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CNN Live Today
Interview With Couple Who Hiked Appalachian Trail
Aired July 04, 2003 - 11:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIZ KLEINBERG, HIKING THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL: I honestly started this not knowing if I could do it, and, you know, it's -- I still don't know, but it's really neat to know that there's an intense climb that day, and then -- sometimes the uphills really are tough and challenging. But, once you get up there, it's amazing. It's like I did this, I made it up here. It's great.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Well, if you're traveling this holiday, I have a feeling it's nothing like this. Our next guests are really out there. But in the woods, we mean.
Husband and wife Mike Kanarick and Liz Kleinberg literally walked away from their jobs as attorneys -- high-profile attorneys in Alabama to hike all 2,200 miles of the Appalachian Trail. Well, their goal is to raise funds for the Child Welfare League of America. So far, they've pulled in about $35,000.
And they join us now on the telephone from near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, which is about the midpoint of their journey.
Well, I'm so glad you guys were able to take a pause for the cause and talk to us a little bit.
Mike, I think I've got you on the phone first, right?
KANARICK: You do.
WHITFIELD: You started it in Georgia, didn't you, at the Amicalola Falls, which is a beautiful place. I've been there myself, actually. But you started that journey there, and now you're midway?
KANARICK: We sure did. We started at Springer Mountain, Georgia, on March 26, which is the southern end of the trail. We're about 1,040 miles into it, sitting atop of Raven Rock in Maryland right now.
WHITFIELD: Wow. What an -- what a beautiful site. Now were you guys avid hikers and you just decided to just sacrifice everything, just throw away your jobs, and say, you know what, I think we ought to do this?
KANARICK: Not exactly. We had gone on one overnight hike before for one day and really did not have much experience doing this at all, but it was something exciting we thought about for a long time, and the idea of raising money for a cause like helping kids just seemed so natural.
WHITFIELD: And so, Mike, your trail name is Moo. Your wife Liz -- her trail name is 42. What's that all about? You get on this trail and, suddenly, you adopt a name, or is that what everybody does? What's the story?
KANARICK: Well, generally, you acquire a trail name, and you're usually named by someone else. I happen to have a propensity to eat a lot, and I've been known to have multiple stomachs like a cow, and I can let 42 tell you about her trail name, if you like.
WHITFIELD: All right. Forty-two, let me know about your name and -- and, speaking of food, what do you guys do about your rations on this hike?
KLEINBERG: Hi. OK. My name is Liz, and 42 came about because we sent away for some return address labels that were supposed to say, "Mike and Liz, Somewhere Out There, the AP," and they came back and said "Mike and 42," and, if you write Liz really messily, it looks like a 42. And my...
WHITFIELD: Oh, OK.
KLEINBERG: And my handwriting is pretty bad. It -- Mike has always said that. He was proven right, which I don't like, but...
In terms of food, see, it's really odd because what we need to do is make sure we get enough calories. So it's different from regular life where I watch what I eat. Instead, our goal is to get as many calories as possible. So we really get high-calorie food, high-fat food, just anything to give us the energy to hike each day.
WHITFIELD: So you're traveling with your backpacks, I imagine. I mean weighing about what? And did you pack it with a lot of food that, you know, you didn't have to worry about, you know, going bad, or are you able to pull over, kind of, so to speak, and purchase some food or camp sites? What are you -- how are you doing it?
KLEINBERG: Luckily, there are enough places along the way that we can stop. We weren't so sure of that when we started out, and we started out carrying way too much food, you know, and then, as we got smarter -- like Mike had said, we really didn't have much experience when we started, but, as we've gotten more experience, we've gotten a bit savvier, and we now carry three to five days worth of food, and...
WHITFIELD: Wow.
KLEINBERG: I mean it's a lot, but a food pack typically weighs between 40 and 45 pounds. My pack weighs about 30 to 32 pounds.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
KLEINBERG: If it's packed with food and water. WHITFIELD: That's amazing.
So now how do you bed down? Where are you sleeping, and what are those accommodations like? You just look for a good tree?
KLEINBERG: Well, what we did -- there are shelters along the way. Every half a day hike or so, there's about -- there's a shelter, and we'll -- well, if we can make it to a shelter, if that works out with our hiking schedule, then we'll occasionally stay in the shelter or tent near the shelter.
So we like to pitch our tent and sleep in the tent to get a little privacy. It's a little bit more protection from the elements. It keeps us warmer. And you can tent in some beautiful locations if we don't want to be near a shelter.
WHITFIELD: All right.
KLEINBERG: Tent on a cliff or something like that.
WHITFIELD: So let me get Moo or Mike back on the phone.
And how long, Mike, are you giving you all -- you giving yourselves in order to finish the trail?
KANARICK: Well, we planned on a six-month hike, and we're about on schedule having been out here just over three months now. We are thinking we will summit Mount Katahdin in Maine in late September or early October, and that will be the full 1,172.6 miles.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. That's tremendous. Well, good luck to both of you. And, as you said at the very top, it's all for a good cause. You're collecting money for the Child Welfare League of America.
Starting this adventure in Amicalola Falls, Georgia, and you're going to be ending it in Maine, a city still to be determined, so to speak, or a spot to be determined. But good luck to both of you.
