WEBVTT - What are the Greatest Stories from the Appalachian Trail? 0:00:02.520 --> 0:00:04.720 I guess what, Mango, what's that? Will? So I was 0:00:04.760 --> 0:00:07.040 looking at a map of the Appalachian Trail and trying 0:00:07.040 --> 0:00:09.520 to remind myself of exactly where it goes. And did 0:00:09.520 --> 0:00:12.760 you know the Appalachian Trail might actually expand into Morocco, 0:00:12.840 --> 0:00:15.840 of all places? How is that even possible? Well? I 0:00:15.880 --> 0:00:18.360 thought this sounded ridiculous too, but it's actually pretty cool. 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:20.200 So let me let me explain this. So there's this 0:00:20.320 --> 0:00:22.599 vision area. His name is Dick Anderson, and this was 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:25.799 according to NPR. But he has this idea to turn 0:00:25.880 --> 0:00:29.880 the A T into this international trail. I mean, I 0:00:29.920 --> 0:00:32.160 guess I can see that from like a branding perspective, 0:00:32.159 --> 0:00:34.120 But why would you do that? You're gonna remember this 0:00:34.159 --> 0:00:36.840 from your school age, Mango. You remember the word Pangaea 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:40.279 when all of the continents were together, So they were 0:00:40.280 --> 0:00:43.040 connected some two hundred million years ago, And so he 0:00:43.200 --> 0:00:46.199 noticed that when the landmass broke up, so did this 0:00:46.240 --> 0:00:48.800 giant mountain range. And you know other pieces of the 0:00:48.920 --> 0:00:52.519 range that are in Morocco and Greenland, Norway, Spain, a 0:00:52.560 --> 0:00:55.760 bunch of other countries. So the Appalachians kind of continue 0:00:55.880 --> 0:00:58.400 around the world, and you look at what other countries 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:02.160 are doing. Canada's already does ignated eighteen hundred miles from 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:05.440 Maine to Newfoundland, and the British Geological Survey has done 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:08.000 the same thing with this nineties six mile portion of 0:01:08.000 --> 0:01:11.160 a trail that runs through the UK. But all this 0:01:11.280 --> 0:01:14.399 excitement over the International Appalachian Trail it made us want 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:17.360 to take a closer look at how the original Appalachian 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:20.360 Trail got its start. Why did some people start hiking 0:01:20.400 --> 0:01:22.600 the eight in the first place, what are some of 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:25.840 the crazy stories from those early hikes, and what's the 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:29.319 real reason park rangers don't want people hiking naked? Because, 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:31.440 believe it or not, there is a good one. So 0:01:31.560 --> 0:01:55.160 let's dig in yea. Hey there, podcast listeners, Welcome to 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:57.680 Part Time Genius. I'm Will Pearson and as always I'm 0:01:57.720 --> 0:02:00.080 joined by my good friend man Guess Ticketer and the 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:02.480 other side of the soundproof glass, steam rolling his way 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:05.160 through a tub of rocky road. It is rocky road, 0:02:05.480 --> 0:02:08.040 definitely rocky rocky road ice cream. That's our friend and 0:02:08.080 --> 0:02:12.640 producer Tristan mcnailo. I get it. Rocky roads stupid well anyway, 0:02:12.720 --> 0:02:15.680 believe it or not, Trista is actually trying to pass 0:02:15.760 --> 0:02:19.000 this off is part of his training for hiking the 0:02:19.040 --> 0:02:21.000 Appalachian Trail. I don't know if he's going to hike 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:23.320 the whole thing or what, but he claims there's a 0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:27.320 tradition that began around the nineteen eighties where hikers would 0:02:27.320 --> 0:02:29.920 down a ton of ice cream. I'm just not so 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:32.520 sure about this sum It actually is a real thing. 