This week, I interviewed Mike Ewing. While Mike doesn't work outside all the time, he's committed thousands of hours to service work on the Appalachian Trail, that's the legendary 2200-mile route that runs through 14 states, from Georgia and Maine.
About 300 of those trail miles are in Maine.
I'm from Maine and, as a kid, I spent lots of time camping and hiking. The 8-, 10-, 12-year old me thought those were vacations, but they were actually us doing service work on sections of the Appalachian Trail.
For listeners who have mostly hiked in the western states, it'll be helpful to describe the stark contrast between here and there.
Maine gets a lot of rain. Maine is heavily forested. Hiking can be daunting. Often you can't see where you've been or where you're going. It's easy to get lost. Some trails are only for the fit and agile, with house-size boulders and seemingly endless verticality. Particularly craggy sections are called notches. They aren't gaps or passes – which are other ways to describe low points between mountains. Notches are more gnarly and treacherous. My son, Beau, believes they have their own kind of weather. He's hiked Maine's Mahoosuc Notch, reputed to be the Appalachian Trail's most difficult mile, and said, "it's technical and easy to get injured there. And if you do get hurt, it's hard to get out."
Mike, who went to Colorado State University and worked for the forest service in northern Colorado after graduating, maintains a stretch that includes Sawyer Notch and Hall Mountain.
Check out this interactive AT map.
We'll share an interactive map of the AT in the show notes.
AweNice welcomes interviewees. If you have a moment you experienced while working outside and would like to share it, contact us here.
Our music is by my friend, Forrest Van Tuyl, who knows a bit about wonders at work. Find his music here.
Keep your eyes, ears, and mind open. Until next time.
