1 00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:04,720 Speaker 1: I guess what, Mango, what's that? Will? So I was 2 00:00:04,760 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 1: looking at a map of the Appalachian Trail and trying 3 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:09,520 Speaker 1: to remind myself of exactly where it goes. And did 4 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:12,760 Speaker 1: you know the Appalachian Trail might actually expand into Morocco, 5 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:15,840 Speaker 1: of all places? How is that even possible? Well? I 6 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:18,360 Speaker 1: thought this sounded ridiculous too, but it's actually pretty cool. 7 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:20,200 Speaker 1: So let me let me explain this. So there's this 8 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:22,599 Speaker 1: vision area. His name is Dick Anderson, and this was 9 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:25,799 Speaker 1: according to NPR. But he has this idea to turn 10 00:00:25,880 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 1: the A T into this international trail. I mean, I 11 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:32,160 Speaker 1: guess I can see that from like a branding perspective, 12 00:00:32,159 --> 00:00:34,120 Speaker 1: But why would you do that? You're gonna remember this 13 00:00:34,159 --> 00:00:36,840 Speaker 1: from your school age, Mango. You remember the word Pangaea 14 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,279 Speaker 1: when all of the continents were together, So they were 15 00:00:40,280 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: connected some two hundred million years ago, And so he 16 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:46,199 Speaker 1: noticed that when the landmass broke up, so did this 17 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:48,800 Speaker 1: giant mountain range. And you know other pieces of the 18 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:52,519 Speaker 1: range that are in Morocco and Greenland, Norway, Spain, a 19 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:55,760 Speaker 1: bunch of other countries. So the Appalachians kind of continue 20 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:58,400 Speaker 1: around the world, and you look at what other countries 21 00:00:58,440 --> 00:01:02,160 Speaker 1: are doing. Canada's already does ignated eighteen hundred miles from 22 00:01:02,160 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: Maine to Newfoundland, and the British Geological Survey has done 23 00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:08,000 Speaker 1: the same thing with this nineties six mile portion of 24 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: a trail that runs through the UK. But all this 25 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:14,399 Speaker 1: excitement over the International Appalachian Trail it made us want 26 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,360 Speaker 1: to take a closer look at how the original Appalachian 27 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:20,360 Speaker 1: Trail got its start. Why did some people start hiking 28 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:22,600 Speaker 1: the eight in the first place, what are some of 29 00:01:22,640 --> 00:01:25,840 Speaker 1: the crazy stories from those early hikes, and what's the 30 00:01:25,920 --> 00:01:29,319 Speaker 1: real reason park rangers don't want people hiking naked? Because, 31 00:01:29,319 --> 00:01:31,440 Speaker 1: believe it or not, there is a good one. So 32 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: let's dig in yea. Hey there, podcast listeners, Welcome to 33 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:57,680 Speaker 1: Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson and as always I'm 34 00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:00,080 Speaker 1: joined by my good friend man Guess Ticketer and the 35 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:02,480 Speaker 1: other side of the soundproof glass, steam rolling his way 36 00:02:02,480 --> 00:02:05,160 Speaker 1: through a tub of rocky road. It is rocky road, 37 00:02:05,480 --> 00:02:08,040 Speaker 1: definitely rocky rocky road ice cream. That's our friend and 38 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:12,640 Speaker 1: producer Tristan mcnailo. I get it. Rocky roads stupid well anyway, 39 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:15,680 Speaker 1: believe it or not, Trista is actually trying to pass 40 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:19,000 Speaker 1: this off is part of his training for hiking the 41 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:21,000 Speaker 1: Appalachian Trail. I don't know if he's going to hike 42 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 1: the whole thing or what, but he claims there's a 43 00:02:23,360 --> 00:02:27,320 Speaker 1: tradition that began around the nineteen eighties where hikers would 44 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:29,920 Speaker 1: down a ton of ice cream. I'm just not so 45 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:32,520 Speaker 1: sure about this sum It actually is a real thing. 46 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:37,079 Speaker 1: It's called Gallon Challenge and hundreds of eight hikers take 47 00:02:37,080 --> 00:02:39,639 Speaker 1: it on every single year. And Tristan is getting a 48 00:02:39,639 --> 00:02:42,400 Speaker 1: little ahead of himself though, as he always does. The 49 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:45,240 Speaker 1: challenges something hikers do once they reached the official halfway 50 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:47,720 Speaker 1: point of the truck. It's actually in this town called 51 00:02:48,360 --> 00:02:51,680 Speaker 1: Pine Grove Furnace in Pennsylvania, and the idea is to 52 00:02:51,680 --> 00:02:53,880 Speaker 1: celebrate the milestone by wolfing down a half gallon of 53 00:02:53,919 --> 00:02:56,320 Speaker 1: ice cream in under an hour. There's like a time 54 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: limit on it. There's actually this general store there that's 55 00:02:59,280 --> 00:03:01,520 Speaker 1: been hosting the for about forty years now and the 56 00:03:01,560 --> 00:03:03,799 Speaker 1: owner says that the all time record for a half 57 00:03:03,840 --> 00:03:07,320 Speaker 1: gallon challenges under five minutes. Oh gross, that is Uh well, 58 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: we'll have to put our our friend Yas or the 59 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:11,280 Speaker 1: competitive eater up to the challenge to see if you 60 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: can beat that. But that sounds disgusting, and I'm curious. 61 00:03:14,080 --> 00:03:16,640 Speaker 1: Do the challengers get anything for pulling this off besides 62 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:19,399 Speaker 1: brain freeze? Of course, I mean you get bragging rights, 63 00:03:19,440 --> 00:03:23,720 Speaker 1: of course. But there are these little prizes. They call 64 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:26,360 Speaker 1: them victory spoons, and it's basically one of those little 65 00:03:26,360 --> 00:03:28,799 Speaker 1: wooden spoons that comes with an ice cream cover, except 66 00:03:29,400 --> 00:03:31,840 Speaker 1: this one has the words member of the Half Gallon 67 00:03:31,840 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: Club printed on it. What a fancy priz. I mean, 68 00:03:35,040 --> 00:03:38,120 Speaker 1: I actually love hearing about all the Appalachian Trail traditions 69 00:03:38,160 --> 00:03:41,800 Speaker 1: that have sprung up over the years, because you knows, 70 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:44,760 Speaker 1: the trail really is its own little world, and at 71 00:03:44,760 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: this point, it feels like the trail's unique social life 72 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: is it's really as much of a draw as the 73 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:52,240 Speaker 1: beautiful scenery or the sense of the challenge. And if 74 00:03:52,240 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: you think about it, there's this entire community spread across 75 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 1: fourteen different states and now, as we've learned in Morocco 76 00:03:58,320 --> 00:04:00,560 Speaker 1: as well, maybe one day. But the only thing that 77 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: ties them together is that pull they feel towards this trail. 78 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: So you've got this team of trail maintenance volunteers who 79 00:04:07,280 --> 00:04:11,120 Speaker 1: keep the route clear and safer hikers and supportive residents 80 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 1: along the way and these adjacent towns, and they come 81 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 1: in to cheer on the hikers or give them food 82 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:18,560 Speaker 1: or often even a place to crash for the night. 