A guest speaker visited the Kiwanis Club of Lima to tell his story about hiking thousands of miles at various trails across the nation in just one year!
Ottawa native Brandon Weis shared with Kiwanis members about hiking over 8,000 miles in 2021.
Ottawa, Ohio, native Brandon Weis shared with Kiwanis members about hiking over 8,000 miles in 2021 on the Appalachian Trail in the east, the Continental Divide Trail in the Rocky Mountains, and the Pacific Crest Trail out west. Known as the "Triple Crown of Hiking," Weis became just the 13th person ever in the world to accomplish this physically demanding challenge.
On Tuesday, we had the chance to chat with Weis about why he wanted to do this daunting task and what it was like out in the wilderness.
Known as the "Triple Crown of Hiking," Weis became just the 13th person ever in the world to accomplish this physically demanding challenge.
I was just obsessed with the idea of the physical challenge of completing all three of these in one year, and then pretty much in all of my free time outside of work, I mean probably 4 to 6 hours a night from April, until I left in January, was dedicated to preparing for this trip. The scariest part was definitely the first day. I was terrified... I mean, my parents dropped me off at the southern terminus of the Appalachian Trail in Georgia, and once they pulled away, I started to just like... I started to panic. You know, what did I get myself into? What a dumb idea! You know, there's no way I can do this. Basically, you know, those normal terrifying thoughts of starting anything new for the first time, and was really kind of very negative that whole first day. Then after that first day, kind of tried to ease myself, kind of calm myself down, kind of just break it down day by day," stated Brandon Weis, the 13th person ever to complete the "Triple Crown of Hiking."
Weis aims to complete the Great Divide Trail up north in Canada.
Weis aims to complete the Great Divide Trail up north in Canada.
