Hiking and the Great Outside – Journeys North author Barney Mann

Feb 10, 2022 | aging, culture, Health, politics, seniors, technology

The Not Old Better Show, Author Interview Series…

Welcome to The Not Old Better Show, I’m Paul Vogelzang. Today’s episode is brought to you by Ritual.

As my audience here on the Not Old Better Show knows my wife Gretchen and I are avid hikers. Because of our love of being on the trails in nature, Gretchen and I read hiking books, trail guides, and all manner of “Best Of” lists when it comes to best hikes. We like medium length, like 15 – 20 mile hikes a day, 50 miles over a weekend, but I have long harbored a secret desire to hike the country’s longest trails – and around here, that’s the Appalachian Trail, knowing that there are parts and subparts relatively easy to tackle. But, the big national trails: Pacific Crest Trail, Continental Divide Trail, as well as the Appalachian Trail are so long, arduous that it would take a few months to as our guest today Barney Scout Mann phrases it “through-hike them” and the fact is both Gretchen and I are self-employed so these hikes will have to wait, at least for us.

But, we’ll live vicariously today because our guest, avid hiker Barney Scout Mann, is one of a handful of people who’ve hiked all three of the US’ longest trails.

Barney Scout Mann is one of the rare individuals who have hiked America’s Triple Crown – The Appalachian, Continental Divide, and Pacific Crest trails. For those of you who are unfamiliar with these trails, they are the longest trails in the country. The Pacific Crest Trail is 2650 miles long and covers 26 national forests, 7 national parks, 5 state parks, and 3 national monuments. It takes 5 months at an average of 20 miles a day.

Well, today we get a fabulous pleasure to hear stories from Barney – trail name Scout – Mann about the Pacific Crest Trail and his book Journeys North.

Please join me in welcoming to The Not Old Better Show, Barney ’Scout’ Mann.

My thanks to Ritual for sponsoring today’s show, and please support our sponsors by checking out the show notes for details. You can find a lot more in the show notes about our guest Barney Scout Mann, his new book, ‘Journeys North,’ and trail resources from Barney. My thanks to you, my wonderful Not Old Better Show audience. Please stay healthy, be well, practice smart social distancing and let’s talk about better. The Not Old Better Show. Thanks, everybody.