83 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:21,920 Speaker 1: And then there are the hikers themselves, and so they'll 84 00:04:21,920 --> 00:04:24,880 Speaker 1: often meet as strangers from all walks of life, but 85 00:04:25,160 --> 00:04:27,360 Speaker 1: you know, a few shared hardships a couple of thousand 86 00:04:27,360 --> 00:04:30,840 Speaker 1: miles later, and they form these lifelong friendships. Yeah. I mean, 87 00:04:30,880 --> 00:04:32,520 Speaker 1: I have a few friends who have done this, and 88 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: there's clearly no question that hiking the a T is 89 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:39,159 Speaker 1: this life changing experience for tons of people. Yeah, well, 90 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:41,040 Speaker 1: you hear that over and over, and so today we 91 00:04:41,080 --> 00:04:43,440 Speaker 1: thought we'd take a closer look at why that is. 92 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: So we'll talk about how the trail got it, start 93 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: about some of the most notable folks who have hiked it, 94 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:51,400 Speaker 1: also dig a little bit deeper into life on the trail, 95 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: and check out a few of the clever ways that 96 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:56,720 Speaker 1: intrepid hikers have found to keep things interesting. So there's 97 00:04:56,720 --> 00:04:58,040 Speaker 1: a lot to talk about, But where where do you 98 00:04:58,040 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: want to start? Manga, Well, how about running through some 99 00:05:00,760 --> 00:05:02,880 Speaker 1: quick stats about the a T just for those who 100 00:05:02,880 --> 00:05:05,480 Speaker 1: aren't familiar with it. So for starters, the a T 101 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:08,200 Speaker 1: is the longest hiking only footpath, not just in the 102 00:05:08,279 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: US but in the entire world. It's official length fluctuates 103 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:14,680 Speaker 1: every year. It's um because miles are added or removed 104 00:05:14,760 --> 00:05:17,599 Speaker 1: as they perform various upgrades and repairs along the passes, 105 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:21,720 Speaker 1: but in general the trail runs just under miles. It 106 00:05:21,839 --> 00:05:24,760 Speaker 1: stretches from Springer Mountain in Georgia all the way up 107 00:05:24,760 --> 00:05:27,760 Speaker 1: to Mount Cataden in Maine, and along the way the 108 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:30,719 Speaker 1: trail cuts through the mountainous regions of twelve other states. 109 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:34,120 Speaker 1: And while millions of day hikers visit some portion of 110 00:05:34,120 --> 00:05:36,240 Speaker 1: the trail every year, the a T is probably most 111 00:05:36,279 --> 00:05:39,480 Speaker 1: famous where it's so called two thousand miles Club. And 112 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:42,120 Speaker 1: these are those super determined folks who covered the trails 113 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:44,839 Speaker 1: entire length from one end to the other. And there 114 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:46,200 Speaker 1: are a bunch of different ways you can do this. 115 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:48,320 Speaker 1: You can take the trail and segments over the course 116 00:05:48,360 --> 00:05:50,800 Speaker 1: of multiple years. They're called segment hikers. The people who 117 00:05:50,839 --> 00:05:54,640 Speaker 1: do this UM You can hike straight through and that 118 00:05:54,680 --> 00:05:56,880 Speaker 1: often takes five to seven months. Those people are called 119 00:05:56,960 --> 00:05:59,800 Speaker 1: through hikers. Or you can complete half the trail and 120 00:05:59,839 --> 00:06:02,360 Speaker 1: one direction before switching to the opposite end to complete 121 00:06:02,400 --> 00:06:04,240 Speaker 1: the other half of the trail later that year, and 122 00:06:04,279 --> 00:06:06,880 Speaker 1: those are called flip flop hikers. But you know, no 123 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:09,039 Speaker 1: matter how you do it, hiking the a T is 124 00:06:09,040 --> 00:06:12,440 Speaker 1: this grueling challenge and it takes about five million footsteps 125 00:06:12,480 --> 00:06:14,560 Speaker 1: if you had a predometer on to complete. Wow, I 126 00:06:14,560 --> 00:06:17,600 Speaker 1: mean that is just so long, two thousand miles. I'm 127 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:19,719 Speaker 1: not sure if I've actually walked that long in my 128 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:21,719 Speaker 1: entire life, and I'm sure I have, but that is 129 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:25,279 Speaker 1: so long, and obviously it's why so few people make it. 130 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:27,640 Speaker 1: I was actually just looking at the stats from the 131 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:30,880 Speaker 1: a T Conservancy and it looks like about forty people 132 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:34,200 Speaker 1: have attempted the through Hike trail over the past twelve months. 133 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:37,800 Speaker 1: Yet of those more than four thousand people, only forty 134 00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:41,240 Speaker 1: nine people actually completed it. And in fact, if you 135 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: count from when the trail was created back in nineteen 136 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 1: thirty seven all the way to today, only around nineteen 137 00:06:46,920 --> 00:06:49,880 Speaker 1: thousand high completions have ever been recorded. You think about 138 00:06:49,880 --> 00:06:51,680 Speaker 1: the number of people that have been out there over 139 00:06:51,720 --> 00:06:53,960 Speaker 1: the years. So it's a pretty elite club to be 140 00:06:54,040 --> 00:06:56,600 Speaker 1: part of, definitely, But I do want to talk a 141 00:06:56,640 --> 00:06:58,240 Speaker 1: little bit about how the trail came to be in 142 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:00,680 Speaker 1: the first place. So you already mentioned the a T 143 00:07:00,839 --> 00:07:04,280 Speaker 1: was officially completed in nineteen thirty seven, but the initial 144 00:07:04,279 --> 00:07:07,800 Speaker 1: idea for the trail actually dates back to and that 145 00:07:07,839 --> 00:07:11,000 Speaker 1: was the year this man named Benton McKay graduated from 146 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:13,480 Speaker 1: Harvard and he hiked into the green mountains of Vermont 147 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:16,840 Speaker 1: to celebrate. And as the story goes, McKay climbed to 148 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:19,360 Speaker 1: this tree atop of Strandon Mountain and he saw this 149 00:07:19,440 --> 00:07:21,800 Speaker 1: gorgeous view there and it just gave him this idea 150 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:24,600 Speaker 1: for a dedicated trail following the Appalachian Mountains all the 151 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:27,520 Speaker 1: way from Maine to Georgia. And twenty one years later, 152 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:30,920 Speaker 1: McKay was an established lend use planner and that's when 153 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:32,880 Speaker 1: he finally took his first steps to making his dream 154 00:07:32,880 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 1: of reality. He published this article in an architectural journal 155 00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:38,640 Speaker 1: and it outlined his vision for a nature trail that 156 00:07:38,720 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: anyone on the East Coast could escape to as needed, 157 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:44,280 Speaker 1: whereas he put it a place to walk, to see 158 00:07:44,440 --> 00:07:46,880 Speaker 1: and to see what you see. So if McKay's plan 159 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,360 Speaker 1: was published in nineteen twenty one, but it didn't open 160 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:54,360 Speaker 1: for another sixteen years. Yes, so mackay was a great 161 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:57,680 Speaker 1: idea man, but he kind of lacked followed through, and 162 00:07:57,720 --> 00:08:01,120 Speaker 1: thankfully there was this maritime lawyer. His name was Meyron Avery, 163 00:08:01,200 --> 00:08:03,680 Speaker 1: and he heard about the project and he was really 164 00:08:03,720 --> 00:08:05,800 Speaker 1: the one who pushed it along. So he started mapping 165 00:08:05,840 --> 00:08:08,560 Speaker 1: the trail's route on his own. He took this rolling 166 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:11,600 Speaker 1: measuring wheel, uh, and he went mile after mile, just 167 00:08:11,640 --> 00:08:14,240 Speaker 1: taking notes for future guidebooks. And he started the process. 168 00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:17,520 Speaker 1: And then about ten years into the process, he started 169 00:08:17,560 --> 00:08:19,880 Speaker 1: organizing these crews of volunteers to build a whole thing. 170 00:08:20,120 --> 00:08:22,080 Speaker 1: So it took him a full decade to map out 171 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 1: the trail. It actually took him sixteen years. He kept 172 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:28,880 Speaker 1: mapping even as construction had started, and he didn't finish 173 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:31,720 Speaker 1: the project until nineteen thirty six, which is one year 174 00:08:31,760 --> 00:08:34,320 Speaker 1: before the final portion of the trail was cleared. The 175 00:08:34,400 --> 00:08:36,480 Speaker 1: task was probably worth it though, in the long run, 176 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:39,440 Speaker 1: because technically it made Avery the first person to walk 177 00:08:39,440 --> 00:08:41,960 Speaker 1: the entire a t at least as a segment hiker. 178 00:08:42,840 --> 00:08:44,760 Speaker 1: So actually I was looking at the first through hiker 179 00:08:44,760 --> 00:08:47,440 Speaker 1: in the world. Would have to wait until nineteen for 180 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:49,839 Speaker 1: that to happen. Do you think about the timing of this, 181 00:08:49,960 --> 00:08:52,040 Speaker 1: You know, you had World War Two that it curtailed 182 00:08:52,040 --> 00:08:54,720 Speaker 1: most people's interest in the trail for the better part 183 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:57,600 Speaker 1: of its first decade or so of existence. But then 184 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:00,360 Speaker 1: once the war was over and servicemen were which earning 185 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:03,440 Speaker 1: home the A T LRD, a new batch of challengers. 