0:02:32.680 --> 0:02:37.079 It's called Gallon Challenge and hundreds of eight hikers take 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:39.639 it on every single year. And Tristan is getting a 0:02:39.639 --> 0:02:42.400 little ahead of himself though, as he always does. The 0:02:42.480 --> 0:02:45.240 challenges something hikers do once they reached the official halfway 0:02:45.280 --> 0:02:47.720 point of the truck. It's actually in this town called 0:02:48.360 --> 0:02:51.680 Pine Grove Furnace in Pennsylvania, and the idea is to 0:02:51.680 --> 0:02:53.880 celebrate the milestone by wolfing down a half gallon of 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:56.320 ice cream in under an hour. There's like a time 0:02:56.360 --> 0:02:59.280 limit on it. There's actually this general store there that's 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:01.520 been hosting the for about forty years now and the 0:03:01.560 --> 0:03:03.799 owner says that the all time record for a half 0:03:03.840 --> 0:03:07.320 gallon challenges under five minutes. Oh gross, that is Uh well, 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:09.120 we'll have to put our our friend Yas or the 0:03:09.120 --> 0:03:11.280 competitive eater up to the challenge to see if you 0:03:11.280 --> 0:03:13.880 can beat that. But that sounds disgusting, and I'm curious. 0:03:14.080 --> 0:03:16.640 Do the challengers get anything for pulling this off besides 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:19.399 brain freeze? Of course, I mean you get bragging rights, 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:23.720 of course. But there are these little prizes. They call 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:26.360 them victory spoons, and it's basically one of those little 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:28.799 wooden spoons that comes with an ice cream cover, except 0:03:29.400 --> 0:03:31.840 this one has the words member of the Half Gallon 0:03:31.840 --> 0:03:35.000 Club printed on it. What a fancy priz. I mean, 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:38.120 I actually love hearing about all the Appalachian Trail traditions 0:03:38.160 --> 0:03:41.800 that have sprung up over the years, because you knows, 0:03:41.840 --> 0:03:44.760 the trail really is its own little world, and at 0:03:44.760 --> 0:03:47.200 this point, it feels like the trail's unique social life 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:49.080 is it's really as much of a draw as the 0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:52.240 beautiful scenery or the sense of the challenge. And if 0:03:52.240 --> 0:03:55.000 you think about it, there's this entire community spread across 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:58.280 fourteen different states and now, as we've learned in Morocco 0:03:58.320 --> 0:04:00.560 as well, maybe one day. But the only thing that 0:04:00.600 --> 0:04:04.160 ties them together is that pull they feel towards this trail. 0:04:04.600 --> 0:04:07.200 So you've got this team of trail maintenance volunteers who 0:04:07.280 --> 0:04:11.120 keep the route clear and safer hikers and supportive residents 0:04:11.160 --> 0:04:13.560 along the way and these adjacent towns, and they come 0:04:13.560 --> 0:04:16.000 in to cheer on the hikers or give them food 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:18.560 or often even a place to crash for the night. 0:04:18.640 --> 0:04:21.920 And then there are the hikers themselves, and so they'll 0:04:21.920 --> 0:04:24.880 often meet as strangers from all walks of life, but 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:27.360 you know, a few shared hardships a couple of thousand 0:04:27.360 --> 0:04:30.840 miles later, and they form these lifelong friendships. Yeah. I mean, 0:04:30.880 --> 0:04:32.520 I have a few friends who have done this, and 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:35.400 there's clearly no question that hiking the a T is 0:04:35.440 --> 0:04:39.159 this life changing experience for tons of people. Yeah, well, 0:04:39.200 --> 0:04:41.040 you hear that over and over, and so today we 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:43.440 thought we'd take a closer look at why that is. 