 We got Lewis here taking photos. How you doing bud? You know what? I'm doing it. We're having a good time We're out here on the Appalachian Trail. This time. I know that he set higher goals for himself And I think he's gonna do it. I mean that's got your You know don't bet against that guy. Yeah, never Would you find there ever green? Look at him go So I have a new friend here. I just woke up on a park bench and met this guy. What's your name? His name is Jabba the real hiking Viking I just yoked you up from the downtown right right off the boards of the gazebo in town You know we threw you in the van. We said shut up and don't tell anybody where you're going pulled you to the Appalachian Trail You're gonna run in and go get sky you got to pull them out and that's it man We're just gonna make sure Scott's happy. That's your job because he needs Energy dude, that's what you help provide you bring him to me. You bring him happy. He gets here. He's happy We feed him. He's happy. He keeps moving forward. We're all happy forward forward forward Help him think about nothing but moving forward Hi Jenny. What's going on here? Well, we're waiting for Scott at the end of the hundred mile wilderness, which is It's basically been like zero very hard to crew and he's had very little company So he'll be psyched to see some happy faces. Is this the trail? Is this the trail? Is this the trail? White blazes. All right. See y'all. I have a good one. Okay This is exciting my very first time on the Appalachian Trail and I get to go meet my buddy Scott and run with him while he's Attempting to accomplish a huge huge feat. He's at the very beginning of the journey But he's gonna do it And I'm really excited to be here even though I really didn't sleep last night. I flew in Got in at about 2 30 in the morning and Slept in a gazebo in a tiny town called Munson, and I'm already loving this trail. It's beautiful All right, so these are the famous white blazes of the Appalachian Trail And we head into the green tunnel Scott set off at about 5 a.m. This morning and he's been running south I'm currently running north just to go meet him Say hi give him a high five brighten his spirits And then we'll both run back to the crew at the parking lot he'll keep on running and I'll just meet him Throughout the week here and there maybe about 20 25 miles a day just Run with him Keep his spirits high Keep him moving help him out with whatever he needs That's my job this week. He's getting some water right through the trees I'm gonna surprise him. Hi there. Have you seen Scott jerk? Hey, you doing buddy. Good to see you my man. How are you doing? I'm doing great fancy to see you out here Yeah, I know made it made it made it to Maine. I sure did you did too Think of these trails man, they're rough you told me that they were a lot rougher than the boulder trails. You're right All right, Scott. So you're three days in what what have you been running through? So I'm finishing up a piece here Just a small 100 mile piece Called the main 100 mile wilderness. It's a infamous part of the Appalachian Trail where There's really no road crossings like there's logging roads Out and back, but it's one of the more rugged probably the most rugged section on AT and people come from all over US and even the world to just come out here and experience it it's pretty remote and It's got some Pretty tough little mountains here and there yesterday. I went over the last night I'm finishing up in the dark went over small little range called the chair backs just a little It's a little not a little nasty section. That's like just jagged rocks this ridge And they just go up and down up and down But yeah, the 100 mile wilderness. It's a big chunk for through hikers because you know, I've had a I had a 22 mile section yesterday before logging road, but for most through hikers, they're coming into this No access resupply Anything like that and for the AT. It's very unique. Yeah, the PCT you've got other stuff, but for the AT through hikers, it's definitely a Daunting little section. So what does your average day look like? What when do you start when do you finish like? Oh, this is slippery here. Yeah Everything's slippery Typical day I've been waking up at 4 30 Goal is to be on the trail five which I've accomplished both mornings and You know, I usually Lately there's been pieces sometimes it's a Short piece like today, you know, I'm doing 14 miles to start before I see my crew. So especially in Maine the Hampshire has that a bit to where sections are Pretty sizable before you see crew like yesterday I did a 22 mile section without seeing crew So I'll see my crew Anywhere from like Two three times a day Right now because we're up in Maine and just not a lot of access It's a little bit better as we come down into southern Maine, but and then This is my day right here Put one foot in front of the other this is and a maintain a for a lot of people out there It's like I know they're like, ah That's slow like just try to get a group of three miles an hour Which over these trails, which you will soon see Now I know you just got taste of it, but yeah, it's just you go down to like two miles an hour Yeah, and just slower because you're just like grabbing on to What they call out here Cedar Birch or alder handrails basically means small saplings roots anything you can hold on to slide down rocks just throw yourself To the next piece of rock that looks like you're not gonna wipe out on and grab a root Grab a tree branch Yeah, it's um It's rough stuff out here. So Yeah, and then I usually Yesterday I did 44 miles Finished up the day around 9 30 p.m. I was hoping to be a little bit earlier. It's for today. I gotta Get to the Kennebec River crossing so get a fun little thing. It's one of the Hallmark sections also the AT besides a hundred mile wilderness is crossing the Kennebec and there's a ferry shuttle service basically a Gentleman and I don't know his name, but he's been doing it for years He shuttles people across the Kennebec because it's so big What's that you hear Scott? I hear a road a road It's the small things in life that bring excitement Yeah, the crew is waiting for you The crew and the kids And how long is the whole trail Those are things we don't mention I'm just curious 2193 114 down you got this Jenny what's up next six mile section which is funny because we ran this section 2015 together at night things were like dire and I feel the same I feel like things are a little bit dire right now too because he's a little bit behind but no worries We're gonna get him going Give him a hug So Scott and Jenny are finishing a six mile section here We're just running out to meet him. You're known as the real hiking Viking on Instagram follow him. Correct Why is that man? I actually don't know for certain if I have any Scandinavian blood in me you know, I'm not trying to appropriate Viking culture, but essentially when I was Marine the Marine Corps You know the army? They call themselves soldiers Navy They call them. I