Played
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Hope Westall is today's guest. Hope is the owner of Alt Route Meals, yet it is her hiking and her traveling that made me want to interview her on the show. But the meals are now a part of Hope's life, with a desire to mix her adventures with nutritionous, plant-based food that allows her to hike stronger and healthier.
She has done the AT and PCT, several trails in Australia and New Zealand, as well as a summit of Mount Kilimanjaro. Her hunger for these adventures pushed her into developing her own food and, finding the results suiting her, she expanded into a business.
You can learn more about Hope and her products at https://altroutemeals.com/ as well as on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/AltRouteMeals and on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/altroutemeals/
Barry Hill and Dave Burge, from our Mighty Blue Class of 2022, give their last updates until I return in mid-April. Each has a cautionary tale to tell!!
If you like what we're doing on the Hiking Radio Network, and want to see our shows continue, please consider supporting us with either a one-off or monthly donation. You'll find the donate button on each Hiking Radio Network page at https://www.hikingradionetwork.com
If you prefer NOT to use PayPal, you can now support us via check by mailing it to Mighty Blue Publishing, PO Box 6161, Sun City Center, FL 35751. Any support is gratefully received.
If you'd like to take advantage of my book offer (all three of my printed hiking books–with a personal message and signed by me–for $31, including postage to the United States) send a check payable to Mighty Blue Publishing at the address just above.
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Shep Smith, or Soundscape, had a particular mission when he was on the Appalachian Trail. As a former oceanographer, Shep chose to map the sounds of the trail. He shares a few insights today, along with stories from his hike.
If this fascinating subject gets you as much as it did me, you can check out the interactive map that Shep refers to in our conversation. It is at https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/8839ac254aa2473a9f2d2947d48ce799
Also today, I caught up with Chuck Hays, now in the Smokies.
If you like what we're doing on the Hiking Radio Network, and want to see our shows continue, please consider supporting us with either a one-off or monthly donation. You'll find the donate button on each Hiking Radio Network page at https://www.hikingradionetwork.com
If you prefer NOT to use PayPal, you can now support us via check by mailing it to Mighty Blue Publishing, PO Box 6161, Sun City Center, FL 35751. Any support is gratefully received.
If you'd like to take advantage of my book offer (all three of my printed hiking books–with a personal message and signed by me–for $31, including postage to the United States) send a check payable to Mighty Blue Publishing at the address just above.
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I have a wonderful reunion this week, with Lee Brackman, General Lee, from my Class of 2019. Lee and I ran into each other in Virginia and hiked around each other for a few days. Despite that brief time, we felt like firm friends, our nearly 50 year age difference notwithstanding. It was great to catch up.
Lee is a pretty remarkable young man, having packed an awful lot of stuff into his 24 years, including both his long hikes, mission work in a Cholera Hospital, and Cancer Research at Vanderbilt.
More recently, Lee hiked the CDT and started a new company, with a friend from Vanderbilt, producing clean water with electrolytes. Check it out at Purlyte.com. If you want to learn more, or even reconnect with him after your own hiking adventure, Lee is happy to share his email address. You can reach him at [email protected]We catch up with two of our Class of 2022 members. Joanne Birditt tells me that she is bringing forward her thru-hike a few weeks, while Sarah Sunshine Landis is going in the opposite direction, putting hers back a couple of weeks. None of this will matter when the two of them get out on the trail; it's always going to be there!
Finally today, stick around and listen to the Ballad of Mighty Blue, written for me by Andy Alexander. I close out the show with it today, and am grateful indeed that our show has meant so much to people that they want to support in this way. I'm humbled.
If you like what we're doing on the Hiking Radio Network, and want to see our shows continue, please consider supporting us with either a one-off or monthly donation. You'll find the donate button on each Hiking Radio Network page at https://www.hikingradionetwork.com
If you prefer NOT to use PayPal, you can now support us via check by mailing it to Mighty Blue Publishing, PO Box 6161, Sun City Center, FL 35751. Any support is gratefully received.
If you'd like to take advantage of my book offer (all three of my printed hiking books–with a personal message and signed by me–for $31, including postage to the United States) send a check payable to Mighty Blue Publishing at the address just above.
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This week, another intrepid young woman shares her story with us. Kelly Hays, who has developed quite a following on YouTube, hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2021, yet hers was no ordinary hike.
Emergency surgery for most people would take them off the trail for more than just a few weeks, yet Kelly was so desperate to get back with her trail family that she returned just three weeks after the surgery. Hear how she coped with this setback and how she experienced the trail in all its glory.
Previous thru-hiker and guest, Stephanie "Sunshine" Lorenze even crowned at the end!
You can catch up with Kelly at some of the following links
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfMHF8GPio8NAeP0loK1VmA
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kellyhays23/
TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8GFd7Bu/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/KellyHaysHikes23
Dom Tammaro mentioned last week how he'll be carrying a bear canister, and I expressed an interest to see how he stows it on his pack. Looks good, Dom.
If you like what we're doing on the Hiking Radio Network, and want to see our shows continue, please consider supporting us with either a one-off or monthly donation. You'll find the donate button on each Hiking Radio Network page at https://www.hikingradionetwork.com
If you prefer NOT to use PayPal, you can now support us via check by mailing it to Mighty Blue Publishing, PO Box 6161, Sun City Center, FL 35751. Any support is gratefully received.
If you'd like to take advantage of my book offer (all three of my printed hiking books–with a personal message and signed by me–for $31, including postage to the United States) send a check payable to Mighty Blue Publishing at the address just above.
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Grant Breidenbach is our guest this week. Grant hiked the John Muir Trail in 2021, his longest backpacking trip to date. But, as you'll hear, his preparation and knowledge base is impressive from many perspectives. He is a consummate planner who considers the many factors that go into completing a long-distance hike.
He also has some insights into the weather patterns in the Sierras that culminated in a huge storm on his second day. His telling of that story is riveting.
Finally, Grant makes the case for bear canisters as a method of food storage to help protect bears.
Grant suggests the following two Facebook sites as valuable resources for the JMT https://www.facebook.com/groups/JohnMuirTrail
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2022jmt
If you'd like to learn more about Grant's preparations for the trail, and his attention to detail, check out his excellent website, at https://grantbreidenbach.wixsite.com/grantphotography. There, you'll see his pack breakdown, his food details, and his itinerary, along with a link to his Instagram account.
Also today, Dave Burge and Chuck Hayes–our first two Class of 2022 members–talk to me about their progress in the cold, early days of the year.
If you like what we're doing on the Hiking Radio Network, and want to see our shows continue, please consider supporting us with either a one-off or monthly donation. You'll find the donate button on each Hiking Radio Network page at https://www.hikingradionetwork.com
If you prefer NOT to use PayPal, you can now support us via check by mailing it to Mighty Blue Publishing, PO Box 6161, Sun City Center, FL 35751. Any support is gratefully received.
If you'd like to take advantage of my book offer (all three of my printed hiking books–with a personal message and signed by me–for $31, including postage to the United States) send a check payable to Mighty Blue Publishing at the address just above.