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:45.800 So we'll talk about how the trail got it, start 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:48.200 about some of the most notable folks who have hiked it, 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:51.400 also dig a little bit deeper into life on the trail, 0:04:51.440 --> 0:04:53.000 and check out a few of the clever ways that 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:56.720 intrepid hikers have found to keep things interesting. So there's 0:04:56.720 --> 0:04:58.040 a lot to talk about, But where where do you 0:04:58.040 --> 0:05:00.640 want to start? Manga, Well, how about running through some 0:05:00.760 --> 0:05:02.880 quick stats about the a T just for those who 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:05.480 aren't familiar with it. So for starters, the a T 0:05:05.720 --> 0:05:08.200 is the longest hiking only footpath, not just in the 0:05:08.279 --> 0:05:11.520 US but in the entire world. It's official length fluctuates 0:05:11.560 --> 0:05:14.680 every year. It's um because miles are added or removed 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:17.599 as they perform various upgrades and repairs along the passes, 0:05:18.080 --> 0:05:21.720 but in general the trail runs just under miles. It 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:24.760 stretches from Springer Mountain in Georgia all the way up 0:05:24.760 --> 0:05:27.760 to Mount Cataden in Maine, and along the way the 0:05:27.800 --> 0:05:30.719 trail cuts through the mountainous regions of twelve other states. 0:05:31.400 --> 0:05:34.120 And while millions of day hikers visit some portion of 0:05:34.120 --> 0:05:36.240 the trail every year, the a T is probably most 0:05:36.279 --> 0:05:39.480 famous where it's so called two thousand miles Club. And 0:05:39.720 --> 0:05:42.120 these are those super determined folks who covered the trails 0:05:42.240 --> 0:05:44.839 entire length from one end to the other. And there 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:46.200 are a bunch of different ways you can do this. 0:05:46.320 --> 0:05:48.320 You can take the trail and segments over the course 0:05:48.360 --> 0:05:50.800 of multiple years. They're called segment hikers. The people who 0:05:50.839 --> 0:05:54.640 do this UM You can hike straight through and that 0:05:54.680 --> 0:05:56.880 often takes five to seven months. Those people are called 0:05:56.960 --> 0:05:59.800 through hikers. Or you can complete half the trail and 0:05:59.839 --> 0:06:02.360 one direction before switching to the opposite end to complete 0:06:02.400 --> 0:06:04.240 the other half of the trail later that year, and 0:06:04.279 --> 0:06:06.880 those are called flip flop hikers. But you know, no 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:09.039 matter how you do it, hiking the a T is 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:12.440 this grueling challenge and it takes about five million footsteps 0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:14.560 if you had a predometer on to complete. Wow, I 0:06:14.560 --> 0:06:17.600 mean that is just so long, two thousand miles. I'm 0:06:17.640 --> 0:06:19.719 not sure if I've actually walked that long in my 0:06:19.880 --> 0:06:21.719 entire life, and I'm sure I have, but that is 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:25.279 so long, and obviously it's why so few people make it. 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:27.640 I was actually just looking at the stats from the 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:30.880 a T Conservancy and it looks like about forty people 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:34.200 have attempted the through Hike trail over the past twelve months. 0:06:34.560 --> 0:06:37.800 Yet of those more than four thousand people, only forty 0:06:37.920 --> 0:06:41.240 nine people actually completed it. And in fact, if you 0:06:41.320 --> 0:06:43.520 count from when the trail was created back in nineteen 0:06:43.560 --> 0:06:46.880 thirty seven all the way to today, only around nineteen 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:49.880 thousand high completions have ever been recorded. You think about 0:06:49.880 --> 0:06:51.680 the number of people that have been out there over 0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:53.960 the years. So it's a pretty elite club to be 0:06:54.040 --> 0:06:56.600 part of, definitely, But I do want to talk a 0:06:56.640 --> 0:06:58.240 little bit about how the trail came to be in 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:00.680 the first place. So you already mentioned the a T 0:07:00.839 --> 0:07:04.280 was officially completed in nineteen thirty seven, but the initial 0:07:04.279 --> 0:07:07.800 idea for the trail actually dates back to and that 0:07:07.839 --> 0:07:11.000 was the year this man named Benton McKay graduated from 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:13.480 Harvard and he hiked into the green mountains of Vermont 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:16.840 to celebrate. And as the story goes, McKay climbed to 0:07:16.880 --> 0:07:19.360 this tree atop of Strandon Mountain and he saw this 0:07:19.440 --> 0:07:21.800 gorgeous view there and it just gave him this idea 