186 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:06,080 Speaker 1: Now among them was a guy named Earl Shaffer. He 187 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 1: was a twenty nine year old World War Two veteran. 188 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:11,439 Speaker 1: He was from Yorkshire, Pennsylvania. He'd read about the trail 189 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:15,160 Speaker 1: in this Outdoor Living magazine, and Schaefer decided to through 190 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:17,280 Speaker 1: hike the A T because it was a way, as 191 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:20,719 Speaker 1: he said, to walk the army out of his system. 192 00:09:20,760 --> 00:09:22,960 Speaker 1: So he set out from Georgia on April four, and 193 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:24,480 Speaker 1: he made it to the end of the trail in 194 00:09:24,559 --> 00:09:27,679 Speaker 1: Maine just a hundred and twenty four days later. If 195 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:29,600 Speaker 1: you do the math on this, this means he averaged 196 00:09:29,600 --> 00:09:32,480 Speaker 1: about sixteen and a half miles a day. That is 197 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:35,240 Speaker 1: so long. Now along the way, Schaefer kept a journal 198 00:09:35,280 --> 00:09:38,200 Speaker 1: to document his thoughts and to really service proof that 199 00:09:38,240 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 1: he had truly done what he claimed. And what's interesting 200 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:43,560 Speaker 1: is that he sort of unintentionally kicked off a new 201 00:09:43,640 --> 00:09:47,160 Speaker 1: literary genre. Today, the Internet is full of these online 202 00:09:47,240 --> 00:09:51,079 Speaker 1: hiking sites that catalog entries from people's Appealachian trail journals, 203 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:53,880 Speaker 1: and occasionally these accounts even make their way onto the 204 00:09:53,920 --> 00:09:55,760 Speaker 1: store shelves as they do. You know, if you think 205 00:09:55,800 --> 00:09:58,400 Speaker 1: about the most famous one, probably Bill Bryson's A Walk 206 00:09:58,400 --> 00:10:00,520 Speaker 1: in the Woods. Yeah, I mean, that is cool that 207 00:10:00,559 --> 00:10:02,640 Speaker 1: he kicked off this genre. But what's weird is that 208 00:10:02,640 --> 00:10:05,920 Speaker 1: Schaeffer's legacy is even bigger than that. So he hiked 209 00:10:05,920 --> 00:10:08,520 Speaker 1: the trail twice more in his lifetime. Uh. The second 210 00:10:08,559 --> 00:10:10,800 Speaker 1: time was in nineteen sixty five, and then again he 211 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:13,960 Speaker 1: did it in at the age of seventy nine. And 212 00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:16,880 Speaker 1: that second time Schaefer hike from Main to Georgia, which 213 00:10:16,880 --> 00:10:18,880 Speaker 1: actually made him the first person to throw hike in 214 00:10:18,960 --> 00:10:22,360 Speaker 1: both directions. That is amazing that he did this at 215 00:10:22,400 --> 00:10:25,160 Speaker 1: seventy nine, and it should offer some encouragement to Tristan. 216 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:28,240 Speaker 1: He's in his seventies right right, so he can still 217 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:31,520 Speaker 1: he's got time. Well, I mean, even though Earl Shaffer 218 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:33,800 Speaker 1: passed away in two thousand two, you'll be happy to 219 00:10:33,800 --> 00:10:36,960 Speaker 1: know that before his death he donated both the backpack 220 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:39,200 Speaker 1: and the boots that he wore on that nineteen forty 221 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:41,400 Speaker 1: eight hike to the Smith Zone. So you can go 222 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:43,840 Speaker 1: see and keep in mind that Schaeffer wore the same 223 00:10:43,880 --> 00:10:46,480 Speaker 1: pair of boots for all two thousand miles of his trip. 224 00:10:46,520 --> 00:10:48,920 Speaker 1: That you can't imagine how torn up these things were. 225 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:52,120 Speaker 1: And he'd often walk days without socks for some reason. 226 00:10:52,559 --> 00:10:55,040 Speaker 1: And so rather than replaced the boots a few times 227 00:10:55,080 --> 00:10:57,720 Speaker 1: along the way, you know, like most hikers do, Shaefer 228 00:10:57,760 --> 00:11:00,760 Speaker 1: would simply patch them up himself, or he then resold 229 00:11:00,760 --> 00:11:02,920 Speaker 1: in towns along his route. And you know, as you 230 00:11:02,920 --> 00:11:05,720 Speaker 1: can imagine, these things were very much worse for the wear. 231 00:11:06,040 --> 00:11:09,200 Speaker 1: In fact, one of the museum curators once confessed, quote, 232 00:11:09,520 --> 00:11:12,320 Speaker 1: the boots are smelly, and those cabinets are opened as 233 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:16,280 Speaker 1: little as possible. Shaffer was the first man that through 234 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:18,000 Speaker 1: hike the eighteen But do you know much about the 235 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:20,040 Speaker 1: first woman to do this? I do, And this was 236 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:23,200 Speaker 1: a really interesting read. That was Emma Gatewood, or Grandma 237 00:11:23,240 --> 00:11:26,040 Speaker 1: Gatewood as she later became known. Now her story is 238 00:11:26,080 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 1: a pretty amazing one. She was the mother of eleven 239 00:11:29,240 --> 00:11:33,160 Speaker 1: children and something like twenty three grandchildren, and after thirty 240 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:36,000 Speaker 1: years of being in an abusive marriage, she divorced her 241 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:39,360 Speaker 1: husband and started her life all over and was sometime 242 00:11:39,400 --> 00:11:42,040 Speaker 1: in the nineteen fifties. She read this nat GEO article 243 00:11:42,080 --> 00:11:45,120 Speaker 1: about the Appalachian Trail and how Earl Schaefer was the 244 00:11:45,120 --> 00:11:48,360 Speaker 1: first man to throw hike it, and she told her daughter, quote, 245 00:11:48,720 --> 00:11:50,640 Speaker 1: if those men can do it, I can do it. 246 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:53,320 Speaker 1: So then in nineteen fifty five she proved she was 247 00:11:53,400 --> 00:11:56,240 Speaker 1: right by walking the entire trail. It only took her 248 00:11:56,280 --> 00:11:59,320 Speaker 1: a hundred and forty six days. Now, this was impressive 249 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:01,840 Speaker 1: for all kinds of reasons. For one thing, Gatewood was 250 00:12:01,880 --> 00:12:04,520 Speaker 1: sixty seven years old when she completed her hike, and 251 00:12:04,559 --> 00:12:07,760 Speaker 1: she did the whole thing by herself, without any support. 252 00:12:07,760 --> 00:12:10,120 Speaker 1: I mean, it's just unbelievable. In fact, she was kind 253 00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:13,160 Speaker 1: of a pioneer of what we call ultra light hiking today. 254 00:12:13,520 --> 00:12:16,400 Speaker 1: Gatewood wore a pair of ked sneakers the entire trip. 255 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:20,720 Speaker 1: She traveled without the usual staples like a sleeping bag, 256 00:12:20,800 --> 00:12:23,480 Speaker 1: a tent, or even accomplished I mean, some of this 257 00:12:23,600 --> 00:12:26,720 Speaker 1: just seems way too crazy to attempt it. She did 258 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:28,920 Speaker 1: carry an umbrella with her, which she used to chase 259 00:12:28,920 --> 00:12:31,720 Speaker 1: off a black bear at one point, apparently, but that 260 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:34,720 Speaker 1: was pretty much the extent of her quote unquote luxuries 261 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:37,360 Speaker 1: as you might see them. In fact, Grandma Gatewood gave 262 00:12:37,400 --> 00:12:39,960 Speaker 1: this great quote to Sports Illustrated. So I'll just read this. 263 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 1: Here's what she said. I thought it would be a 264 00:12:42,520 --> 00:12:46,320 Speaker 1: nice lark. It wasn't. There were terrible blowdowns, burnt over 265 00:12:46,400 --> 00:12:50,679 Speaker 1: areas that were never remarked, gravel, sand, wash outs, weeds 266 00:12:50,679 --> 00:12:53,200 Speaker 1: and brush to your neck, and most of the shelters 267 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:56,200 Speaker 1: were blown down, burned down, or so filthy. I chose 268 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:59,160 Speaker 1: the sleep out of doors. This is no trail. This 269 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:01,840 Speaker 1: is a nightmare. I mean, of course it's the night's 270 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:05,800 Speaker 1: using an umbrella. Yeah, I think she could have made 271 00:13:05,840 --> 00:13:07,640 Speaker 1: it a little bit easier on herself, but we still 272 00:13:07,640 --> 00:13:10,040 Speaker 1: would have been impressed. I know, it really is impressive. 273 00:13:10,080 --> 00:13:12,079 Speaker 1: But you know, I did set you off there a 274 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:14,240 Speaker 1: little bit. I do want to point out that Emma 275 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:16,360 Speaker 1: Gatewood was not the first woman to throw hike the 276 00:13:16,360 --> 00:13:19,360 Speaker 1: Appoliation Trail. You let me tell this whole story that way. 277 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 1: She was the first person that threw hike it solo though. Okay, yeah, 278 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:27,720 Speaker 1: why why Everything I read said that Gatewood holds the title. Yeah, 279 00:13:27,760 --> 00:13:31,680 Speaker 1: I mean, it's probably the biggest misconception about the trail's history. 