Episode #87 - Spencer Leebolt and Blaike Bateman (Pit Boss and Play By Play)

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

Steve Adams

Sports, Wilderness

4.8 • 599 Ratings

🗓️ 17 May 2018

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Spencer Leebolt and Blaike Bateman have almost reached the halfway mark on the Appalachian Trail. Spencer is Blaike's stepfather and, although he had originally intended to hike the trail on his own, he took the opportunity to introduce Blaike to the trail for the adventure of his (early) lifetime. Blaike is just 14 years old.

Steve found them to be very much a team, with each having the other's back.

They have been videoing their journey, so you can keep up with them on YouTube at Batebolt Productions. If you'd like to see some of their pictures, head over to Instagram, where they are also at Batebolt Productions.

Kelly Anderson told Steve the things she would change were she ever to do the hike again in "If I Did It Again," while Blaise Vitale texted then told Steve his story about an unfortunate hitch-hike.

We hope that you take the opportunity to support our sponsor, Trailtopia, when you consider your next backpacking trip. Go to https://www.trailtopia.com/ to check out their wide variety of meals.

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
0:05.2	about hikers for everybody. Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail, the ultimate midlife crisis,
0:23.4	joins Stephen his guests every week as he staggers from Georgia to Maine.
0:33.6	Hello and welcome back to Marty Blue on the Appalachian Trail,
0:37.1	sponsored by Trialopia Adventure Foods.
0:40.2	This week for episode number 87, we have a father who had long planned to hike the AT by himself and his 14-year-old stepson.
0:49.0	Spencer LeBolt and Blake Bateman, Blake is the 14-year-old, are somewhere near the 900-mile mark and I caught up with them recently. When I thought about it, the dynamic of having to care for another person on the trail, even though that person is 14 years old, it's going to be so different from the hike that Spencer had originally planned. As you'll hear though, the two of them are working as a team towards a common goal. Hats off to Spencer, by the way, for giving this valuable education to his boy.
1:14.4	For those of you wondering how a 14-year-old, who is not homeschooled, can get away from school for such an extended period of time, well, Blake has a great answer for that.
1:25.0	This week in...
1:26.4	If I get it again.
1:28.8	We have the return of the delightful Kelly Anderson or Sleeping Beauty, who did a flip-flop
1:33.4	in a 12-month period spanning 2016 and 2017. Kelly is very clear what she'd changed.
1:39.3	Were she ever to do this again? And as you'll hear in our interview, she is itching to do it again.
1:44.6	And because we have a shorter than normal main interview, there is a short story of
1:48.5	Life on the Trail by Blaze Vitale, who was also on the show some months back.
1:53.4	But before we get on to this pack show, it is dinner time.
1:56.9	Do you remember those cold, wet evenings on the trail?
1:59.7	When you pitched up at a shelter and there was nothing you would have rather had
2:02.8	than a beautiful, hot, home-cooked meal.
2:06.4	Well, apart from actually going home, you could try out one of the delicious meals in Trialopia.
2:11.8	Why not dig into their spectacular jambalaya with its authentic Creole flavour?
2:16.4	Or how about their beef stew which is loaded
	...

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