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:24.600 for a dedicated trail following the Appalachian Mountains all the 0:07:24.600 --> 0:07:27.520 way from Maine to Georgia. And twenty one years later, 0:07:27.600 --> 0:07:30.920 McKay was an established lend use planner and that's when 0:07:30.920 --> 0:07:32.880 he finally took his first steps to making his dream 0:07:32.880 --> 0:07:35.800 of reality. He published this article in an architectural journal 0:07:36.200 --> 0:07:38.640 and it outlined his vision for a nature trail that 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:41.000 anyone on the East Coast could escape to as needed, 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:44.280 whereas he put it a place to walk, to see 0:07:44.440 --> 0:07:46.880 and to see what you see. So if McKay's plan 0:07:47.000 --> 0:07:50.360 was published in nineteen twenty one, but it didn't open 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:54.360 for another sixteen years. Yes, so mackay was a great 0:07:54.440 --> 0:07:57.680 idea man, but he kind of lacked followed through, and 0:07:57.720 --> 0:08:01.120 thankfully there was this maritime lawyer. His name was Meyron Avery, 0:08:01.200 --> 0:08:03.680 and he heard about the project and he was really 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:05.800 the one who pushed it along. So he started mapping 0:08:05.840 --> 0:08:08.560 the trail's route on his own. He took this rolling 0:08:08.640 --> 0:08:11.600 measuring wheel, uh, and he went mile after mile, just 0:08:11.640 --> 0:08:14.240 taking notes for future guidebooks. And he started the process. 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:17.520 And then about ten years into the process, he started 0:08:17.560 --> 0:08:19.880 organizing these crews of volunteers to build a whole thing. 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:22.080 So it took him a full decade to map out 0:08:22.080 --> 0:08:25.800 the trail. It actually took him sixteen years. He kept 0:08:25.880 --> 0:08:28.880 mapping even as construction had started, and he didn't finish 0:08:28.880 --> 0:08:31.720 the project until nineteen thirty six, which is one year 0:08:31.760 --> 0:08:34.320 before the final portion of the trail was cleared. The 0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:36.480 task was probably worth it though, in the long run, 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:39.440 because technically it made Avery the first person to walk 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:41.960 the entire a t at least as a segment hiker. 0:08:42.840 --> 0:08:44.760 So actually I was looking at the first through hiker 0:08:44.760 --> 0:08:47.440 in the world. Would have to wait until nineteen for 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:49.839 that to happen. Do you think about the timing of this, 0:08:49.960 --> 0:08:52.040 You know, you had World War Two that it curtailed 0:08:52.040 --> 0:08:54.720 most people's interest in the trail for the better part 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:57.600 of its first decade or so of existence. But then 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:00.360 once the war was over and servicemen were which earning 0:09:00.360 --> 0:09:03.440 home the A T LRD, a new batch of challengers. 0:09:03.840 --> 0:09:06.080 Now among them was a guy named Earl Shaffer. He 0:09:06.160 --> 0:09:08.240 was a twenty nine year old World War Two veteran. 0:09:08.320 --> 0:09:11.439 He was from Yorkshire, Pennsylvania. He'd read about the trail 0:09:11.520 --> 0:09:15.160 in this Outdoor Living magazine, and Schaefer decided to through 0:09:15.280 --> 0:09:17.280 hike the A T because it was a way, as 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:20.719 he said, to walk the army out of his system. 0:09:20.760 --> 0:09:22.960 So he set out from Georgia on April four, and 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:24.480 he made it to the end of the trail in 0:09:24.559 --> 0:09:27.679 Maine just a hundred and twenty four days later. If 0:09:27.720 --> 0:09:29.600 you do the math on this, this means he averaged 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:32.480 about sixteen and a half miles a day. That is 0:09:32.520 --> 0:09:35.240 so long. Now along the way, Schaefer kept a journal 0:09:35.280 --> 0:09:38.200 to document his thoughts and to really service proof that 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:41.280 he had truly done what he claimed. And what's interesting 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:43.560 is that he sort of unintentionally kicked off