280 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:34,280 Speaker 1: You know, even Grahama Gatewood thought she was the first 281 00:13:34,280 --> 00:13:36,480 Speaker 1: woman to do this. But in reality, a woman named 282 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:39,280 Speaker 1: Mildred Norman beat her to it three years earlier, that 283 00:13:39,320 --> 00:13:42,959 Speaker 1: her accomplishment largely went unnoticed. I mean, can you imagine 284 00:13:43,000 --> 00:13:45,000 Speaker 1: what a bummer that was. I'm sure she didn't just 285 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:47,520 Speaker 1: do it for that recognition, but for Grandma Gatewood to 286 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:49,600 Speaker 1: get to the end and be like, yes, I'm the first, 287 00:13:49,640 --> 00:13:52,360 Speaker 1: and then find out it's Mildred. But I'm curious, what 288 00:13:52,559 --> 00:13:54,640 Speaker 1: why is this? I mean, it was huge news when 289 00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:57,960 Speaker 1: Gatewood finished her hike, So why had Mildred Norman been 290 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:00,520 Speaker 1: overlooked for so long for doing the same thing first? 291 00:14:00,720 --> 00:14:02,680 Speaker 1: I mean, it's hard to say for certain, but the 292 00:14:02,800 --> 00:14:06,040 Speaker 1: likeliest explanation is it's because she didn't complete it alone. 293 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:08,880 Speaker 1: She actually traveled the whole way with a companion who 294 00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:11,920 Speaker 1: was a male companion who is not her husband. Oh 295 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:14,560 Speaker 1: that last part is probably key. There is not her husband. 296 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:16,320 Speaker 1: I mean, that sounds a lot less scandalous than it 297 00:14:16,320 --> 00:14:19,520 Speaker 1: probably was in the nineteen Is that it? I mean? 298 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:21,800 Speaker 1: Is that why her name isn't in more history books? 299 00:14:22,040 --> 00:14:25,080 Speaker 1: I think so. I mean it's also amazing that, like, 300 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:28,040 Speaker 1: Mildred really didn't mind being slighted, uh so on our 301 00:14:28,120 --> 00:14:31,560 Speaker 1: hike in two she had this life changing vision. She 302 00:14:31,680 --> 00:14:34,160 Speaker 1: was sitting on a hill overlooking New England and she 303 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:37,280 Speaker 1: renamed herself Peace Pilgrim, and then she set out on 304 00:14:37,320 --> 00:14:40,120 Speaker 1: this cross country activism walking to her It lasted the 305 00:14:40,160 --> 00:14:44,800 Speaker 1: next twenty three years and took her over. Well, I'm 306 00:14:44,800 --> 00:14:46,920 Speaker 1: glad she got something out of the experience. And you know, 307 00:14:46,960 --> 00:14:49,240 Speaker 1: since we're on the subject of a t record holders, 308 00:14:49,520 --> 00:14:50,800 Speaker 1: I do want to tell you a little bit about 309 00:14:50,840 --> 00:14:53,720 Speaker 1: Joe McConaughey. So last year he broke the all time 310 00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:56,880 Speaker 1: speed record for a through hike and you won't believe 311 00:14:56,960 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 1: how fast he did it. So I definitely want to 312 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:01,280 Speaker 1: hear the details about this. But first let's take a 313 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:19,640 Speaker 1: quick break. You're listening to Part Time Genius and we're 314 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:22,320 Speaker 1: talking about what it's like to hike the Appalachian Trail, 315 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:25,000 Speaker 1: all right, Mago. So this isn't something I thought of before, 316 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:28,440 Speaker 1: but apparently there's this whole subcommunity of people who try 317 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:31,520 Speaker 1: to hike the entire a t as fast as they 318 00:15:31,520 --> 00:15:35,840 Speaker 1: possibly can, you know, because leisurely hiking isn't challenging enough, 319 00:15:35,920 --> 00:15:38,720 Speaker 1: I guess, And so the speed hiking practice caught on 320 00:15:38,800 --> 00:15:41,400 Speaker 1: in the early nineties and ever since then it's been 321 00:15:41,400 --> 00:15:44,360 Speaker 1: this constant tug of war of records, and I say 322 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:48,160 Speaker 1: records plural because they're actually separate records depending on whether 323 00:15:48,200 --> 00:15:51,520 Speaker 1: you do as supported or a self supported run. So 324 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:53,960 Speaker 1: on a supported round, the hiker has a companion or 325 00:15:54,000 --> 00:15:56,640 Speaker 1: a crew that kind of shadows them along the trail. 326 00:15:56,680 --> 00:16:00,120 Speaker 1: They might provide water or food or fresh supply, is 327 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:02,880 Speaker 1: even moral support, which of course is incredibly helpful on 328 00:16:02,960 --> 00:16:05,200 Speaker 1: such a long hike. And then on the flip side, 329 00:16:05,200 --> 00:16:07,640 Speaker 1: a self supported run means the hiker takes care of 330 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:10,800 Speaker 1: all these things themselves, So every five days or so, 331 00:16:10,840 --> 00:16:12,920 Speaker 1: the hiker would have to leave the trail and then 332 00:16:13,120 --> 00:16:16,120 Speaker 1: head into a nearby town to restock on food supplies. 333 00:16:16,680 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 1: I mean, that might sound like a burden, but those 334 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:21,000 Speaker 1: self support runs are really the kind that most regular 335 00:16:21,040 --> 00:16:23,640 Speaker 1: hikers make, since you know, there's only so much weight 336 00:16:23,680 --> 00:16:27,120 Speaker 1: you can carry in a backpack. And thankfully, restocking actually 337 00:16:27,200 --> 00:16:29,880 Speaker 1: isn't that difficult, because the a t intersects with the 338 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:33,200 Speaker 1: road every four miles on average, which is way more 339 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:35,520 Speaker 1: than I'd expected that. I wouldn't have guessed that the 340 00:16:35,520 --> 00:16:38,520 Speaker 1: trail brought you into civilization that often, but it obviously 341 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:41,800 Speaker 1: always hasn't been that way. Yeah, and it's kind of surprising. 342 00:16:41,880 --> 00:16:44,480 Speaker 1: But even with stores and towns just a few miles 343 00:16:44,480 --> 00:16:47,080 Speaker 1: off the trail, that's still more time than some speed 344 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:49,760 Speaker 1: hikers want to spend. But the record holder I want 345 00:16:49,760 --> 00:16:52,520 Speaker 1: to talk about today is a self supported hiker. His name, 346 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:54,880 Speaker 1: as I mentioned, is Joe McConaughey, and when he broke 347 00:16:54,960 --> 00:16:58,120 Speaker 1: the through Hike speed record last August, he was just 348 00:16:58,200 --> 00:17:02,120 Speaker 1: twenty six years old. But get this, he averaged forty 349 00:17:02,200 --> 00:17:06,080 Speaker 1: eight miles per day for most of his room and finished. 350 00:17:06,119 --> 00:17:09,000 Speaker 1: When he finished this thing, it was with a stunning 351 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:12,080 Speaker 1: one and ten point eight mile push over the course 352 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: of the last thirty seven sleepless hours. I mean this, 353 00:17:16,320 --> 00:17:18,640 Speaker 1: that sounds like a real nightmare to me. The guy 354 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:21,000 Speaker 1: is just the machine and it was that final push 355 00:17:21,280 --> 00:17:24,240 Speaker 1: that helped him just destroy the previous record by a 356 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:27,560 Speaker 1: full nine days. In fact, he even beat the current 357 00:17:27,600 --> 00:17:31,160 Speaker 1: supported record by ten hours. And in the end, McConney 358 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:34,000 Speaker 1: he hiked the entire Appalachian Trail in the fastest time 359 00:17:34,119 --> 00:17:38,960 Speaker 1: ever reported forty five days, twelve hours, and fifteen minutes. Wait, 360 00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:42,399 Speaker 1: so he basically hiked the whole Appelaian Trail in like 361 00:17:42,680 --> 00:17:44,800 Speaker 1: a month and a half. I can't even imagine that. 362 00:17:44,960 --> 00:17:47,560 Speaker 1: It's unbelievable. I mean, after setting up camp for the 363 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:51,120 Speaker 1: night mcconnae, he says, he ate like nine'mores, and then 364 00:17:51,119 --> 00:17:53,639 Speaker 1: the next morning he and his girlfriend drove straight to 365 00:17:53,680 --> 00:17:56,919 Speaker 1: a diner where he ordered the Hungry Person special and 366 00:17:56,960 --> 00:17:59,439 Speaker 1: he ate half of his girlfriend's breakfast for good measure. 