know what they call themselves in the Navy. We don't care Is the Marine Corps We call ourselves warriors. We have a warrior ethos and When I finished my first through heck on the AT the same trail, I grew this congested glorious beard. It's nice, you know, and when I was deciding to get on social media and share my story Just trying to think of something that embodied everything that I was at the time And I Being a warrior. I said, you know what? What rhymes with hiking for Viking and Vikings are warriors Hey, I know you Yeah, good job Jenny How was it Jenny? It's hot and sweaty and nitpicky. I kind of forgot Feels good to be back though. How's your husband doing? He's great. He's just getting into his group. It's like It's kind of deja vu a little bit, but I think physically and emotionally he's He's more prepared this time. So he's just doing him. He's doing him. You know, nobody else. Yeah, it feels good I feel very good about where he is How is it having the kids here? You know, it's okay it's It's great having them here because back then they were just like a little twinkle in our eyes like They were like the hope the dream when we were doing this trail This was kind of all of it like all led up to having kids and so I feel like having them here It just brings it around full circle, but it makes it like more special because There's just so much meaning on the trail for us and it's cool to have them out here But then sometimes I'm like, ooh, should I be dragging them? They're poor little heads bobbing on these roads and stuff So we're trying not to go in too much See Scott every like maybe twice a day have fun have fun They're heading off in a 17 mile segment and then I will be there for the night run taking them home Oh It's about 7 p.m. Scott's coming in in about an hour. We're just getting pumped up for how we all doing We're just trying to do our flu We're just doing it. We're doing it. She's been cooking these Vegan yummy To go and what is this stuff? That's mashed potatoes with hemp seeds so it has protein protein and you're making it all right here All right here. I'm burning some burritos right now burn the burritos Don't burn the burritos. He doesn't like burn burritos This is so cool, and then we've got the hiking Viking out here. Just jamming look at them Yeah And Scott's gonna come sit right here. We're gonna give him some food We're gonna get him ready. Maybe somebody will massage him and then Down the road and up the mountain like making new friends. I didn't know these people before I got here I didn't know a lot of these people, but we're all weird. We love you When we listen into here, I have no idea that I like it I'm getting loaded up here. I'm the mule a mule carries all the stuff so Scott can run light And so I've got lots of water and burritos and food and water filters and yeah, all right. See you guys All right, let's do it My boy Scott a little Friday night run. It's good. I'm some rage gone dude. Yeah. Oh you want the rage back? Here comes Scott jerk. You're nice Scott Good night dozer looks cozy in here. Good work today. Thank you man. Thanks for being out here. It's absolutely It's fun. Buenos nachos All right, it's finally time for bed we just got Scott down. It's 11 p.m He started at about 5 a.m. Today and that's kind of how it's gonna go every day. This today is day three He's already had three very difficult days and running with him tonight. I Was I was just in awe. I'm just so impressed by his tenacity because he is he's hurting. He's in pain You know, his body is not quite used to this grind and You know, he's a little bit older than the last time he did this and Things hurt and this terrain is nuts like he had told me that it was steep and rocky and rooty But man, it's relentless out here and It's such an honor To be here, you know along alongside Scott and this whole crew and everybody's so Awesome. I mean, this is a team effort, you know, we often think of running as a solo sport, but Something like this is definitely a team a team endeavor So John, what's gonna happen this morning? We're gonna take a little boat ride. Oh, yeah. Yeah, where are we with Alex with mr. Alex here? we are on the Kennebec River and We are headed across on the AT headed south Yeah, it's gonna be awesome and you're the man getting in the boat and then running with them I'm gonna run with Scott in the next section across the river and then I'll meet Carl About 12 miles out and then we'll let Scotty do his thing again. What kind of terrain are we looking at? It's not bad terrain. We're not we don't have any big climbs on this other side So it's gonna be should be a nice a nice 12 mile run So he's not gonna do any major climbs, which is good. How do we meet this guy? He's gonna take us across the river. You guys just stumbled into my driveway in the middle of the night Asking for directions Now you're just trail-magicking him across that's the plan Right on comes around yeah for sure right on good morning Raven and never in how you guys doing good Oh, it's like a little tripod hi How you doing bud? Oh mom you woke them up I did and I never never wake a sleeping baby is my role, but I didn't want them to miss this river crossing How cool is it? It's so beautiful Go get them. I hear them I hear them, but I keep going. We gotta run with that now They feel this morning Scott pretty good Good legs are working. What truck are you playing with buddy? That's the dump truck Feeling it full of dirt. That's the greater. It's to move stuff So that's the Appalachian Trail right there and we and we are hanging out here on the side of the road playing with trucks we've got all the crew vehicles right here and We're just waiting for Scott to come and then I'm gonna start running again. How you feeling this morning? Oh, you know Not bad Considering you know, I always feels good when you can get 24 miles or whatever it is 25 miles and yeah by a little afternoon Day four I think it is for so far, you know everything's going pretty well. You've done this before Yeah, I was here in 2015 first attempt What year how long ago is that six or seven years ago something like that and? Yeah That was that was much different. So less people less infrastructure It wasn't better or worse. It was just different. All right So I am up next and we are going up the famous bigelows. I'd never heard of them But they are big check it out. This is my gut hook app And we're gonna go up that mountain and then that mountain and they are As you can see Pretty big. All right, it's time for a chest bump with the crew chief. Here we go Yeah, all belly How are we doing bud? How are we doing today? I mean, I think today is going pretty well so far honestly Things have been things have been a little calmer. He's been he I think he was moving around 3.4 miles per hour today, which is quite frankly Leaps and bounds better than some other of the stretches he did before this So things are encouraging. However You got a big climb with you coming up. We're talking like 5,000 plus feet of