a new 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:47.160 literary genre. Today, the Internet is full of these online 0:09:47.240 --> 0:09:51.079 hiking sites that catalog entries from people's Appealachian trail journals, 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:53.880 and occasionally these accounts even make their way onto the 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:55.760 store shelves as they do. You know, if you think 0:09:55.800 --> 0:09:58.400 about the most famous one, probably Bill Bryson's A Walk 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:00.520 in the Woods. Yeah, I mean, that is cool that 0:10:00.559 --> 0:10:02.640 he kicked off this genre. But what's weird is that 0:10:02.640 --> 0:10:05.920 Schaeffer's legacy is even bigger than that. So he hiked 0:10:05.920 --> 0:10:08.520 the trail twice more in his lifetime. Uh. The second 0:10:08.559 --> 0:10:10.800 time was in nineteen sixty five, and then again he 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:13.960 did it in at the age of seventy nine. And 0:10:14.080 --> 0:10:16.880 that second time Schaefer hike from Main to Georgia, which 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:18.880 actually made him the first person to throw hike in 0:10:18.960 --> 0:10:22.360 both directions. That is amazing that he did this at 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:25.160 seventy nine, and it should offer some encouragement to Tristan. 0:10:25.200 --> 0:10:28.240 He's in his seventies right right, so he can still 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:31.520 he's got time. Well, I mean, even though Earl Shaffer 0:10:31.600 --> 0:10:33.800 passed away in two thousand two, you'll be happy to 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:36.960 know that before his death he donated both the backpack 0:10:37.120 --> 0:10:39.200 and the boots that he wore on that nineteen forty 0:10:39.240 --> 0:10:41.400 eight hike to the Smith Zone. So you can go 0:10:41.480 --> 0:10:43.840 see and keep in mind that Schaeffer wore the same 0:10:43.880 --> 0:10:46.480 pair of boots for all two thousand miles of his trip. 0:10:46.520 --> 0:10:48.920 That you can't imagine how torn up these things were. 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:52.120 And he'd often walk days without socks for some reason. 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:55.040 And so rather than replaced the boots a few times 0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:57.720 along the way, you know, like most hikers do, Shaefer 0:10:57.760 --> 0:11:00.760 would simply patch them up himself, or he then resold 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:02.920 in towns along his route. And you know, as you 0:11:02.920 --> 0:11:05.720 can imagine, these things were very much worse for the wear. 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:09.200 In fact, one of the museum curators once confessed, quote, 0:11:09.520 --> 0:11:12.320 the boots are smelly, and those cabinets are opened as 0:11:12.360 --> 0:11:16.280 little as possible. Shaffer was the first man that through 0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:18.000 hike the eighteen But do you know much about the 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:20.040 first woman to do this? I do, And this was 0:11:20.080 --> 0:11:23.200 a really interesting read. That was Emma Gatewood, or Grandma 0:11:23.240 --> 0:11:26.040 Gatewood as she later became known. Now her story is 0:11:26.080 --> 0:11:29.160 a pretty amazing one. She was the mother of eleven 0:11:29.240 --> 0:11:33.160 children and something like twenty three grandchildren, and after thirty 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:36.000 years of being in an abusive marriage, she divorced her 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:39.360 husband and started her life all over and was sometime 0:11:39.400 --> 0:11:42.040 in the nineteen fifties. She read this nat GEO article 0:11:42.080 --> 0:11:45.120 about the Appalachian Trail and how Earl Schaefer was the 0:11:45.120 --> 0:11:48.360 first man to throw hike it, and she told her daughter, quote, 0:11:48.720 --> 0:11:50.640 if those men can do it, I can do it. 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:53.320 So then in nineteen fifty five she proved she was 0:11:53.400 --> 0:11:56.240 right by walking the entire trail. It only took her 0:11:56.280 --> 0:11:59.320 a hundred and forty six days. Now, this was impressive 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:01.840 for all kinds of reasons. For one thing, Gatewood was 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:04.520 sixty seven years old when she completed her hike, and 0:12:04.559 --> 0:12:07.760 she did the whole thing by herself, without any support. 