Podcast Episodes

Episode #506 - Sandra Katerina Schmelzer Alvarez (Peaches)

Sandra Katerina Schmelzer Alvarez, or Peaches, completed her Appalachian Trail thru-hike last month. She is a single mother who managed her autistic son’s reaction to her hike by preparing him for a …

Published on 7 hours ago

Episode #505 - Roxanne Strine (Idiot Runner)

Roxanne Strine completed her Appalachian Trail thru-hike just a few weeks ago, at the sprightly young age of 70. She proved her mettle after her original plans fell through at the last minute, decidi…

Published on 1 week ago

Episode #504 - Darrell Eck (Old Stag)

Darrell Eck, or Old Stag, is this week’s main guest. Darrell retired as a teacher in 2022 and fulfilled his dream of thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail. He had kept a picture of the AT behind him in h…

Published on 2 weeks ago

Episode #503 - Mike Wetherhold (Push)

Mike Wetherhold, who was in the running to be part of the Mighty Blue Class of 2025, is our guest today. Mike went ahead and started the Appalachian Trail at the end of February, and finished mid-Jul…

Published on 3 weeks ago

Episode #502 - Mike Innes (Bobcat)

Our guest today is Mike Innes, or Bobcat, who hiked the Appalachian Trail in 2007, just before the explosion of technological marvels that help hikers these days. It was also the era when lightweight…

Published on 4 weeks ago

Episode #501 - Madison Boehm (Rescue)

This interview was four years in the making, with Maddie Boehm our main guest, four years after we first made contact. It was worth the wait, as Maddie talks about her somewhat tricky start with back…

Published on 1 month ago

Episode #500 - Jessica Hawkins (Dixie)

Welcome to episode 500 of the Mighty Blue podcast, with Jessica Hawkins, or Dixie, as our main guest. Jessica has been a guest several times before, but in this conversation, we focus on recent life …

Published on 1 month, 1 week ago

Episode #499 - Charlie Rogers (Pilgrim)

Our 499th episode features Charlie Rogers, a fellow member of the AT Class of 2019, and an all-round good guy who gives back to the trail as a trail maintainer and shuttle driver.

Charlie and I neve…

Published on 1 month, 2 weeks ago

Episode #498 - Brigid Bell (Purple Haze)

Brigid Bell set out on a thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail just two years ago, and had the most extraordinary encounter in the Smokies. That she lived to tell the tale–and continued her thru-hike–is…

Published on 1 month, 3 weeks ago

Episode #497 - Jim & Sarah Klepzig (Rocky Root & Social Cutie)

Our guests today are Jim and Sarah Klepzig, a couple who lost their 22-year-old son, Tristan, in a terrible car accident five years ago. Tristan is on the left in the picture below, taken just two we…

Published on 2 months ago