367 00:17:59,480 --> 00:18:01,320 Speaker 1: I mean, I just can't even imagine what this guy 368 00:18:01,359 --> 00:18:02,840 Speaker 1: felt like at the end of this thing. I know, 369 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:05,760 Speaker 1: being up for thirty seven hours, you know, is it 370 00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:08,399 Speaker 1: self difficult for some people, and to be running the 371 00:18:08,440 --> 00:18:11,600 Speaker 1: whole time just seems insane and over mountains. Yeah. Well, 372 00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:14,000 Speaker 1: Gay pointed me to this interview and Runners World where 373 00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:16,200 Speaker 1: he talked about some of the struggles he faced along 374 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:17,800 Speaker 1: the way, and so I thought I'd just read a 375 00:18:17,880 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 1: quick excerpt from it. It was a constant battle, he says, 376 00:18:21,280 --> 00:18:26,600 Speaker 1: describing sprained ankles, extreme chafing, wasps things, painful blisters, a 377 00:18:26,640 --> 00:18:29,800 Speaker 1: sore on his lower back, swollen quads, and a case 378 00:18:29,880 --> 00:18:33,720 Speaker 1: of ramdom eliasis, which is when muscle tissue breaks down 379 00:18:33,760 --> 00:18:36,359 Speaker 1: and releases damaging protein into the blood and it can 380 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:39,600 Speaker 1: be very dangerous. Actually, easy days on the a t 381 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:43,120 Speaker 1: were few and far between, but there is one thing 382 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:45,360 Speaker 1: that made those rough days a little bit more bearable 383 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:47,840 Speaker 1: for Joe. And that's something that hikers referred to as 384 00:18:47,960 --> 00:18:50,480 Speaker 1: trail magic. Have you ever heard of trail magic. Yeah, 385 00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:52,240 Speaker 1: I've read a little bit about it. It's like those 386 00:18:52,560 --> 00:18:55,440 Speaker 1: small acts of kindness from strangers, right, Like you'll be 387 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:58,000 Speaker 1: hiking along suddenly you'll find like a cooler full of 388 00:18:58,000 --> 00:18:59,800 Speaker 1: sodas that someone's left as a pick me up for 389 00:18:59,840 --> 00:19:02,359 Speaker 1: an hikers you're going by. Yeah, that's right. And you 390 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:04,880 Speaker 1: know people who produced this trail magic. They're known as 391 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:07,720 Speaker 1: trail angels. So I've got to say this bothers me 392 00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:09,800 Speaker 1: a little because I feel like trail magic should be 393 00:19:09,800 --> 00:19:13,480 Speaker 1: produced by trail magicians. But I guess we'll go with 394 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:15,600 Speaker 1: us that way. That's the trail angels. I don't know. 395 00:19:15,600 --> 00:19:18,040 Speaker 1: That feels pretty sweet, but whatever you want to call them. 396 00:19:18,040 --> 00:19:20,879 Speaker 1: These are mostly local residents who live near the trail 397 00:19:20,960 --> 00:19:23,399 Speaker 1: and kind of take it upon themselves to lift the 398 00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:26,840 Speaker 1: hikers spirits with these small and unexpected forms of aid. 399 00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:29,200 Speaker 1: So you know, for instance, Joe mcconneughe he met a 400 00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:32,240 Speaker 1: trail angel and Vermont who cooked him a delicious omelet 401 00:19:32,280 --> 00:19:34,320 Speaker 1: one morning. So I guess you could call this person 402 00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:37,320 Speaker 1: an omelet angel. But you know, a day hiker once 403 00:19:37,320 --> 00:19:39,720 Speaker 1: gave him some extra batteries so Joe could power his 404 00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:42,320 Speaker 1: head lamp and keep running through the night. So it 405 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:45,320 Speaker 1: could really be anything I ride into town or back 406 00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:47,600 Speaker 1: to the trail, a hot shower, a night on a couch, 407 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:50,800 Speaker 1: some spare food, band aids, whatever it might be. Trail 408 00:19:50,840 --> 00:19:53,800 Speaker 1: magic definitely comes in many forms, but all of these 409 00:19:53,840 --> 00:19:56,680 Speaker 1: are very much appreciated by these hikers. Yeah, so I 410 00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:59,680 Speaker 1: was reading about this one legendary trail angel. His name's 411 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:02,000 Speaker 1: him Tabor, and he lives near a section of the 412 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:04,760 Speaker 1: trail in rural Pennsylvania, and for the past few years 413 00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:08,000 Speaker 1: he's been placing hundreds of these hand carved wooden spoons 414 00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:10,800 Speaker 1: all along the route. And the spoon's obviously come in 415 00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:13,680 Speaker 1: handy for any hiker who needs one, but maybe more importantly, 416 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:17,000 Speaker 1: they provide this little emotional boost because the word of 417 00:20:17,040 --> 00:20:20,040 Speaker 1: the spoons have spread all to the hiking community. And 418 00:20:20,119 --> 00:20:22,639 Speaker 1: there's this legend now that if you're lucky enough to 419 00:20:22,680 --> 00:20:26,240 Speaker 1: find one of Jim spoons, then you're supposedly like guaranteed 420 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:28,119 Speaker 1: to finish your through hike. I mean, these are the 421 00:20:28,200 --> 00:20:30,760 Speaker 1: kinds of stories that I love about the Appalachian Trail. 422 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:33,240 Speaker 1: It's so cool, and that he found this one way 423 00:20:33,280 --> 00:20:35,640 Speaker 1: that he could contribute is pretty neat. It's that sense 424 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:38,760 Speaker 1: of community and there's all the shared lore and in 425 00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:43,120 Speaker 1: jokes that most people outside the bubble have no idea about. Yeah, 426 00:20:43,119 --> 00:20:45,280 Speaker 1: so I I know what you mean, but I heard 427 00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:47,680 Speaker 1: one through hiker described the a D community as kind 428 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:50,879 Speaker 1: of a mobile small town and one that steadily moves 429 00:20:50,880 --> 00:20:53,040 Speaker 1: north as the weeks go by. And one thing that 430 00:20:53,160 --> 00:20:55,960 Speaker 1: helps promote that sense of connectedness is the use of 431 00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:59,080 Speaker 1: trail names. And we haven't really talked about this yet, 432 00:20:59,119 --> 00:21:01,800 Speaker 1: but the majority of those two thousand miles shed their 433 00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:03,919 Speaker 1: identity while they're on the trail and they take on 434 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:05,720 Speaker 1: a new one in the form of a trail name. 435 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:08,760 Speaker 1: And this can be helpful in a few different ways. So, 436 00:21:08,880 --> 00:21:10,880 Speaker 1: for one thing, it helps strengthen the feeling that you've 437 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:14,000 Speaker 1: really stepped away from the modern world and are engaged 438 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:16,639 Speaker 1: in something totally different from your normal day to day life. 439 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:19,159 Speaker 1: I mean, you literally aren't the same person on the 440 00:21:19,200 --> 00:21:22,120 Speaker 1: trail as you are at home. But another way trail 441 00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:24,040 Speaker 1: names are helpful is that they help you keep track 442 00:21:24,080 --> 00:21:26,400 Speaker 1: of your fellow hikers like you might run to ten 443 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:29,920 Speaker 1: days or fifteen Emily's on the trail and they all 444 00:21:29,920 --> 00:21:32,760 Speaker 1: start to blur together. But you'll probably only meet one 445 00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:36,280 Speaker 1: brother Buzz or snot Rag in your lifetime, So connecting 446 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:38,159 Speaker 1: that face with the name, it just ends up being 447 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:41,879 Speaker 1: a whole lot easier. Man, somebody already took snot Are 448 00:21:41,920 --> 00:21:44,760 Speaker 1: those made up names? No, they're actually real names. But 449 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:47,680 Speaker 1: I don't know the stories behind those. But I did 450 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:50,080 Speaker 1: come across this one hikers account of trail names and 451 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: how important they are to the community, and she gave 452 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:54,840 Speaker 1: this great example of her name's Hannah Stores. She wrote 453 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:56,840 Speaker 1: about it on this website called the Truck, and I'm 454 00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:00,639 Speaker 1: going to read from her story quote. The stories that 455 00:22:00,680 --> 00:22:03,119 Speaker 1: build up around names can be really great and travel 456 00:22:03,200 --> 00:22:05,359 Speaker 1: up and down the trail faster than the person can walk. 457 00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:08,320 Speaker 1: For instance, we heard about bear Spray probably a week 458 00:22:08,359 --> 00:22:10,440 Speaker 1: before we met him. We got his name from when 459 00:22:10,440 --> 00:22:12,280 Speaker 1: he was staying at the top of the Georgia Hostel 460 00:22:12,600 --> 00:22:14,560 Speaker 1: and was trying to get something from inside his bag. 461 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:16,760 Speaker 1: He had a bottle of bear spray, and something caught 462 00:22:16,800 --> 00:22:19,880 Speaker 1: on the safety and released it. He accidentally sprayed bear 463 00:22:19,920 --> 00:22:22,399 Speaker 1: spray all over the top floor of the hospital. They 464 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:24,000 Speaker 1: had to close the whole floor and he had to 465 00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:26,359 Speaker 1: be washed up and aided. When everyone else at the 466 00:22:26,359 --> 00:22:29,520 Speaker 1: hostel heard what happened, they dubbed him Bear Spray. Instantly, 467 00:22:29,920 --> 00:22:32,400 Speaker 1: the story in the name circulated pretty quickly, and because 468 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:35,240 Speaker 1: it was so good, when Sean and I finally met him, 469 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:37,920 Speaker 1: it was like meeting an old friend. We were already 470 00:22:37,960 --> 00:22:40,439 Speaker 1: fond of him, and it was a great conversation starter. 