0:12:07.760 --> 0:12:10.120 I mean, it's just unbelievable. In fact, she was kind 0:12:10.120 --> 0:12:13.160 of a pioneer of what we call ultra light hiking today. 0:12:13.520 --> 0:12:16.400 Gatewood wore a pair of ked sneakers the entire trip. 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:20.720 She traveled without the usual staples like a sleeping bag, 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:23.480 a tent, or even accomplished I mean, some of this 0:12:23.600 --> 0:12:26.720 just seems way too crazy to attempt it. She did 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:28.920 carry an umbrella with her, which she used to chase 0:12:28.920 --> 0:12:31.720 off a black bear at one point, apparently, but that 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:34.720 was pretty much the extent of her quote unquote luxuries 0:12:34.760 --> 0:12:37.360 as you might see them. In fact, Grandma Gatewood gave 0:12:37.400 --> 0:12:39.960 this great quote to Sports Illustrated. So I'll just read this. 0:12:40.040 --> 0:12:42.400 Here's what she said. I thought it would be a 0:12:42.520 --> 0:12:46.320 nice lark. It wasn't. There were terrible blowdowns, burnt over 0:12:46.400 --> 0:12:50.679 areas that were never remarked, gravel, sand, wash outs, weeds 0:12:50.679 --> 0:12:53.200 and brush to your neck, and most of the shelters 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:56.200 were blown down, burned down, or so filthy. I chose 0:12:56.240 --> 0:12:59.160 the sleep out of doors. This is no trail. This 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:01.840 is a nightmare. I mean, of course it's the night's 0:13:01.920 --> 0:13:05.800 using an umbrella. Yeah, I think she could have made 0:13:05.840 --> 0:13:07.640 it a little bit easier on herself, but we still 0:13:07.640 --> 0:13:10.040 would have been impressed. I know, it really is impressive. 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:12.079 But you know, I did set you off there a 0:13:12.120 --> 0:13:14.240 little bit. I do want to point out that Emma 0:13:14.280 --> 0:13:16.360 Gatewood was not the first woman to throw hike the 0:13:16.360 --> 0:13:19.360 Appoliation Trail. You let me tell this whole story that way. 0:13:20.280 --> 0:13:23.760 She was the first person that threw hike it solo though. Okay, yeah, 0:13:23.920 --> 0:13:27.720 why why Everything I read said that Gatewood holds the title. Yeah, 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:31.680 I mean, it's probably the biggest misconception about the trail's history. 0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:34.280 You know, even Grahama Gatewood thought she was the first 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:36.480 woman to do this. But in reality, a woman named 0:13:36.520 --> 0:13:39.280 Mildred Norman beat her to it three years earlier, that 0:13:39.320 --> 0:13:42.959 her accomplishment largely went unnoticed. I mean, can you imagine 0:13:43.000 --> 0:13:45.000 what a bummer that was. I'm sure she didn't just 0:13:45.080 --> 0:13:47.520 do it for that recognition, but for Grandma Gatewood to 0:13:47.520 --> 0:13:49.600 get to the end and be like, yes, I'm the first, 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:52.360 and then find out it's Mildred. But I'm curious, what 0:13:52.559 --> 0:13:54.640 why is this? I mean, it was huge news when 0:13:54.640 --> 0:13:57.960 Gatewood finished her hike, So why had Mildred Norman been 0:13:58.000 --> 0:14:00.520 overlooked for so long for doing the same thing first? 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:02.680 I mean, it's hard to say for certain, but the 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:06.040 likeliest explanation is it's because she didn't complete it alone. 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:08.880 She actually traveled the whole way with a companion who 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:11.920 was a male companion who is not her husband. Oh 0:14:12.080 --> 0:14:14.560 that last part is probably key. There is not her husband. 0:14:14.600 --> 0:14:16.320 I mean, that sounds a lot less scandalous than it 0:14:16.320 --> 0:14:19.520 probably was in the nineteen Is that it? I mean? 0:14:19.560 --> 0:14:21.800 Is that why her name isn't in more history books? 