climbing over the next 16.6 miles. I mean, it's more it's more than 5,000 feet of climbing It's like the first climb is like 4,600 feet and then it's still another eight miles to the end and there's still climbing involved So it's a lot. It's the bigelows. They're there his first true nasty Alpine bumps since Katahdin and how do you how do you get through hard stuff hard times when you're down in the dumps? Physically, you're like trying to make your body move forward. What do you do? Where do you go? That's a good question. It's like I wish I could tell you exactly where I go Me that's like I search for any portals to Just be like I know portals to the soul that Just give me a little bit. I don't know hope because I think that's hope is something that sometimes is hard to have and I think I often think of like Family my mom is always a source of inspiration Jenny and the kids on Yeah, and just try to be like you know why it's You know No one's making me do this I'm doing this to myself you know, and I love it, but Let's be real. I mean doing this kind of mileage Every day It's not just it doesn't just get old It's grueling grinding just And I think there's a lot of value in the the tough the tough times The tough the hard things and you I don't know so So I attempt to remind myself like There is something some kind of nourishment for this bad tea that I'm Frickin drinking Because there's probably moments where you're like on this trip. You're like, why am I doing this again? Yeah, unfortunately. I've already thought day four and I'm just like Shit, it's like I'm Jenny and I were talking like this like I feel like This is a continue. No, you only have a dream and it's like You feel like you pick up on that dream where you left off some other night. Yeah, for sure. I feel like I feel like Jenny said oh you mean a dream or a nightmare. I was like well kind of bold like Sometimes it's just a real dream Like oh wow, this is like Wild we're back out here again, and sometimes the freaking nightmare I Don't mean that in a slight. Oh, this is it sucks. This is terrible, but it just yeah, it's so hard and I'm like Dang, I don't feel like I've left It feels like I literally picked up where I Left the trail six years ago and Jenny's felt that on the other side like she's not even Running the mileage, but being out here driving to the spot being with the kids watch them like It's just It's kind of wacky. Yeah, I mean like I was saying earlier it's there is like You know the things that are like emotional or tied into What are these blueberries? Yeah, free food Micronutrients I Think it's I mean those are helpful like offering up You're suffering. I mean it's kind of I think why people you know they Pray I mean I grew up Catholic and my Grandma was always praying the rosary and I think that You know like prayer or intention people do yoga offer up there Practice for the day for an intention. I have an intention with their practice. They offer that up I think it's You know you have that intention and you Offer sometimes, you know, where your separate is gonna go in orange, but Yeah reminded like I have the ability to move my body like You know, and it's easy to be You know people have it so much rougher There's always somebody who has it worse But when you're out here suffering you know what like I can move my body my mom spent most of her adult life in a wheelchair Not able to we were by losing and so I Know it's a reminder to me Sometimes yeah, my grandpa You put yourself in a wheelchair Do the things you do By the time you're 40 so made it to 47 no new knees. Yeah, no new joints But yeah, and then beyond all that, you know emotional then it's like You know, it's the things like having a record because there's no reason like You know why the hell would I Where and do this if I didn't have a carrot hanging out there and that's I mentioned this late last night No, he's paying me a million dollars, but I'm putting a carrot out there like I want to break this record I want to like Get my record back This seems like there's so much more I can learn this time around and I think that's why Yes on the surface Whoa Do that even stops to fix Karen's upper body mid-run mid-sentence But it's Don't tell Carl. He just did that or your wife What the hell are you doing? Why are you wasting time? that's like calories and time that you Putting forward down the trail, but you give them back. That's the whole purpose. Yeah, well so yeah, I think No, you've got to find I Guess they're not they're like Audio is better. Yeah people have to find You know those goals or those carrots for themselves those those triggers to Get you out of bed in the morning Yeah, for some people Yeah, including myself You know, it's easy to get down life can throw shit at you and you're like How do you motivate yourself just even getting out of bed like so? I think doing these things you really have to find what's going to get you out of bed in the morning 50 miles and What's gonna like last time around never thought I? Had to go to the places that I had to go and just how much sleep deprivation how much struggle toil there's so many things that happen out here and It's a struggle You know to do this so Yeah, you have to find the things they're gonna motivate you and for me it's you know record looming out there something like that like putting that goal and Holding yourself accountable to that is super powerful like I'm going back to a you know a primal state of just survival out here like just doing what Animals and humans used to do and it's pretty Yeah, pretty amazing to just tune all that out and just okay. I just need to put one foot in front of the other and that's I know I say it's a gift. I don't know It is Just like this steep heart right here is a gift Merry Christmas Rock stuff so like all these were placed yeah Hardcore trail. Looks like we're going up a creek bed. This is crazy rocks. You're you're not in Boulder, Colorado anymore Definitely not These are the rocky mountains Appalachia the oldest mountain ranges in the world you can tell these rocks are Ancient Probably the Mount Everest at one point Yeah, buddy. Yeah, look at them go Very quite well but Sure gives you a taste of what means like all the lakes and Now it's raining that happened pretty fast. That's spoiled our little celebration We need to get off the mountain because there's no tree cover. That's okay It's nice warm main rain So check this out. This is a box spring here and I've been filling up the water There's a little filter on top of this squeezing filling up these bottles Scott went up ahead and I'm just kind of making sure we have enough water for the rest of the evening We still have about almost 10 miles to go. We've done we've done a lot of up and A little bit more up and then down but this water is as fresh as it gets and it is super cold All right, so it's dinner time on the AT what you got there, bud. It's a little frozen burrito How many calories do you eat a day? Seven eight thousand plus Is it hard in these