Episodes
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This is the quickest podcast I've ever released. Jessica got to end yesterday afternoon (October 3) and texted me this morning. I knew you'd want to hear from her so I've rushed the episode out. As you'll hear, she saved the danger until the end.
Thanks so much for listening to the show; we've appreciated all the support. I will be catching up with her one more time at the end of November to do a review of her entire journey.
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With Canada only a couple of weeks away, Dixie is facing a race against the snow. It is starting to get colder and she is adjusting her gear to meet the changing weather.
We caught up yesterday morning and she had made it to town for an urgent purchase. She'll explain it!
She and Perk are together most of the time now as she faces her fear of Grizz Country, while she responds to her mom's Facebook post about taking the long road home.
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Episodes manquant?
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Jessica is now less than 300 miles from Canada and is moving well after her recent toe issues. However, she is about to enter 190 miles of wilderness, so she caught up with me yesterday to give an update.
She has enjoyed the trip but is now ready to be home. She even had a unique hiking experience for her, with a snowy sunset to finish off a day's hiking.
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With Dixie back to full mobility after her toe op, she is making real progress towards the Canada border. For the first time, she looks as if she'll make it before October or, at worst, a few days into the month.
Today, she talks about the impact of the three big trails on her psyche and how they stack up against one another.
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The last time we caught up with Dixie, she had decided to get her ingrowing toenails cut out. This was clearly going to disrupt the progress she had been making, and I fully expected her mileage to drop precipitously. She told me that we'd try to speak straight after the operation and, when I didn't hear from her, I feared the worst.
But, being Dixie, she had responded to the advice by walking straight away. You just can't keep a good woman down.
With the weather soon to deteriorate in Montana, she is now heading fast to Canada with a new determination to get there before the snow gets to her.
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With her ingrowing toenails continuing to bother her, Dixie has made a decision to resolve the problem. This will slow her progress but she now has Kyle, Rogue, and Perk with her. Hopefully, the next few days will enable her to get back on track.
She's into her last state, Montana, and is working out how to get to Canada before the bad weather engulfs her.
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With Wyoming and Yellowstone National Park now behind her, Dixie heads into Idaho with two very angry feet. We had a lot of trouble connecting to have a conversation but eventually managed to speak twice; once on the trail and once in a small town in Idaho.
As always, she was able to project a positive image despite the pain.
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Having spent a couple of weeks with a mini "tramily," Dixie finds herself alone once more, with each of her various hiking companions heading in different directions. I caught up with her this morning, not having heard from her since she had intended to set out with her brother, Dakota. As ever, plans are made to be broken.
Despite her anxiety over Grizzly Country, she continues to head north, anticipating the return of Rogue and Kyle.
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Jessica, Kyle and her brother, Dakota, have been hiking together for a week, at a predictably slower pace but revelling in the diversity of the trail. They've experienced some glorious views and some horrendous hail. Dixie has also had to adapt her hike to accommodate her new companions.
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This conversation was on Wednesday, August 1, so I apologize for not getting it to you earlier. Dixie has been joined by her brother and another familiar face.
We got an excellent question from Shane Capps about hiker hunger, while there thoughts on what you can do when you hit the wall on the trail. Tough times come to us all, even Dixie, and she considers ways to make it better.
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We've not spoken for over a week and Jessica has moved into Wyoming. With another desert to contend with, she is getting help with her hydration from truckers as they pass her by.
She has also had a few wildlife encounters, one of the great joys of long-distance hiking. Yet she is getting ready for the prospect of grizzlies further north. Quite how she'll do when she tries to spray them with bear spray isn't something that she has quite worked out. I'm sure, though, that when the time comes she'll just take it in her stride.
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Another catch up on the trail, with Jessica taking a break and having cell service. This time, we didn't lose her towards the end as we did last time. We ranged from coffee pots to guns and even got in another thunderstorm story.
Listener, Joe Hirsch even planted the thought of the 4600-mile North Country Trail in her mind, but it seems that she has her sights set on hiking in other countries.
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This week, we were able to catch up when Jessica was actually hiking on the trail. She had a signal and, particularly because I wanted to know about her electrical storm experience, I immediately got on the phone. Then, once she had told her story, the interview took an unexpected turn.....
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It's been a few days since we spoke and Jessica is now almost due west of Denver. We learn about these small towns and what she does when she gets into town, as well as how much solitude she has been experiencing. We also learn about one of the very favorite parts of hiking for her. It wasn't what I was expecting.
Finally, we hear of her future hiking plans and dreams.
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We last night when Jessica was in town. Rogue was catching her and expected to get to town soon after we spoke. They will be hiking out together today. We had a long, wide-ranging conversationâboth recorded and not recordedâthat produced the best episode so far. We really hope that you enjoy it.
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Once again, we had to wait until Jessica was in town for our chat, so I caught up with her in Walmart, of all places. She is currently separated from both Perk and Rogue, though expects Rogue to catch her soon.
We talk about healthy trail foodâsomething of an oxymoron on a long-distance trailâhiking at elevation, and she even serves up a dollop of trail magic to us.
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Happily, Jessica is back smiling once more and in Colorado. She's had to take another alternate route because of fires but is still, as she says, "connecting her footsteps."
This week, she reflects upon the tough past few weeks and looks forward to meeting all sorts of wildlife further north.
Please remember to send me questions you may have for her to [email protected] and I'll be happy to put them to her.
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While she was expecting to be able to get straight back into her hike, Dixie has found this week to be tough. Whether it is the elevation or the antibiotics still in her system, she has struggled and felt quite down.
She is about to hit the San Juans in Colorado, so she'll need to bounce back as soon as she can.
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With Dixie's stay at home reaching two weeks, Steve spoke with her this morning to establish when she might be back on the trail. The timing could not have been better. Not only was she in New Mexico, but she was about to hit the trail once more.
However, as always, Dixie wanted to fill in a few details of what had been a very difficultâand painfulâreturn home to Alabama.
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While she was hoping to be back on the trail by this time, Dixie's journey has been interrupted by an extended stay at home due to a medical situation. She's happy to be there but itching to get back. When we hear from her next, she will be.
- Montre plus
