CATCHING INTRODUCTION TITLE! – The walk

Hello friends!

This is J. Michael. I’m a long time listener, I’m a first time hiker. 60 years old, single, dog dad, semi-retired ChiroTender (Chiropractor and Bartender have been the two MAIN professions of my life).

A little more…

An old friend I’ve known since I was 12 had been talking for years about retiring and promoting the PCT. In the summer of 2023, your discussion and details really escalated (as it should) and you began to really prepare for your retirement date, further discussing how you were scheduling and organizing it around this mythical PCT raise. The more he talked about it, the more jealous I became! I started doing some research, watching a lot of YouTube videos and I got a little paralyzed. I finally decided I really wanted to try it, but I didn’t know if it would be interfering with HIS thing. Because this was and IS and has been for years, HIS thing. I finally had the courage to ask him if I could accompany him. Magnanimously, he was THRILLED that I offered/wanted/even considered/etc.

And then:

My aforementioned hiking friend Beech recommended the “BackPacker Radio” podcast to me, which he suggested I start listening to for more information, vibes, reality, etc. At that point, I had never even listened to a podcast! But, bravely, I kept going! As the first of MANY trials I’ve undertaken to prepare for this TREK, I figured out how to listen to podcasts and started listening to BPR (that’s what the cool kids call it, right?), while hiking a few miles on the hot, sticky, humid country roads of Carthage, Indiana. I WAS HOOKED!

Finally

So, here we are! I left my current job, took a “non-permanent” position in a field I knew would help me prepare, started saving some acorns, paying some bills, looking for affordable gear, training as best I could, and lo and behold, I have a permit dated 03/31/2026!

DISCLAIMER!

I am excited and honored to be accepted as THE TREK Blogger. I hope MILLIONS discover this blog and want to read and follow it. But I’m probably not going to be everyone’s cup of tea! I promise to be open and honest, but in that capacity, I have to warn: I’m the stereotypical guy who probably uses humor too much as a kind of psychological device. And it’s not always so fun! So some of you will probably get tired quickly of my incessant puns or my point of view on things, but like I said, IT WILL be real. I just hope some of you follow along, enjoy it, and maybe find inspiration or provocation to go out and do it yourselves. And apply to be a TREK blogger because, hey, if I can do it, ANYONE can! Thanks for checking me out!

(Photo is on top of New Mexico’s Wheeler Peak on 07/2012)

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