Episode #530 - Tim Bennett (Porkie)
Mighty Blue On The Appalachian Trail: The Ultimate Mid-Life Crisis
Steve Adams
4.8 • 599 Ratings
🗓️ 26 February 2026
⏱️ 62 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Tim Bennett, or Porkie, is today's guest. Tim had an epic adventure on the Long Trail in Vermont, sharing with us the family connection he has to the trail.

It wasn't a straightforward hike, with serious injury and recovery, plus dramatic floods punctuating his efforts over two years. He remained resilient and completed his mission after his various mishaps.

Tim also wrote a blog of his journey for the Trek, which you can read here at Tim Bennett, Author at The Trek . He has now written a book about both his and his father's hikes, which will be available later in the year. When I get that link, I'll put it in future show notes. For now, you can visit his website, http://www.longtrailhiker.com/ and sign up to be notified when the book is available.

Ben Kaplan completed the lineup for the Hike the Good Hike cohort, as he talked about leading AMC winter hikes while finding solace in his solo outdoor adventures. Follow Ben on Instagram at Ben Kaplan (@adbenture_times) • Instagram profile

My accountability blog is revealing the culmination of my preparations for my own upcoming AT thru-hike. I'm beyond ready to get out there!
I used my hike in 2024 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
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 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. |
| 0:33.1 | Hey guys, welcome back to the second and last show of the Mighty Blue podcast before I leave for Georgia in less than two weeks. And this week we've got another good show for you. Our main guest today is a bloke I met at the Order Gathering. Tim Bennett, or Porky, and I chatted while I was selling a few of my books at the gathering and he told me the bones of his story. I asked him if you'd like to come on the show and share it with you and he agreed to do so. Tim Hight the Long Trail up in Vermont and you'll hear that he has a legacy story about that trial and you realise as he tells it that the bones of his story was an appropriate word for me to use. We'll hear from Tim in a moment. After we hear from Tim, you'll be meeting the last member of the Hight the Good Height cohort with Ben Kaplan making an appearance. I was told that Ben would be taking on a 200-mile section of the High Sierra Trail. Turns out, I've got the wrong info. Fortunately, Ben put me straight and we hear about another trail that I've never heard of. We'll hear where Ben is going after Tim. Then, with my second from last accountability blog, |
| 1:30.3 | I reveal that I've got everything together that is on my packing list, |
| 1:32.7 | and I'm at last ready to actually pack my backpack. |
| 1:33.9 | Yeah, I know. |
| 1:35.2 | I can't explain it either. |
| 1:39.5 | So let's get it going and let me introduce you to a long trail through hiker, |
| 1:40.8 | Tim Bennett or Porky, |
| 1:45.0 | who has a unique story to tell of his adventures and his misadventures in Vermont. Here's Tim. |
| 1:46.0 | Well, we've got a guy I started chatting with when I was doing my podcast from Older this past October. |
| 1:55.0 | This is Tim Bennett or Porky. |
| 1:57.0 | Hey Tim, nice to have you on the show. |
| 1:59.0 | Hey, Steve. Thanks for inviting me. Of course. |
| 2:03.0 | Now, Porky isn't exactly the most, I don't know, the kindest name I think I've ever heard. |
| 2:08.5 | How did you manage to get stuck with that? Well, um, hiking on the AT, I had a different name, |
| 2:15.4 | uh, related to beer, which I'm fond of, and showed up to bring some trail |
| 2:22.1 | magic to some friends. |
| 2:23.3 | So I was known as 12-pack on the AT. |
| 2:27.3 | But when I set out to hike the long trail, it was in honor of a hike my father had done |
| 2:33.9 | when he graduated from high school in 1937. |
| 2:38.5 | And the long trail was overrun with porcupines back in those days. |
... |
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