2:16.2	dealing with in my choice of tent and pack. That is all to come, but we're going to start by meeting the very calm
	...

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