small towns to find vegan nutrition she would tell you So making it so I have some help this year Megan food We have a microwave in the van Some things we didn't have before which I didn't have time to make but she made smoothies so Doing a lot of smoothies out here Every day I have at least one Um Because you can pack a lot of calories and those been doing Thai food curry Mexican vegan rice burritos ice cream you know Did have some ice cream popsicles yesterday And yeah, I think tonight Ice cream should be on the docket This is the trail. This is the trail That is nuts. It's a little bit steep on this back side here What'd you find Scott magic trail magic? Look at that Somebody put cold sodas in the creek for people. How cool is that? Look at that. I haven't had cherry coke in a long time. We are about a half a mile from the car and uh Yeah, I've been out for seven and a half hours Scott's been out since five in the morning It's 9 30 p.m We're almost done The final steps are always exciting but hard And uh, yeah, we went up and down some Big old bigelos Yeah, buddy It's going yeah, that was not flat. No. Well, it's as best as I could do for you Here we are. This is where you are. This is your climb. Yep unreliable source unreliable source Reliable source in four point two four point two. All right this first initial climb to the top of Um, I believe it's north crockers. Yeah All right. Have a good morning bud. Oh, yeah, see you out there later You know what go get them. Whoo. Whoo. What are you eating? So, uh, there's a nutritional pop tart. It's different than the regular store brand. It's nutritional It's good for you. That's wellogenic It's hypoallergenic. You can run them through the dishwasher and still eat them So this guy right here Carl has his own shoe and I've been wearing the speed goats for two years And I love them But he also has his own sock. Check it out. This is the speed goat sock We've got Carl over here picking out all the treats, huh? Picking out the treats. These aren't my treats. These are scott's He loves them. He loves them. He loves these things. Thank you cliff bar So is there a method to your picking out snacks? 240 calories per hour. That's that's the number So I have no idea how much those sandwiches have in them, but they look pretty big. I'm calling that 350 So I just kind of do the math scott's always come back with extra food so You can always go a little lighter to think You know burritos vegetables beans I don't know how his body handles it, but when you were on the at what were you eating? beer and candy That's what they told me I was eating beer and candy for the new york time said we're now making vegan sandwiches With mayonnaise that have been on there for a couple of days I take it you're not a vegan No, I'm not vegan The food can taste very good. I'm not against that, but Yeah, I'm not a vegan. Where's the steak? I think we're having hot dogs and hamburgers tonight I heard last time you were taking uh Chicken on the trail with you. Yeah with chicken tenders, you know chicken tenders were awesome I always had all kinds of scraps like that I did always have a little bit of candy just a munch on another good thing just to munch on is sunflower seeds fill your pocket Keep you occupied. You know Yeah, I just do stuff like that and my I just basically have my crew fill a pouch So set a small pouch in the front They filled it with food. I picked it up and left and what they fed me was what they fed me I ate it because I was hungry all the time So what are you working on in here? I'm making some boiled potatoes. Oh, yeah. Yeah apparently it's a lovely snack with some salt and some vegan butter or coconut oil uh olive oil Just a little carb punch for the for the trip. What have you mostly been making for? Uh, I think his favorite thing I've made was coconut cream curry I've also been doing a lot of rice and beans um, like burrito-y type things um pasta with vegan meatballs pretty much anything I can add nice hearty fats to some uh smoothies with blended nuts and fruit uh Anything we can load up on the on the protein fats and carbs to keep them fuel What's in this cooler? All of his pre-mades and all of the vegetables and fruits we will need to fuel our ass And ice cream and ice cream Yeah Yeah I'm going to carry this extra sandwich as burrito and then this other burrito cake made Okay, so I've got lots of food for it 25 miles to go Roughly 6300 feet of gain to get over Get over the other road to get to root main route four Have fun out there brother that first day of school. I know it feels like you look great Got your backpack all packed. Well, the other kids like me and then lunch Go get them. Go get them scott. You're gonna be fine. Oh, I don't want to kiss. I don't want to kiss Come here Okay, you're it Are we playing free tag? Are we playing free tag? Oh, I'm it. Okay turn around then better start running I'm coming and this is how we passed the time when scott's out running all day evergreen. What are we doing? Going into the spooky forest What's in there evergreen Ghosts and dragons. Okay, let's go. I'm following you. There's no scary stuff. No, that's good Are you looking for ghost tracks? Yeah, give me your hand, buddy We don't need you getting injured. It's water. It's water. Okay How you doing bud Good to see you Been a while 12 hours I'm almost on the dot. I started out as a knot and what's really weird is It was this it was starting here like a knot yesterday on this one when dozer and I were running and then I started, you know doing more with this side so I was like Yeah, it's kind of like just this in the muscle belly Carl's got the serenovadas Congrats. It's my old favorite Are we thinking here? We found vegan pizza. What do you think? amazing So we are camped out in a parking lot and Everybody's pretty whooped even though I didn't run today. I thought I was gonna run but uh Just that one huge section that tom and scott did Took up the whole day. They left at 9 30 in the morning. We're back at about 9 p.m. And I think scott's hurting a bit his his legs his quads I'm gonna get up early in the morning and and head out with him and get a nice strong start to the day and Hopefully he's feeling better because he just went to bed Uh, just dejected kind of down, but uh, you know, it's the beginning of the adventure long way to go He's gonna do it. I have faith. I'm proud of him. It's pretty incredible to watch him do this Now this morning you're on route four to here Which is the height of maim So 12 miles 13 almost I guess it's closer to 13 Good morning It's been better um yeah, unfortunately I've got some kind of quadricep muscle strain that decided to pop up yesterday late morning and Just progressively got worse and worse all day Made things super painful and then it didn't help I Climb descended over 9,000 feet yesterday or 10,000 feet over 32 miles so Yeah, it's um Trying to walk it off this first stretch so you it'll break free a little bit, but It's been super painful so What does it feel like? uh