S2E9: What is the Appalachian Trail?
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Today we sit down and chat with co-hosts Constantine and Magpie all things Appalachian Trail. The trail that needs no introduction, no description, no embellishment. Known as the Grandfather of trails, you know it, we know it, most hikers and even non-hikers know it, so without further ado, let us define a trail that needs no definition!
As always, we painfully begin the show with an energy drink review. We do not know how nor when this intro became our norm, but do not worry, we shall not disappoint you nor ourselves! We introduce our rock, our guiding post, our safe harbor... well more accurately THE ROCK's energy drink, Zoa! It becomes quite the journey.
After licking a coconut, we begin our chat on the Appalachian Trail. We chat trail community, we chat rain, rain and more rain. We chat first love, we chat steep learning curves, and we chat bunny slopes. We discuss bear canisters and come out of the proverbial bear den to state a quite unpopular opinion. We discuss responsibility, trail angels, trail towns, and the difference between NoBo and SoBo.
We then take a swift dive into the concept of freedom. Pulling ourselves up for a breath of air, we try to quickly tangent out of this minefield of a topic, but give our opinion nonetheless. We chat PG, PG-13, and R rated stories, being "bulky boys", broken knees, green tunnels, and faceplants. We chat pounds of ranch, pounds of carrots, two sleeping bags, an outfit for each day of the week, and electronics on the trail.
We discuss success rates with purely hypothetical statistics, we get in touch with our Tennessee roots, we touch on the "downside" of hitchhiking. We chat Naked and Afraid, the concept "AT hiker vibes", privy bonding, touching whiteblazes, and wildlife. We chat shelters, mistakes, and purism vs purity.
We wrap the show with a very passionate Ramen Rating Review. A review from the heart but also from the trail. Hang on it gets a tad confusing.
Many conflicting feelings, emotions, and thoughts on this trail as it was Constantine's first. Hope some of it makes sense!
Only one quote matters this week:
"The Appalachian Trail is Summer Camp"
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