Episode #534 - Days 7-9 on the Appalachian Trail

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

Steve Adams

Sports, Wilderness

4.8 • 599 Ratings

🗓️ 2 April 2026

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Now a week into the hike, I've gotten into my stride and my body is holding up under the pressure. Already, the "feel" of the trail is as welcoming as it was the last time I went, and I'm feeling right at home. The fact that the weather has been kind to us is a massive bonus.

This recap covers last Sunday thru Tuesday, ending at Dick's Creek Gap, about 70 miles in.

Amanda Aguillard invited me into her home, along with Dan, I guy I'd been hiking around, and she wqas the perfect hostess, running us around, feeding us, and letting us take a breath after the trail. Here are the three of us last Sunday.

As you know, I'm also interviewing other hikers I meet out there, and this week, at Tray Mountain Shelter, I met a terrific guy, Ken, or Phoenix. He was full of the joy of the trail, loving the interactions with his fellow hikers, and relishing his adventure.

I'm using Polarsteps to record my AT thru-hike this year. If you'd like to follow my progress between episodes, as well as photos of my journey, please go to https://www.polarsteps.com/mightyblue and click on the follow button.

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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Additionally, you can join our membership at Steve (Mighty Blue) Adams. It's worth checking out what is on offer for you there.

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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
0:06.3	about hikers for everybody. Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail,
0:22.3	the ultimate midlife crisis,
0:24.7	joins Stephen his guests every week as he staggers from Georgia to Maine.
0:34.1	Welcome back to the Mighty Blue Podcasts and day 7, 8 and 9 of my adventure on the Appalachian Trail this year.
0:43.0	Only three days and they started on Sunday, then there was Monday and there was Tuesday and we've had just a delightful time.
0:57.0	You'll hear about it in a moment but I think it's probably the best trail magic I've ever had in my life
1:05.0	and I knew it was coming or something like it was coming but the extent of it has been mind blowing really
1:11.5	I'm still almost in awe at how we've been treated but obviously we're going to hear about that
1:17.5	in a moment so let's get started with episode not episode day number seven which is last Sunday.
1:34.3	Day 7. Low Gap Shelter to Unicoy Gap, a 9.7 mile day.
1:41.3	We had a plan. We were trying to get to Unicoy Gap where Amanda Aguard, a listener to the show, was going to pick me up, let me stay at home overnight and cook me some gumbo. Who on earth is going to turn that down? Certainly not me. And the first few miles were surprisingly easy. It must have been, I think,
2:05.0	an old forest road, but there were gentle inclines and gentle declines. And I thought,
2:10.5	this is a piece of cake, which of course is a fatal, I think to say, because I knew that
2:16.4	there would be problems later on.
2:20.3	Most of the time, we were up at about 3,300 feet and stayed around there just easy up to
2:25.9	3,500 feet, and then down a little bit more, then up a little bit more.
2:31.0	And then this last push took us to the top of Blue Mountain at just over
2:36.0	4,000 feet I think it was before dropping down to Unicoy Gap about 1,100 feet below.
2:42.0	So in terms of hiking it wasn't hadn't been a difficult day and I think it was one of the easier days for me physically certainly.
2:53.6	And down the bottom there was some trail magic.
2:57.6	I don't even know who the group was because I was kind of moving quite quickly by then.
	...

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