Because somebody's sticking a knife into Quad because I like downhills are worse I'm able to walk at least in the flat Downhills I feel like Yeah, literally have to use my poles as crutches Yeah, it's definitely got like Some strain tear I told her in micro tearing that's Pretty significant. I'm in a tough spot mentally right now hard not to Think negatively but I'm trying to I'm trying to stay positive Trying to figure out. Okay. What can I do to keep moving? These hills never looked that good on camera, dude They already get the full effect. This one looks great Your butt looks great too Keep flexing your butt We talked about this the other day, but like in this moment you're in a lot of pain What keeps you moving forward now? Like how do you get through this? I don't know. I like right now I'm kind of in survival mode in terms of being in so much pain like it's different when I think your Mind is having a hard time being in it Like what we were talking about last time was More like, you know, how do you stay into it When it's things are like this I feel like I'm I don't know. It's it's like something even beyond even though it is so much Psychological, but when you have Significant injury pain going on It's just kind of like, okay, I like grit my teeth Grimace and just survive So, yeah, it's kind of How are you, how's it going? Coming from Georgia? Yeah. Nice almost done Yeah, how you go You too, what's your trail name? All right, Simba, get it. That probably helps you a little bit seeing people Yeah, I mean It it helps Sometime, but then you know, you go right back to the pain So, yeah, right now I'm just trying to survive See if I can get this thing healing itself while I still walk on it because that's the biggest like Tipping point of like, okay, how much can you move on it? What can you do To keep moving down the trail are you making it worse? Yeah, exactly Like I'm starting to contemplate now. Oh, should I Take it easy. Should I take part of a day, you know, and that's It's not really an option Not an option if you want to break the record. Uh, no That's where The conundrum lies Definitely a lot. You can see the difference between the two. Yeah Oh man, I feel so bad for you Uh Wish I could implant your legs. I know I wish I could just give you these I feel bad I always pull out the camera when I see something hard because I'm like, I'm gonna film Scott suffer now It's like great content great content. Watch Scott suffer But he's cruising you're doing all right I wouldn't say cruising Yes, Scott a level of one to ten. Where are you at on the pain pain scale? When walking downhill, I'd have to say nine Damn Come on quad get it together So jenny just jenny just joined us. What's up jenny? You guys extract you out of the phone Smile everybody smile You smiled I saw it You're making me laugh So jenny, what tactics are you using to pump up your husband right now? Oh, I'm just you know staying positive and also using All the things he tells other people to do all of that Peptalk he tells what does he tell people? He tells people you always have another gear You always have more to give Just dig deep and find that extra well that hidden well He tells people all that stuff and it's because you know, he's Done it, but I think right now when he's in it. It's hard to remember what you're capable of but um I just know that he has a long Journey ahead of him And it's going to get better Because it never always gets worse So you're feeling confident. Yeah, at least confident that he's going to have an amazing trip Even if it starts out like this Um, yeah, I just feel like This is why we're here and this is what he was coming for looking for the whole The edge finding the edge like the transformative thoughts that you know propel your mind to push your body And he's really he excels at that and I feel like he's always so hungry for that and this is like the perfect place to tap into it Is Get off my leg try to get some healing going on this thing Because hiking on it did not make any sense Or hiking more So unfortunately, it's uh Yeah, it's a little rough right now So, uh, yeah, I'm gonna go into town Try to Get fixed up if there was a miracle worker in town, that'd be awesome But But Get this thing healed up and get back out of tomorrow morning. Hopefully I don't know What are you doing abs? You taking care of mosquito bites? Yeah, you got I mean does this thing work? I don't know. I I got instagram marketed. I was like, yeah, I'm getting that Taking care of those bug bites. What about yours? Who knows that? Yeah, I wish I didn't have a suction device like I just like yeah, maybe she's just Suction out all the inflammation Just It's okay. You can tip you can uh, what are you looking at? A big pumpkin toe A big pumpkin and then what's it doing? It's it's eating a donut Does it have a blister? No underneath it Oh, yeah, what's the plan right now? The plan is to Do some Testing the things out tomorrow See if it'll come around So Gonna get some rest tonight Ice it again here in a second. So I've been icing it and then Doing the norm attack nomadic compression stuff See if it'll turn around So Is the family love uh, beneficial to all of this? Of course. Yeah, it's good to be around them. Um, for sure They're um, they kind of have no idea the kids anyways, but So they just think yeah, bubba's hanging out. Um So yeah, it's it's good to spend time with them for sure But it's also there's a reality of things too that It's way in pretty heavy to figure things out So yeah, it's like getting a dose of Regular life which You know, it's pretty pretty sweet pretty tempting to Just Hey, we're doing an interview over here, buddy. Why are you so loud? You take care of your dad's today, okay Thank you Is this your gopro? Yeah, no, it's not it's my gopro All right, well, I'll let you get to bed with the kids bedtime Be the earliest I've gotten to bed in a while. Can you say good night? Good night Good night, poo poo Good night, Jenny We'll see you in the morning everybody Twenty-four hours later bud. How we doing? um A little bit better, you know mentally it's uh there's a readjustment of things but um I'm hoping that My quad will give me something today more than it did yesterday, but Just gotta see you gotta give it a shot. Um, I guess that's where things are out Hi Raven. How are you guys doing? Good, you know, it's a new day It's not cloudy. We can see the views Feeling pretty good. Papa seems to be feeling better more like himself But you know, we'll see today We'll be the decider, right? How was uh, y'all sleep last night? Yeah, and I you know, it comforts me to hear him snoring was at like a log Just resting and he seems a lot better. He seems like himself just more mentally A little sharper, so we'll see. How about you? Are you well rested? I am well rested. Yeah, but just kind of You know, lots of different feelings and thoughts in my head like I don't want him to do anything Yeah, that would damage himself, but also I don't want him to give up because I know If