Mike Kanarick and Liz Kleinberg, better known on the trail as Mike and 42.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 4, 2003 - 11:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIZ KLEINBERG, HIKING THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL: I honestly started this not knowing if I could do it, and, you know, it's -- I still don't know, but it's really neat to know that there's an intense climb that day, and then -- sometimes the uphills really are tough and challenging. But, once you get up there, it's amazing. It's like I did this, I made it up here. It's great.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Well, if you're traveling this holiday, I have a feeling it's nothing like this. Our next guests are really out there. But in the woods, we mean.
Husband and wife Mike Kanarick and Liz Kleinberg literally walked away from their jobs as attorneys -- high-profile attorneys in Alabama to hike all 2,200 miles of the Appalachian Trail. Well, their goal is to raise funds for the Child Welfare League of America. So far, they've pulled in about $35,000.
And they join us now on the telephone from near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, which is about the midpoint of their journey.
Well, I'm so glad you guys were able to take a pause for the cause and talk to us a little bit.
Mike, I think I've got you on the phone first, right?
KANARICK: You do.
WHITFIELD: You started it in Georgia, didn't you, at the Amicalola Falls, which is a beautiful place. I've been there myself, actually. But you started that journey there, and now you're midway?
KANARICK: We sure did. We started at Springer Mountain, Georgia, on March 26, which is the southern end of the trail. We're about 1,040 miles into it, sitting atop of Raven Rock in Maryland right now.
WHITFIELD: Wow. What an -- what a beautiful site. Now were you guys avid hikers and you just decided to just sacrifice everything, just throw away your jobs, and say, you know what, I think we ought to do this?
KANARICK: Not exactly. We had gone on one overnight hike before for one day and really did not have much experience doing this at all, but it was something exciting we thought about for a long time, and the idea of raising money for a cause like helping kids just seemed so natural.
WHITFIELD: And so, Mike, your trail name is Moo. Your wife Liz -- her trail name is 42. What's that all about? You get on this trail and, suddenly, you adopt a name, or is that what everybody does? What's the story?
KANARICK: Well, generally, you acquire a trail name, and you're usually named by someone else. I happen to have a propensity to eat a lot, and I've been known to have multiple stomachs like a cow, and I can let 42 tell you about her trail name, if you like.
WHITFIELD: All right. Forty-two, let me know about your name and -- and, speaking of food, what do you guys do about your rations on this hike?
KLEINBERG: Hi. OK. My name is Liz, and 42 came about because we sent away for some return address labels that were supposed to say, "Mike and Liz, Somewhere Out There, the AP," and they came back and said "Mike and 42," and, if you write Liz really messily, it looks like a 42. And my...
WHITFIELD: Oh, OK.
KLEINBERG: And my handwriting is pretty bad. It -- Mike has always said that. He was proven right, which I don't like, but...
In terms of food, see, it's really odd because what we need to do is make sure we get enough calories. So it's different from regular life where I watch what I eat. Instead, our goal is to get as many calories as possible. So we really get high-calorie food, high-fat food, just anything to give us the energy to hike each day.
WHITFIELD: So you're traveling with your backpacks, I imagine. I mean weighing about what? And did you pack it with a lot of food that, you know, you didn't have to worry about, you know, going bad, or are you able to pull over, kind of, so to speak, and purchase some food or camp sites? What are you -- how are you doing it?
KLEINBERG: Luckily, there are enough places along the way that we can stop. We weren't so sure of that when we started out, and we started out carrying way too much food, you know, and then, as we got smarter -- like Mike had said, we really didn't have much experience when we started, but, as we've gotten more experience, we've gotten a bit savvier, and we now carry three to five days worth of food, and...
WHITFIELD: Wow.
KLEINBERG: I mean it's a lot, but a food pack typically weighs between 40 and 45 pounds. My pack weighs about 30 to 32 pounds.
WHITFIELD: Wow.
KLEINBERG: If it's packed with food and water. WHITFIELD: That's amazing.
So now how do you bed down? Where are you sleeping, and what are those accommodations like? You just look for a good tree?
KLEINBERG: Well, what we did -- there are shelters along the way. Every half a day hike or so, there's about -- there's a shelter, and we'll -- well, if we can make it to a shelter, if that works out with our hiking schedule, then we'll occasionally stay in the shelter or tent near the shelter.
So we like to pitch our tent and sleep in the tent to get a little privacy. It's a little bit more protection from the elements. It keeps us warmer. And you can tent in some beautiful locations if we don't want to be near a shelter.
WHITFIELD: All right.
KLEINBERG: Tent on a cliff or something like that.
WHITFIELD: So let me get Moo or Mike back on the phone.
And how long, Mike, are you giving you all -- you giving yourselves in order to finish the trail?
KANARICK: Well, we planned on a six-month hike, and we're about on schedule having been out here just over three months now. We are thinking we will summit Mount Katahdin in Maine in late September or early October, and that will be the full 1,172.6 miles.
WHITFIELD: Oh, my gosh. That's tremendous. Well, good luck to both of you. And, as you said at the very top, it's all for a good cause. You're collecting money for the Child Welfare League of America.
Starting this adventure in Amicalola Falls, Georgia, and you're going to be ending it in Maine, a city still to be determined, so to speak, or a spot to be determined. But good luck to both of you.
Mike Kanarick and Liz Kleinberg, better known on the trail as Mike and 42.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