471 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:42,600 Speaker 1: That's pretty cool, And you know, it reminds me these 472 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:45,080 Speaker 1: accounts you read from ancient times or even like the 473 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:48,560 Speaker 1: Middle Ages, where travelers on a road would introduce themselves 474 00:22:48,560 --> 00:22:51,520 Speaker 1: with this whole spiel about their family and lineage and 475 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:53,959 Speaker 1: their life story, and more often than not, a perfect 476 00:22:53,960 --> 00:22:57,359 Speaker 1: stranger would recognize who the person was just because they 477 00:22:57,359 --> 00:23:00,400 Speaker 1: had heard some story of that family exactly. And this 478 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:03,200 Speaker 1: practice of using trail names actually goes way back, like 479 00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:05,720 Speaker 1: that guy Earl Schaeffer, the first person that threw Hike 480 00:23:05,760 --> 00:23:08,400 Speaker 1: the a t. He called himself the crazy one because 481 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:09,879 Speaker 1: no one thought he'd actually be able to make the 482 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:12,640 Speaker 1: whole trail. And then there's Mildren Norman who became Peace 483 00:23:12,680 --> 00:23:15,480 Speaker 1: program h and the Gatewood was Grahama Gatewood. So the 484 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:18,679 Speaker 1: names have actually been there from the start, but they 485 00:23:18,680 --> 00:23:21,280 Speaker 1: didn't catch on until the eighties. And so, according to 486 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:24,639 Speaker 1: the conservancy's records, less than ten percent of hikers reported 487 00:23:24,680 --> 00:23:28,200 Speaker 1: using a trail name in three but by seven more 488 00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:30,320 Speaker 1: than fifty of the hikers were using them, and by 489 00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:34,920 Speaker 1: percent of all segment hikers had adopted the tradition to 490 00:23:36,520 --> 00:23:38,560 Speaker 1: While we're on that subject of life on the trail, 491 00:23:38,680 --> 00:23:40,520 Speaker 1: I want to talk about something that every a t 492 00:23:40,720 --> 00:23:43,280 Speaker 1: hiker comes to rely on, and that's the white blaze 493 00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:45,960 Speaker 1: system that's used to guide hikers along the full length 494 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:48,600 Speaker 1: of the trail. So, as you might imagine, the woods 495 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:51,359 Speaker 1: and the mountains start to look the same after a 496 00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:54,040 Speaker 1: few hundred miles, and so it could be all too 497 00:23:54,040 --> 00:23:55,840 Speaker 1: easy to wander off the course on to one of 498 00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:59,080 Speaker 1: these many unconnected trails, because there are obviously a ton 499 00:23:59,119 --> 00:24:02,119 Speaker 1: of them, and they run adjacent to the Appalachian Trail. 500 00:24:02,160 --> 00:24:05,040 Speaker 1: And so to prevent this, there's this army of trail 501 00:24:05,080 --> 00:24:08,760 Speaker 1: maintenance volunteers that have marked the way with approximately a 502 00:24:08,840 --> 00:24:12,439 Speaker 1: hundred and sixty five thousand white blazes. Now these are 503 00:24:12,440 --> 00:24:16,000 Speaker 1: these two inch by six inch vertical rectangles. They're painted 504 00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:20,280 Speaker 1: on white rocks, trees, and signposts all along the Appalachian Trail. 505 00:24:20,920 --> 00:24:23,280 Speaker 1: I mean, can you imagine how much upkeep that takes. Like, 506 00:24:23,320 --> 00:24:25,440 Speaker 1: I'm guessing the blazes must get worn away over time 507 00:24:25,480 --> 00:24:28,240 Speaker 1: and you probably need someone to repeat them constantly. Right. 508 00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:31,119 Speaker 1: It's a staggering amount of work when you read about this, 509 00:24:31,560 --> 00:24:33,760 Speaker 1: especially when you consider that the white blazes aren't the 510 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:36,920 Speaker 1: only ones that are out there. They're also blue blazes, 511 00:24:36,960 --> 00:24:38,800 Speaker 1: which are used to mark many of the trails that 512 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:42,520 Speaker 1: branch off from the Appalachian Trail but aren't technically part 513 00:24:42,640 --> 00:24:45,120 Speaker 1: of it. So if you follow a blue blaze trail, 514 00:24:45,200 --> 00:24:47,680 Speaker 1: it will likely take you too, maybe like a beautiful 515 00:24:47,760 --> 00:24:51,080 Speaker 1: view or a water source or a campground, or you know, 516 00:24:51,119 --> 00:24:54,040 Speaker 1: something else that's just off the beaten path but maybe 517 00:24:54,040 --> 00:24:56,560 Speaker 1: worth a look to mostly as really hikers. But the 518 00:24:56,600 --> 00:24:58,879 Speaker 1: only catch is that most of these blue blaze trails 519 00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:01,359 Speaker 1: are dead ends, so you do have to double back 520 00:25:01,440 --> 00:25:03,600 Speaker 1: once you reach the end of one. I do love 521 00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:05,639 Speaker 1: the idea of that that there are these surprises just 522 00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:07,520 Speaker 1: waiting for you at the end of these blue blazes. 523 00:25:07,680 --> 00:25:10,240 Speaker 1: It's really kind of magical. You know. Gabe was telling 524 00:25:10,240 --> 00:25:13,040 Speaker 1: me about this too, and uh, he almost likened it 525 00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:15,440 Speaker 1: to a video game, where you know, it's almost like 526 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:18,320 Speaker 1: a side quest where it's not your main goal, but 527 00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:21,280 Speaker 1: they're fun and rewarding if you have the time for it. Yeah, 528 00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:24,240 Speaker 1: I mean that analogy for hiking the Appalachian Trail being 529 00:25:24,280 --> 00:25:26,800 Speaker 1: like a video game. I mean, it kind of feels 530 00:25:26,840 --> 00:25:30,359 Speaker 1: far removed from the experience, but you could think of 531 00:25:30,359 --> 00:25:33,040 Speaker 1: it like that. And actually, aside from the physical white 532 00:25:33,040 --> 00:25:35,440 Speaker 1: and blue markers, there are also all of these more 533 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:39,920 Speaker 1: conceptual kinds. For example, yellow blazing is slang for walking, 534 00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:43,280 Speaker 1: hitch hiking, or driving the highways that run alongside the 535 00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:45,240 Speaker 1: a T. I mean, the idea is that the yellow 536 00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:48,000 Speaker 1: blazes are they're kind of like the yellow dashes that 537 00:25:48,119 --> 00:25:50,760 Speaker 1: run down the center of the highway. So, I mean, 538 00:25:50,800 --> 00:25:52,879 Speaker 1: I think that's kind of funny, but I'm guessing it's 539 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:55,640 Speaker 1: a little derogatory, right, Like hiker is probably frowned upon 540 00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,040 Speaker 1: those yellow blazers a little bit. Yeah, I mean, the 541 00:25:58,119 --> 00:26:00,679 Speaker 1: yellow blazing is pretty much a short on, so hiking 542 00:26:00,720 --> 00:26:02,960 Speaker 1: purists kind of turned their noses up at it. And 543 00:26:03,240 --> 00:26:05,520 Speaker 1: the same goes for aqua blazing. I'm sure you can 544 00:26:05,560 --> 00:26:07,160 Speaker 1: guess what this one is. But this is when you're 545 00:26:07,200 --> 00:26:09,679 Speaker 1: using maybe kayaks or rafts or boats or something to 546 00:26:09,720 --> 00:26:12,840 Speaker 1: skip a part of the trail rather than cars. I 547 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:15,440 Speaker 1: so I love that there's this like whole rainbow of 548 00:26:15,480 --> 00:26:18,159 Speaker 1: conceptual blazes, Like are there any others? Yeah, I'm not 549 00:26:18,200 --> 00:26:20,679 Speaker 1: done yet. There's there's You're probably gonna guess what this 550 00:26:20,720 --> 00:26:23,240 Speaker 1: one is. But there's brown blazing, which refers to a 551 00:26:23,320 --> 00:26:27,600 Speaker 1: hiker going off the trail to relieve themselves. It's, you know, 552 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:29,720 Speaker 1: often used to refer to a hiker who's dealing with 553 00:26:29,800 --> 00:26:33,360 Speaker 1: some stomach issues. I guess. There's also pink blazing, which 554 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:35,679 Speaker 1: is used to describe hikers who have hooked up on 555 00:26:35,720 --> 00:26:39,400 Speaker 1: the trail and started traveling. That's it's it's real love. 556 00:26:39,440 --> 00:26:41,639 Speaker 1: And then there's green blazing, which is when a hiker 557 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:44,800 Speaker 1: spokes pot on the trail. And lastly, there is gold 558 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:48,080 Speaker 1: or platinum blazing, which is in reference to those big 559 00:26:48,080 --> 00:26:51,280 Speaker 1: spending hikers who have all the fanciest gear and tend 560 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:54,040 Speaker 1: to live it up whenever they're headed into town. Well, 561 00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:56,120 Speaker 1: now that