we went back home and he's sitting on the couch He would not be able to look himself in the mirror right now. You know, there's I just want him to feel good about it I believe in magic Do you believe in magic? I believe in it Are you trying to tickle me you can't tickle me while I'm filming You crazy guy What's this? All right boys, go get them. Have a good day. We love you Play today smart, baby Jenny, what was the last thing you said to scott just now? I said make us proud and Not because we're not proud of him, but I want to see an effort. I don't want to see he's already Kind of crestfallen, you know, I want him to Um, just remember why he came just because he loves being out here period. He loves it. So There's nothing, you know to be sad about to like regret Like I just I want him to enjoy The sacrifice that everybody's made to get him here to let him do his thing. So that's what I meant by that I'm gonna get you I'm gonna get you You want the gopro back? Okay. Here you go You got the treasure kind of like a worn wear pop-up with Patagonia the graciously supplied some awesome repair Everything you could possibly want zippers velcro fabric Um, you know zipper pulls just to fix hikers broken stuff. Yeah to fix do, um Repairs on the trail for the hikers So I'm trying to like make myself useful as I wait for Scott this time and and it's a great way to interact with the hikers It's a really it's a little bit of trail magic I think that I can give for all the people that came out It gave us trail magic. It's kind of a good way to give back I started sewing at a really young age. My mom taught me she used to sew all of our Clothes and our doll clothes. So it's something I grew up doing and then I went to design school and I really honed my sewing skills and then I Been a designer an outdoor designer for many many years now um And so it's kind of my wheelhouse All right, so I am gonna hike back a few miles and meet up with Scott and Luis And I have some warm vegan pizza pockets in my backpack And some new water. I don't know exactly What he needs if he's even hungry but I figure he'll be happy to see An energetic face and some new food and water. So I found him There he is the hobbling The hobbling mess Of the AT How's today been my man? uh Started slightly up No Feeling like okay a little less pain than yesterday Feeling like I could do some but as soon as I started going downhill. That's just like Pretty much like yesterday Maybe a little less but pretty excruciating But you know trying to really just I had to give it an honest effort see See where things are at but right now like I mean my muscle is like grating I quite as like Sounds like there's paper being torn inside or I don't know it doesn't have an audible sound I don't know if that a sense of touch can have a sound Take me back a few months How long have you been preparing for this and your body was in pretty good shape, right? No, I was in great shape. I feel like I was the strongest I've been In a long time. I mean I've Tried to prepare my body For the demands of just the wear and tear that it was going to encounter so way more like strengthening and It's doing a lot of plyometrics and Really stressing the muscles for durability factor, which is what a lot of this is but I Did a lot of hard training in the foothills of boulder instead of up high where it's all pretty and where I'd rather be Not say the foothills aren't pretty and bolder, but When it's 90 degrees and it was humid this late spring early summer Yeah, just was feeling really good getting a lot of big climbs That's one thing being in the boulder foothills could replicate these like 2,500 foot climbs 3,000 foot climbs that were super steep technical And um, yeah, I had felt like I was ready, but you know, it's It's tricky. It's hard to prepare your body for terrain like this and to do 320 to 350 miles of this a week I'm kind of Kind of on a march of defeat right now. I feel like It definitely sucks, you know, but you know, it's like one of those things I have to face um It's reality the situation so I think going on a walk with a buddy like louise um Not talking for bits just processing so It's been good for me to be out here not just to test things physically, but Kind of sort out my crap Mentally Because it's not looking good right now It's it's still a lot of fun. I think that's That's what adventures are. They're they're grueling They're a grind, but at the end of the day There will still be a lot of fondness and great memories of the struggles rough patches or I don't know rough days. It seems like it looks like I Howling on crutches my trekking poles You doing a puzzle buddy? Uh-huh. Uh-huh. What is it? How you doing? Yeah, so it's been what two weeks Feels like two months, but I guess has it been two weeks. Yeah, I guess it's been a couple I mean might even be longer than that seems like but um How's your leg? It's uh, it's coming along. It definitely I definitely feel like I Totally overextended it because it took a while for it to recover So it's a good sign. I guess it would have been a bummer if like it felt better after two three days so Yeah, definitely Finally feel like I can bend it, you know closer to like its normal range and putting more weight on it So jogged after the kids today. So yeah, things are coming back But he still hasn't run at all. I mean, he's I've always trying to get him to run with me and he's like no And it was crazy because when we first got by you couldn't even ride that electric bike So he was just kind of hobbling along But it seems like it's got a lot better in the last week Yeah, yeah, it was it you know, that's where okay. I knew the last couple days that I was trying to You don't see like, okay, it would give me anything a little bounce back a little bit Um, that probably wasn't the greatest thing, but it's temporary damage. Um, that'll repair itself But it definitely caused the recovery to to be pronounced. Yeah So if things were going the way you had hoped you would still be out there right now today How I mean, obviously it's a bummer and but your leg is healing. How are you doing? You know, this is this is a hard thing to come to terms with I mean, it is tough because it's especially unpacking and dealing with all the loose ends and Just um, yeah, it's it's been great in terms of the You know processing things and going through what has to happen in terms of I guess a loss so to speak or Coming up pretty short and then the reminders of that makes it a little bit more extra painful in terms like Oh, yeah, I should be out in Virginia right now or you know, I'd be at this point and you know, I'd still have You know two weeks out on the trail, which is hard to believe because yeah, like Jenny said it sometimes seems like oh, yeah We've been back forever um So yeah, it's it's one of those things for me like it's I know it comes with the territory, but it still doesn't make it easier Oh, sorry. Do you want him in the background? We could put him. That's fun. Hey, buddy We are are you