0:14:22.040 --> 0:14:25.080 I think so. I mean it's also amazing that, like, 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:28.040 Mildred really didn't mind being slighted, uh so on our 0:14:28.120 --> 0:14:31.560 hike in two she had this life changing vision. She 0:14:31.680 --> 0:14:34.160 was sitting on a hill overlooking New England and she 0:14:34.360 --> 0:14:37.280 renamed herself Peace Pilgrim, and then she set out on 0:14:37.320 --> 0:14:40.120 this cross country activism walking to her It lasted the 0:14:40.160 --> 0:14:44.800 next twenty three years and took her over. Well, I'm 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:46.920 glad she got something out of the experience. And you know, 0:14:46.960 --> 0:14:49.240 since we're on the subject of a t record holders, 0:14:49.520 --> 0:14:50.800 I do want to tell you a little bit about 0:14:50.840 --> 0:14:53.720 Joe McConaughey. So last year he broke the all time 0:14:53.800 --> 0:14:56.880 speed record for a through hike and you won't believe 0:14:56.960 --> 0:14:59.000 how fast he did it. So I definitely want to 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:01.280 hear the details about this. But first let's take a 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:19.640 quick break. You're listening to Part Time Genius and we're 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:22.320 talking about what it's like to hike the Appalachian Trail, 0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:25.000 all right, Mago. So this isn't something I thought of before, 0:15:25.080 --> 0:15:28.440 but apparently there's this whole subcommunity of people who try 0:15:28.480 --> 0:15:31.520 to hike the entire a t as fast as they 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:35.840 possibly can, you know, because leisurely hiking isn't challenging enough, 0:15:35.920 --> 0:15:38.720 I guess, And so the speed hiking practice caught on 0:15:38.800 --> 0:15:41.400 in the early nineties and ever since then it's been 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:44.360 this constant tug of war of records, and I say 0:15:44.440 --> 0:15:48.160 records plural because they're actually separate records depending on whether 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:51.520 you do as supported or a self supported run. So 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:53.960 on a supported round, the hiker has a companion or 0:15:54.000 --> 0:15:56.640 a crew that kind of shadows them along the trail. 0:15:56.680 --> 0:16:00.120 They might provide water or food or fresh supply, is 0:16:00.120 --> 0:16:02.880 even moral support, which of course is incredibly helpful on 0:16:02.960 --> 0:16:05.200 such a long hike. And then on the flip side, 0:16:05.200 --> 0:16:07.640 a self supported run means the hiker takes care of 0:16:07.680 --> 0:16:10.800 all these things themselves, So every five days or so, 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:12.920 the hiker would have to leave the trail and then 0:16:13.120 --> 0:16:16.120 head into a nearby town to restock on food supplies. 0:16:16.680 --> 0:16:18.680 I mean, that might sound like a burden, but those 0:16:18.720 --> 0:16:21.000 self support runs are really the kind that most regular 0:16:21.040 --> 0:16:23.640 hikers make, since you know, there's only so much weight 0:16:23.680 --> 0:16:27.120 you can carry in a backpack. And thankfully, restocking actually 0:16:27.200 --> 0:16:29.880 isn't that difficult, because the a t intersects with the 0:16:29.960 --> 0:16:33.200 road every four miles on average, which is way more 0:16:33.240 --> 0:16:35.520 than I'd expected that. I wouldn't have guessed that the 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:38.520 trail brought you into civilization that often, but it obviously 0:16:38.600 --> 0:16:41.800 always hasn't been that way. Yeah, and it's kind of surprising. 0:16:41.880 --> 0:16:44.480 But even with stores and towns just a few miles 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:47.080 off the trail, that's still more time than some speed 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:49.760 hikers want to spend. But the record holder I want 0:16:49.760 --> 0:16:52.520 to talk about today is a self supported hiker. His name, 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:54.880 as I mentioned, is Joe McConaughey, and when he broke 0:16:54.960 --> 0:16:58.120 the through Hike speed record last August, he was just 0:16:58.200 --> 0:17:02.120 twenty six years old. But get this, he averaged forty 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:06.080 eight miles per day for most of his room and finished. 