Episode #92 - Joel "Buddy" Wier III (Nami)
Mighty Blue On The Appalachian Trail: The Ultimate Mid-Life Crisis
Steve Adams
4.8 • 599 Ratings
🗓️ 21 June 2018
⏱️ 67 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Buddy Wier is something of a late bloomer. He became interested in hiking after his retirement, accumulating gear though not immediately getting out to hike. He had always been a traveler and soon combined his love of travel with the various opportunities that arose to hike.
Having traveled extensively and hiking when and where he could, Buddy was inspired to hike the AT when he heard the inspirational Jennifer Pharr Davis speak about her FKT record.
So, over the next couple of years, Buddy took on this monumental task at the age of 69, finally reaching Katahdin at the age of 71. Buddy would be happy to field any questions that you may have and he can be reached at wieriii@att.net.
Instead of If I Did It Again this week, I have a couple of parents, Kathi and Bob Bucklin, who endured, and enjoyed, their daughter's hike back in 2014. I thought their clear-eyed perspective would be reassuring to many of you who are faced with similar announcements from your nearest and dearest.
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 taught guests every week as he staggers from Georgia to Maine. |
| 0:32.6 | Hi and welcome back to episode number 92 of Mighty Blue on the Appalachian Trail, sponsored |
| 0:38.5 | by Trialtopia Adventure Foods. |
| 0:41.1 | The past couple of episodes we've concentrated on young women, no particular reason, but I was |
| 0:46.1 | recently moving home and found a card of a guy I'd met at trial days in 2017, not even |
| 0:51.5 | this year. |
| 0:52.9 | When I checked my notes, I realised why I'd kept the card. |
| 0:56.1 | His name is Buddy Weir, and he has a remarkable story to tell of an adventurer who waited |
| 1:02.0 | until retirement to really step up his adventuring. |
| 1:05.6 | Buddy is an example to everybody who says to you, I couldn't hike 500 miles or 1,000, |
| 1:10.7 | or in fact fact any miles. |
| 1:12.9 | Buddy shows how it can be done and tells us his story of a fascinating post-retirement life. |
| 1:18.5 | Buddy will be along soon. |
| 1:20.6 | We're also missing out on if I get it again. |
| 1:24.6 | Yep, I know it's silly, but I just can't resist it. |
| 1:27.4 | Yet we're missing her on that segment |
| 1:29.4 | by having a conversation with the mother and father of one of my previous guests and fellow |
| 1:33.8 | member of the class of 2014, Stacey Buckland. Kathy and Bob Bucklin and I have a great conversation |
| 1:40.6 | about what it's like when your daughter announces that she's off to walk in the woods |
| 1:44.2 | and over mountains. For many people, you'll recognise Cathy and Bob's original reactions, yet they |
| 1:50.5 | articulate their fears and how those fears were and can be allayed. I highly recommend that you |
| 1:56.1 | stick around for this chat because there is something in it for everybody. We're moving on quickly in our book, The Year We Sees the Day by Elizabeth Best and Colin Bowles. |
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