sure? Yeah, there's a piece That's one more piece Mental preparation physical preparation and then to have It just like cut so short and I think that's what probably stings the most For everybody is that we thought That all the things Okay, I was these oh It happens and expeditions and big climbs it just All this planning and you have to do the planning and then it just Kind of sucks afterwards, but we're we're fine. We're just Getting through it piece by piece dozer. So, you know, it was only seven days We've talked a lot about the stuff that was hard and the stuff that hurts But what were the what was the best part of this? What what were the good moments out there? Well, I'd have to say like starting the trail was I don't know. It was just one of those moments in life that was pretty pretty magical and It really felt like we were picking up where we left off last time So I'd say that that to me was Pretty special in the fact that Jenny got to come up and the kids Were sleeping down below and somebody watching them like it. It just made it Like oh, it was just Jenny and I on the top of this mountain and the last time we were there. We were finishing the at and It was like this, you know huge amount of emotion because it was like a continuation of that That experience Um, it was pretty crazy. Yeah, that's definitely a highlight for me too was we were hiking up katana and we left at like 4 a.m and It was when you kind of got to the ridge. He was all cold and misty and we're in this thick cloud And then when we got to the top We could kind of see the silhouette of the sign And then when we finally like when he touched the sign like the clouds just dispersed in all of us And it was just this wild orange glow on the summit. Nobody else was there It was so powerful and so emotional. I couldn't I like was very surprised that it just like Knocked the wind out of me. I was so Just astounded by the emotions and feelings that came back and It was it was very I'm not like an emotional person But I really was speechless. So I feel like that moment just Everything kind of came together for me in that moment of like wow last time we were here was such a different experience We're in such a different place in our lives and like to be there our kids sleeping to be together to have Like six years passed from that It felt like we had done so much and the trail meant that trail the ending was like the completion of that trip But it was the start like the continuation Of our life. I guess it just I don't know everything just felt like it closed the circle, but then it continued the circle. It was There was just a lot of meaning for me. Yeah And in 2015 when you finished kids were the dream at that point Yeah, and they were here this time. Yeah, they were just like a twinkle in our eye Just a wish out there in the universe and it had been like a four-year struggle for us And then now to have two kids and to bring them along with us It was amazing and half a decade over half a decade had passed since then so like a lot of life had occurred But at the same time it felt like it was just yesterday Like it's kind of like I think when you have one of those dreams that you pick up on another night that you're sleeping It felt like that where it was just like, oh, I just picked up On that dream that I had that was maybe you know days or weeks ago Just that's what it felt like where we're just like right back there and that's I mean that made it as much as that just seems like pretty abrupt to say, oh, yeah, that little piece was like the most important or made it worth it It did just that. I mean, of course, yeah, we're bummed about everything else, but that was um That was definitely a highlight and like in a lot of ways Pretty worth it just to be back there because I mean getting back to Katahdin and Getting back to that area was something that just hard to to fit into just in terms of like going there and Hiking up that mountain. So we probably wouldn't have done it otherwise Until some point maybe when the kids are old enough to hike at themselves The kids are pretty small But where do you hope they might remember from this experience with mom and dad out in the trail? I mean, I know because I was with the kids the whole time. I know they'll remember Just being out in the woods and jumping in the lakes with you dozer and waiting at the Try to like climb on rocks. I know that they'll have this totally um visceral Memories of The textures this smells the sounds the bug bites like the humidity I know that they'll remember all that but what I like Cerebrally, I guess like later. I want them to remember that That at least their dad went back to do something, you know, it was kind of This big crazy goal, but at least he tried like he always I knew he always wanted to go back because he always felt like We didn't give it our best go the first time. So it's like a ton of effort to go back, but I don't know. I think it just speaks a lot to scott and his personality um Don't keep believing himself to keep pursuing dreams like no matter what even with two kids who don't sleep and Who don't let us sleep? You know just to keep always getting after it. I guess and not letting go Of his personal goals I guess I think that's that you know having that adventurous spirit. I guess that's what we want to do is like I mean if there was like a goal like or a side goal this obviously it was something I wanted to do but A side benefit of bringing the kids even that was a ton of work for jenny and It just adds a whole nother layer of things but just seeing them at moments along the trail or at night when we camp They could see that okay They don't understand maybe what i'm doing completely even though like raven though from even photos She remembers you know parts of video footage from the 2015 trip she like knows like oh and papa and mama were on the at and She does like have a sense of that and then she actually went out there and experienced it I think that's pretty special and she'll probably remember that but if anything I think it's just Having that adventurous spirit and I guess that's what is most from like do they have to do something like the appellation trail You know probably who knows they might not want to do anything like we do um, but just being able to See and witness that and you know Have this love for being out in the woods out in the mountains even if they're getting bit by bugs And even if there's leeches in the lakes and all these like things that people like be Like deterred from going back again out on these things and I think that's a big part of this like I In a lot of ways, maybe I should have been deterred to go back because I knew how hard it was I knew the risks. I knew You know it could potentially end the way that it did but I feel like We still Have to honor that desire to to go back not only to the hard places, but The amazing places out there and there were so many great moments out there Like, you know January saying even when the kids are just hearing