0:17:06.119 --> 0:17:09.000 When he finished this thing, it was with a stunning 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:12.080 one and ten point eight mile push over the course 0:17:12.119 --> 0:17:15.800 of the last thirty seven sleepless hours. I mean this, 0:17:16.320 --> 0:17:18.640 that sounds like a real nightmare to me. The guy 0:17:18.760 --> 0:17:21.000 is just the machine and it was that final push 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:24.240 that helped him just destroy the previous record by a 0:17:24.280 --> 0:17:27.560 full nine days. In fact, he even beat the current 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:31.160 supported record by ten hours. And in the end, McConney 0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:34.000 he hiked the entire Appalachian Trail in the fastest time 0:17:34.119 --> 0:17:38.960 ever reported forty five days, twelve hours, and fifteen minutes. Wait, 0:17:39.000 --> 0:17:42.399 so he basically hiked the whole Appelaian Trail in like 0:17:42.680 --> 0:17:44.800 a month and a half. I can't even imagine that. 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:47.560 It's unbelievable. I mean, after setting up camp for the 0:17:47.680 --> 0:17:51.120 night mcconnae, he says, he ate like nine'mores, and then 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:53.639 the next morning he and his girlfriend drove straight to 0:17:53.680 --> 0:17:56.919 a diner where he ordered the Hungry Person special and 0:17:56.960 --> 0:17:59.439 he ate half of his girlfriend's breakfast for good measure. 0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:01.320 I mean, I just can't even imagine what this guy 0:18:01.359 --> 0:18:02.840 felt like at the end of this thing. I know, 0:18:03.280 --> 0:18:05.760 being up for thirty seven hours, you know, is it 0:18:05.960 --> 0:18:08.399 self difficult for some people, and to be running the 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:11.600 whole time just seems insane and over mountains. Yeah. Well, 0:18:11.680 --> 0:18:14.000 Gay pointed me to this interview and Runners World where 0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:16.200 he talked about some of the struggles he faced along 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:17.800 the way, and so I thought I'd just read a 0:18:17.880 --> 0:18:21.240 quick excerpt from it. It was a constant battle, he says, 0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:26.600 describing sprained ankles, extreme chafing, wasps things, painful blisters, a 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:29.800 sore on his lower back, swollen quads, and a case 0:18:29.880 --> 0:18:33.720 of ramdom eliasis, which is when muscle tissue breaks down 0:18:33.760 --> 0:18:36.359 and releases damaging protein into the blood and it can 0:18:36.400 --> 0:18:39.600 be very dangerous. Actually, easy days on the a t 0:18:39.840 --> 0:18:43.120 were few and far between, but there is one thing 0:18:43.160 --> 0:18:45.360 that made those rough days a little bit more bearable 0:18:45.400 --> 0:18:47.840 for Joe. And that's something that hikers referred to as 0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:50.480 trail magic. Have you ever heard of trail magic. Yeah, 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:52.240 I've read a little bit about it. It's like those 0:18:52.560 --> 0:18:55.440 small acts of kindness from strangers, right, Like you'll be 0:18:55.520 --> 0:18:58.000 hiking along suddenly you'll find like a cooler full of 0:18:58.000 --> 0:18:59.800 sodas that someone's left as a pick me up for 0:18:59.840 --> 0:19:02.359 an hikers you're going by. Yeah, that's right. And you 0:19:02.400 --> 0:19:04.880 know people who produced this trail magic. They're known as 0:19:05.040 --> 0:19:07.720 trail angels. So I've got to say this bothers me 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:09.800 a little because I feel like trail magic should be 0:19:09.800 --> 0:19:13.480 produced by trail magicians. But I guess we'll go with 0:19:13.600 --> 0:19:15.600 us that way. That's the trail angels. I don't know. 0:19:15.600 --> 0:19:18.040 That feels pretty sweet, but whatever you want to call them. 0:19:18.040 --> 0:19:20.879 These are mostly local residents who live near the trail 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:23.399 and kind of take it upon themselves to lift the 0:19:23.440 --> 0:19:26.840 hikers spirits with these small and unexpected forms of aid. 0:19:27.000 --> 0:19:29.200 So you know, for instance, Joe mcconneughe he met a 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:32.240 trail angel and Vermont who cooked him a delicious omelet 0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:34.320