we've color coded the trail for everyone, would 562 00:26:56,119 --> 00:26:57,320 Speaker 1: you say we take a look at the state of 563 00:26:57,359 --> 00:26:59,399 Speaker 1: the a T today. But first we should take a 564 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:15,920 Speaker 1: quick break. Welcome back to Part time Genius where we're 565 00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:18,679 Speaker 1: talking about the Appalachian Trail so well, one of the 566 00:27:18,680 --> 00:27:20,560 Speaker 1: ways the a T has changed over the years is 567 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:22,560 Speaker 1: that it's a lot more crowded than it used to be. 568 00:27:22,960 --> 00:27:25,400 Speaker 1: And public awareness of the trail has grown over the years, 569 00:27:25,440 --> 00:27:27,920 Speaker 1: and that's largely thanks to some books. Um. The first 570 00:27:28,080 --> 00:27:31,760 Speaker 1: was edgarves one hit. It was called Appalachian Hiker Adventure 571 00:27:31,800 --> 00:27:34,480 Speaker 1: of a Lifetime. The book boosted public awareness of the 572 00:27:34,520 --> 00:27:37,119 Speaker 1: eighties so much that nearly eight hundred people went on 573 00:27:37,160 --> 00:27:39,800 Speaker 1: to complete the trail in the nineteen seventies. And just 574 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:41,720 Speaker 1: to give you an idea of just how big a 575 00:27:41,760 --> 00:27:45,679 Speaker 1: boost that was, in the thirty three years between and 576 00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:49,359 Speaker 1: nine sixty nine, only fifty nine completions had been logged 577 00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:51,600 Speaker 1: in total. Wow, that is a huge increase, and I 578 00:27:51,600 --> 00:27:53,720 Speaker 1: would have to imagine that would be a similar, if 579 00:27:53,720 --> 00:27:56,960 Speaker 1: not a bigger rise. When Bill Brison released A Walk 580 00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:58,600 Speaker 1: in the Woods. We talked about that earlier, but that 581 00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:01,520 Speaker 1: was in the I guess the eight nineties, right, yeah, 582 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:03,200 Speaker 1: And and then again in two thousand fifteen when the 583 00:28:03,200 --> 00:28:05,520 Speaker 1: movie came out. It's actually called the Bryson Bump in 584 00:28:05,560 --> 00:28:08,320 Speaker 1: his honor, you know, the increase in hikers has also 585 00:28:08,400 --> 00:28:11,560 Speaker 1: led to some negative environmental impact on the trail. There's 586 00:28:11,600 --> 00:28:15,040 Speaker 1: this species of butterfly called the catatan butterfly, and they 587 00:28:15,119 --> 00:28:17,359 Speaker 1: used to be all over the trail's terminus in Maine, 588 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:20,720 Speaker 1: but now the butterfly is considered endangered, and that's because 589 00:28:20,760 --> 00:28:22,960 Speaker 1: so many people have sort of trampled through the meadows 590 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:25,680 Speaker 1: where the butterflies once thrived. Yeah, and I've also read 591 00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:28,320 Speaker 1: about how the influx of visitors has kind of lowered 592 00:28:28,359 --> 00:28:31,320 Speaker 1: the bar in terms of trail etiquette. Like, you know, 593 00:28:31,400 --> 00:28:34,520 Speaker 1: you read these reports of hikers not picking up after themselves, 594 00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:38,000 Speaker 1: even doing reckless stuff like chucking dead batteries into their campfires, 595 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:40,440 Speaker 1: and it's just it's so irritating when you hear that 596 00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:42,440 Speaker 1: people do this. I don't know why people would do this. 597 00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:44,840 Speaker 1: And then even some of the less serious hiking groups 598 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:47,760 Speaker 1: that kind of devolve into these roving frat parties where 599 00:28:47,760 --> 00:28:50,320 Speaker 1: everybody does way more drinking than they do hiking. And 600 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:52,440 Speaker 1: you want people to have a good time, but at 601 00:28:52,440 --> 00:28:54,280 Speaker 1: the same time, this kind of stuff tends to damp 602 00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:56,560 Speaker 1: in that experience for those who are actually trying to 603 00:28:56,640 --> 00:28:59,840 Speaker 1: hike the entire trail. I mean that's definitely true. But 604 00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:02,760 Speaker 1: there is a bright side to sort of this uptake 605 00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:05,160 Speaker 1: and exposure for the a T. And what would you 606 00:29:05,160 --> 00:29:07,840 Speaker 1: say that is so the demographics of who hikes the 607 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:10,959 Speaker 1: trail are actually beginning to broaden. So in the trails 608 00:29:10,960 --> 00:29:14,280 Speaker 1: first few decades, female hikers only accounted for about fifteen 609 00:29:14,280 --> 00:29:16,959 Speaker 1: percent of hikers who completed the a T. But in 610 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:20,840 Speaker 1: recent years that's actually doubled to nearly And while the 611 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:23,440 Speaker 1: vast majority of two thousand miles continue to be white, 612 00:29:23,560 --> 00:29:25,400 Speaker 1: the number of people of color who hike the trailer 613 00:29:25,440 --> 00:29:28,320 Speaker 1: is also on the rise. Um you might have seen this, 614 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:32,479 Speaker 1: but there's a story of this woman, Rahawa Hale, and 615 00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:34,520 Speaker 1: in two thousand sixteen, she became one of the first 616 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:36,960 Speaker 1: few black women to ever through hike the a T. 617 00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:39,880 Speaker 1: And one of the reasons she wanted to do it 618 00:29:39,920 --> 00:29:42,320 Speaker 1: was just to inspire more people of color to head 619 00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:45,560 Speaker 1: for the trail. And apparently it was really a struggle 620 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:48,120 Speaker 1: for her to even find resources for black hikers, Like 621 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:51,120 Speaker 1: she said that when she googled black hikers, the first 622 00:29:51,160 --> 00:29:52,760 Speaker 1: thing that pops up is a listing for a pair 623 00:29:52,800 --> 00:29:56,560 Speaker 1: of black timberland boots. But you know, by documenting her 624 00:29:56,600 --> 00:29:59,120 Speaker 1: journey for others to read about how it really hopes 625 00:29:59,200 --> 00:30:01,760 Speaker 1: to change all of the legacy. Well, on that more 626 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:04,320 Speaker 1: optimistic note, why don't we do today's fact off a 627 00:30:04,360 --> 00:30:07,560 Speaker 1: little bit differently and let's just reel off some tips 628 00:30:07,600 --> 00:30:09,880 Speaker 1: for any listeners who might be thinking of tackling the 629 00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:11,800 Speaker 1: a T themselves. What do you think I'm downe with that? 630 00:30:12,520 --> 00:30:22,440 Speaker 1: M all right? Well, the first piece of advice I 631 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:24,960 Speaker 1: want to give is to know which way you plan 632 00:30:25,160 --> 00:30:28,880 Speaker 1: to go. How smart is that advice? And that might 633 00:30:29,080 --> 00:30:32,240 Speaker 1: seem pretty obvious, but choosing whether to hike southbound or 634 00:30:32,280 --> 00:30:35,280 Speaker 1: as people refer to it as SOBO or northbound NOBO, 635 00:30:35,880 --> 00:30:39,080 Speaker 1: is actually really important decision because it also dictates what 636 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:41,400 Speaker 1: time of year you should plan to head out. So 637 00:30:41,480 --> 00:30:42,920 Speaker 1: think about this for a second. Like, if you want 638 00:30:42,960 --> 00:30:45,040 Speaker 1: to start in Georgia, then you should plan to head 639 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:47,920 Speaker 1: out in the late winter or early spring, and that 640 00:30:47,960 --> 00:30:50,440 Speaker 1: will help you avoid the heavy snows and those super 641 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:53,960 Speaker 1: cold temperatures that dominate the North at that time of year. Now, 642 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:55,680 Speaker 1: on the other hand, if you plan to strike out 643 00:30:55,760 --> 00:30:58,360 Speaker 1: during the summer, you probably want to start up in 644 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:00,680 Speaker 1: Maine in order to dodge some of that southern heat 645 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:03,160 Speaker 1: that we experience here. It's ridiculous that I hadn't even 646 00:31:03,200 --> 00:31:06,440 Speaker 1: considered that. Um, I am curious though, like do most 647 00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:08,560 Speaker 1: hikers tend to hike in one direction over the other 648 00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:10,640 Speaker 1: or is it kind of evenly split? You know, It's 649 00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:13,320 Speaker 1: funny because I had never thought about this before, probably 650 00:31:13,360 --> 00:31:15,160 Speaker 1: because of the region I've lived in all my life. 651 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:17,560 Speaker 1: But I always just in my mind assumed the only 652 00:31:17,600 --> 00:31:20,440 Speaker 1: way you could possibly hike this was from south to north. 