stories Are they're just out running a little bit onto the trail and like checking things out catching frogs? I mean that's I think that's the the beauty of things is like noticing those little moments and the same for me when I was struggling out there. I know A lot of times it seemed like when I was with you Those last couple days or when you came out like I was in a lot of pain You know kind of just hating life, but there still were like Magical moments out there and there were times like oh look at that You know fog rolling in over that lake or look at this Vista review. I mean you still can enjoy even though it was like a terrible amount of pain So I think that's that's the beauty of it too because I think raven and evergreen don't probably understand How much pain I was in they just like oh, yeah, you know pop this back Hanging out in the van and now we're gonna go on a road trip back home Um, and I think that's that's something we learned from kids is that they just can flip the switch and be like Oh, we're doing this and like oh, let's let's go here like They don't internalize things There was like no time to sulk and like feel bad because it was all of a sudden. Oh family road trip Let's go. Who are we gonna visit? We're gonna stop like Who has to go potty like we just fully had to just you know Roll with it be in the moment, you know, I get I think the lesson to is like, you know life goes on and you've got to You know, you still can process things still go through those like tough stages mentally and psychologically, but the reality is I've got to be ready to go for the kids and jenny and family stuff and back into work and All those things. So that's what's kind of daunting Yeah Speaking of daunting. Would you ever want to go for this again? Um, well, that's a great question. I mean, it's a great question. Everybody wants to know It's a it's that he's like, I mean, it's a great question. Um, yeah, check back with me It's like to be continued and there's like asking me that question but um, I mean, there's obviously there's going to be desire to go back I mean when things happen this way, but Um, at this point in my career, do I go back to the Appalachian Trail or do I try something different? I think that's maybe A better question and that's that's hard because I yeah, there's definitely a pull to go back Um, but at the same time, it's like it's hard too because maybe I should just be in terms of Um, do that. So yeah, it's it's hard. I mean, will I go back and if I had the opportunity to I mean, yeah, it's an amazing trail. It's an amazing experience even though like, yeah, it's got a bitter taste Maybe now and it stings a bit. Um, I know at some point it's gonna feel right and I'll want to go back or do I do something different? Jenny I mean, she already said no comment. I want to go back to this right felt like we had this amazing experience the two of us it was like our spiritual journey being me and We accomplished what we wanted to You know, maybe not we didn't do Everything the most efficient way, but we did it still. So I didn't want to go back and like You know, um Changed the story a little bit, but I knew it wasn't about me It was about him and that he felt like personally He wanted to do He still felt like he left some days on the table and and I totally respect that I get that that's That's like his mentality is on my mentality. I'm like, I'm good. It's like he studies things. He breaks it down in his head. He looks at like Where he can do better and I know that that's just what like makes him tick. So I feel like he's probably gonna go back because Now he's got to go clean up his mess. He's gotta go He's gotta write his wrong Just kidding. She's a hard ass So I'm like, well, you open up that can of worms. You gotta go put them back. So I feel like again, we learned a lot and um It's just a matter of like we had so much support. We had A crew we had people are dedicating so much time. You know, you came out and Lewis, it's hard to get all those people to come To come back again. So I feel like if we did go back, you'd just be another like Rag tag team of us and whoever is stragglers. We got your back. Yeah, okay Yeah, and it's hard to even think about like that piece of like the organizing and because yeah right now It's like we're still picking up pieces. I'm still unpacking bins Like just like, okay. Yeah A constant reminder of just how much it takes Well, I appreciate you inviting me it was an honor and You know, I think everybody else became a family out there. So on behalf of the crew, we loved the experience Well, thanks. I mean, that's what is fun about this too is that you do bring together people that have never hung out together They're not friends and all of a sudden you throw them into this pot and they have to start working together and um, yeah different personalities collide and you know, just ways of operating and that's that's fun, too What's cool is that every single person from 2015 Once they found out what we're doing they're like sign me up a hundred percent Jenny started getting the emails the text Just even people like I met you in Virginia at this section. Remember we'll come out Everybody wanted to come back and I feel like that really speaks a lot to scott and to Our experience the first time is that he's always so kind and gracious and appreciative and People had a great time and they felt I feel like that's why so many people came out because they wanted to be a part of this Whatever it was this energy. They wanted to like touch the energy. I mean It was it was amazing that outpouring of support that we got the second time of people Being like it was so cool to see you go back and so I feel like it's just you know, reiterates all the things that we did right the first time was just Taking it all in taking the people in you know, trying to be a part of the community and um And trying to enjoy it just like all the hikers and the trail towns and The people who came out it was awesome. So I mean even the through hikers that I did meet out in the trail this time They're like I remember you know 2015 some people are out doing a section hike or they were just out um You know finishing up like a section that they hadn't done But they're like I was out there or I had you know I remember I missed you like so there were those even in the short amount of time I mean I say sure it was 250 Miles or so like that's it really wasn't short I was out for a while But it seemed short in terms like what we were planning to do but so many people were Yeah, it was it was fun to see that or people Were just like shocked to see me out there again And you know, maybe I was shocked myself that was back out there too at times All right, I think we need to help somebody with a puzzle. Do you need help buddy? You need help buddy. How long did you go somewhere? Oh, we just barked his head I finished it. You finished it. You finished the puzzle. Good job buddy. You got a haircut You're my favorite guy out there as that's you say hi