Episode #77 - Bill King (Field Trip)

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

Steve Adams

Wilderness, Sports

4.8 • 599 Ratings

🗓️ 8 March 2018

⏱️ 75 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Bill King has had his mind on an Appalachian Trail thru-hike since he listened to a presentation from another thru-hiker. He is a retired school teacher and has found the inspiration to start his flip flop hike in April 2018. Despite a diagnosis of neuropathy in his feet, Bill has simply battled through the pain, taken the appropriate medication and kept moving forward.

Bill has an abiding love of nature and expects to be smelling the roses on his way up the trail. He also anticipates the occasional chase after the perfect butterfly picture.

His students–several now in their 30s and 40s–have been following Bill's preparations on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/bill.king.5454 and his blog at billkingfieldtrip.weebly.com. Now you can follow him as well. We wish him the best of luck for his hike this year.

I recently saw a great little post on Facebook that showed a backpack / bivy tent combination that weighs in at just over one pound! The BivyPack is the idea of Ken Flannery, who has been on the road for the past ten years. I invited Ken on the show to tell us how he invented it. Click on his Kickstarter link to see the video. He also has a personal blog and a podcast. Click on the links to access either or both of these.

Last, but definitely not least, Jack Masters, or Vagabond Jack, checked in and we had a chat about the progress he's made on his thru-hike so far. If you'd like to follow Jack, his blog is at Trail Journals.

Don't forget to listen to our companion show, Returning to Katahdin. You can also visit Bruce's blog at rtkchallenge.com, where you will also be able to hear our podcast and contribute to his fundraising for the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. While you're online, we'd also be delighted if you'd check out Trailtopia.com and consider the wonderful food choices that they have for your next hike

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
0:05.2	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.
0:33.6	Hi everybody and welcome back to episode number 77 of Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail,
0:39.0	a member of the Hiking Radio Network and sponsored by our friends at Trailtopia Adventure Food.
0:45.2	We've got a really packed show for you today. First up, we have a member of this year's class of 2018.
0:50.9	Bill King is a retired school teacher and hopes soon to be a new through hiker.
0:55.3	Bill's plan is to flip-flop this year.
0:57.3	He's been following our show and has harboured an ambition to hike this trail for a few years now.
1:01.9	As you'll hear from Bill, he has such a practical response to one or two of his limitations
1:05.6	and he has been preparing diligently to make the best possible attempt on his hike.
1:09.8	Bill will be along shortly.
1:11.9	After Bill, I've added an extra conversation about gear. This is with a guy called Kenny Flannery.
1:18.4	I was looking through Facebook this week. I saw something that really caught my eye. Nope,
1:22.7	it was not a cat video. It was Kenny demonstrating his bivvy pack. A bivy pack is Kenny's pack and bivie
1:29.1	tent combo, weighing in at just over one pound. Imagine it. Your tent and pack weighing just a
1:35.8	single pound. I invited Kenny onto the show to tell you all about it. In this era of
1:41.3	ever lighter gear, Kenny looks to be pushing the envelope even further.
1:45.1	I've added a link to the video in the show notes so that you can get a better idea of what we're talking about.
1:50.6	I've got one more interview, but before I tell you about that, I've got a bit of a sweet tooth to tell you about.
1:56.5	Do you remember those days on the trail when you really need to treat yourself?
2:00.3	You know, those days when you fall in the mud or the rain starts running down your neck,
2:05.2	the rocks are driving you crazy, or even when you're just fed up.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Steve Adams, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Steve Adams and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.