653 00:31:20,520 --> 00:31:23,200 Speaker 1: And it's true, like, there are definitely way more north 654 00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:25,920 Speaker 1: bounders than there are south bounders. I think, so south 655 00:31:25,960 --> 00:31:28,760 Speaker 1: bounders make up just ten percent of all the completed 656 00:31:28,880 --> 00:31:32,000 Speaker 1: through hikes on record, and compare that to sixty five 657 00:31:32,600 --> 00:31:35,640 Speaker 1: for north bounders. And then the others are segment hikers 658 00:31:35,720 --> 00:31:38,040 Speaker 1: and those flip floppers. Of course, I just like saying 659 00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:41,200 Speaker 1: flip floppers. So no matter which way you plan to go, 660 00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:43,440 Speaker 1: prospective hikers should know that there are a lot of 661 00:31:43,520 --> 00:31:47,200 Speaker 1: changes in elevation along the way. So this also sounds obvious, 662 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:49,560 Speaker 1: but because the trail more or less follows the spine 663 00:31:49,560 --> 00:31:51,959 Speaker 1: of the Appalachian Mountains, you end up going up and 664 00:31:52,040 --> 00:31:55,520 Speaker 1: down a whole lot. In fact, there's roughly five fifteen 665 00:31:55,600 --> 00:31:59,440 Speaker 1: thousand feet of climbing spread across the mile trip, and 666 00:31:59,480 --> 00:32:01,600 Speaker 1: that's actually the equivalent of climbing to the summit of 667 00:32:01,640 --> 00:32:05,240 Speaker 1: Mount Everest over seventeen times. WHOA I would be using 668 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:07,360 Speaker 1: that fact so much if I were to hike this, 669 00:32:07,960 --> 00:32:09,400 Speaker 1: I do have to ask before I get to my 670 00:32:09,480 --> 00:32:12,240 Speaker 1: next fact, do you think you'll ever hike the entire 671 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:15,280 Speaker 1: Appellation Trail even as a segment hiker? No, I don't 672 00:32:15,280 --> 00:32:17,120 Speaker 1: even know why I asked that. There's no chance either 673 00:32:17,160 --> 00:32:18,680 Speaker 1: one of us are ever going to do this, but 674 00:32:18,840 --> 00:32:20,960 Speaker 1: it's fun to hike parts of it. Well, there's another 675 00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:24,000 Speaker 1: word of warning for would be hikers, and that's be 676 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:27,360 Speaker 1: where the Virginia blues, because more than a quarter of 677 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:30,120 Speaker 1: the trail's length is in Virginia alone. And this is 678 00:32:30,200 --> 00:32:32,840 Speaker 1: really hard to wrap my hiker. More than a quarter 679 00:32:32,960 --> 00:32:35,040 Speaker 1: of the trail is in the state of Virginia, which 680 00:32:35,360 --> 00:32:37,680 Speaker 1: doesn't seem like that big of a trail, but some 681 00:32:37,760 --> 00:32:40,040 Speaker 1: five dred and forty four miles of it are in 682 00:32:40,080 --> 00:32:43,200 Speaker 1: the state of Virginia. So hikers crossed into Virginia and 683 00:32:43,200 --> 00:32:45,320 Speaker 1: then it's a good long while before they'll see the 684 00:32:45,400 --> 00:32:48,000 Speaker 1: state line of West Virginia. And I can make it 685 00:32:48,000 --> 00:32:51,120 Speaker 1: feel like hikers aren't progressing, and a good many of 686 00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:53,560 Speaker 1: them get so bored or frustrated that that stretch has 687 00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:57,000 Speaker 1: become a notorious burnout zone. So for the hikers who 688 00:32:57,040 --> 00:32:58,800 Speaker 1: do manage to stay the course and make it to 689 00:32:58,840 --> 00:33:03,240 Speaker 1: West Virginia, a T has the headquarters located in Harper's Ferry, 690 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:06,520 Speaker 1: and any hikers who stopped by their can get all 691 00:33:06,560 --> 00:33:09,640 Speaker 1: they can drink, cold water, internet access, and a chance 692 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:13,040 Speaker 1: to pamper their tired feet with these electric massagers. Hikers 693 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:15,280 Speaker 1: also get their picture taken and gets added to the wall, 694 00:33:15,520 --> 00:33:17,280 Speaker 1: you know, for all those people who are tough enough 695 00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:20,400 Speaker 1: to make it to the not quite halfway point. Yeah, alright, 696 00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:23,840 Speaker 1: so this isn't exactly surprising advice, but you should probably 697 00:33:23,960 --> 00:33:26,160 Speaker 1: wear shoes when you're on your hike. I'm giving some 698 00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:29,120 Speaker 1: kind of no brainer advice today. But I say that 699 00:33:29,160 --> 00:33:32,720 Speaker 1: because have you heard of the barefoot Sisters. I haven't. Apparently, 700 00:33:32,760 --> 00:33:35,600 Speaker 1: these two sisters from Maine traveled both ways on the 701 00:33:35,640 --> 00:33:38,600 Speaker 1: a T and for about two thirds of their hike 702 00:33:38,960 --> 00:33:43,000 Speaker 1: they weren't wearing shoot can bananas. But anyway, this is 703 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:45,200 Speaker 1: how they put it. We have decided to try hiking 704 00:33:45,200 --> 00:33:48,040 Speaker 1: barefoot because it was the way we had always walked 705 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:50,760 Speaker 1: since we were kids, and in the mountains near our 706 00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:53,160 Speaker 1: home or on the coast of Maine. We love the 707 00:33:53,160 --> 00:33:56,520 Speaker 1: connection to the ground that barefoot hiking gave us. Every 708 00:33:56,560 --> 00:34:01,280 Speaker 1: surface felt different underfoot, granite, shale, high needles, thick mud. 709 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:05,680 Speaker 1: It felt good, which does have a certain romance to it. 710 00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:07,920 Speaker 1: But it also sounds like they grew up feral. It 711 00:34:07,960 --> 00:34:09,839 Speaker 1: totally sounds like they grew up fairl None of those 712 00:34:09,880 --> 00:34:12,120 Speaker 1: surfaces sound like things I want to walk on. This 713 00:34:12,160 --> 00:34:13,600 Speaker 1: is all the more. I mean, maybe the mud that 714 00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:15,879 Speaker 1: might feel kind of nice and squishy after a long walk, 715 00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:18,719 Speaker 1: but still so. I know you alluded to this in 716 00:34:18,719 --> 00:34:21,160 Speaker 1: the intro, but I'm going to steal your thundering because 717 00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:24,359 Speaker 1: I'm just fascinated by this fact. But did you know 718 00:34:24,560 --> 00:34:28,919 Speaker 1: that June one is National Hike Naked Day. I mean, 719 00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:31,000 Speaker 1: not to be a wet blanket on this, but isn't 720 00:34:31,000 --> 00:34:35,400 Speaker 1: this even legal? So yes, and no nudity within national 721 00:34:35,400 --> 00:34:37,759 Speaker 1: parks actually is legal so long as you're not doing 722 00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:41,160 Speaker 1: anything sexual. But forest and park rangers tend to discourage 723 00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:44,600 Speaker 1: naked hiking in general because the risk of sunburn is 724 00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:48,560 Speaker 1: so much greater with I mean some burn and other 725 00:34:48,640 --> 00:34:51,319 Speaker 1: kinds of But if you ever wanted to hike the 726 00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:53,359 Speaker 1: A T and the Buff for some reason, than June 727 00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:55,759 Speaker 1: one is your day to hit the trail, and that 728 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:57,520 Speaker 1: would be my day to not be hiking on the 729 00:34:57,560 --> 00:35:00,600 Speaker 1: Appalachian Trail. That is excellent advice, as you usual, Mango. 730 00:35:00,680 --> 00:35:03,080 Speaker 1: I mean, this is truly the kind of content that 731 00:35:03,120 --> 00:35:05,480 Speaker 1: I think our listeners tune in for, which is why 732 00:35:05,520 --> 00:35:08,759 Speaker 1: I'm going to hand you today's trump. Well, thank you 733 00:35:08,800 --> 00:35:11,200 Speaker 1: so much, well, and thanks so much for tuning in. Hey, 734 00:35:11,320 --> 00:35:12,879 Speaker 1: if there are any listeners out there who have hiked 735 00:35:12,920 --> 00:35:14,960 Speaker 1: a T we'd love to hear your stories. You can 736 00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:17,080 Speaker 1: always send them into Part Time Genius at how stuff 737 00:35:17,080 --> 00:35:19,440 Speaker 1: Works dot com. And if you have time and want 738 00:35:19,480 --> 00:35:21,920 Speaker 1: to write a review for the show, please do reviews 739 00:35:21,960 --> 00:35:25,080 Speaker 1: help get the word out about our little show. From Gabe, Will, 740 00:35:25,120 --> 00:35:27,000 Speaker 1: Tristan and the rest of the gang here, thanks so 741 00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:44,040 Speaker 1: much for listening. Thanks again for listening. Part Time Genius 742 00:35:44,080 --> 00:35:45,960 Speaker 1: is a production of How Stuff Works and wouldn't be 743 00:35:46,000 --> 00:35:48,919 Speaker 1: possible without several brilliant people who do the important things 744 00:35:48,960 --> 00:35:51,880 Speaker 1: we couldn't even begin to understand. Tristan McNeil does the 745 00:35:52,000 --> 00:35:54,319 Speaker 1: editing thing Noel Brown made the theme song and does 746 00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:57,480 Speaker 1: the mixy mixy sound thing. Jerry Rowland does the exact 747 00:35:57,480 --> 00:36:00,560 Speaker 1: producer thing. Gabe Bluesier is our lead research, with support 748 00:36:00,600 --> 00:36:03,400 Speaker 1: from the Research Army including Austin Thompson, Nolan Brown and 749 00:36:03,480 --> 00:36:05,640 Speaker 1: Lucas Adams and Eves. Jeff Cook gets the show to 750 00:36:05,719 --> 00:36:08,120 Speaker 1: your ears. Good job, Eves. If you like what you heard, 751 00:36:08,120 --> 00:36:10,160 Speaker 1: we hope you'll subscribe, And if you really really like 752 00:36:10,280 --> 00:36:12,120 Speaker 1: what you've heard, maybe you could leave a good review 753 00:36:12,160 --> 00:36:14,799 Speaker 1: for us. Do we do? We forget Jason? Jason who