Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Reporting from the Appalachian Trail, WRAL-TVs Scott Mason Celebrates 60 with a Long-Awaited Hike

20/10/2021

WRAL-TVs Tar Heel Traveler Scott Mason recently celebrated being 60 by hiking a section of the Appalachian Trail with a close friend. The trip fulfilled a promise made long ago. He penned a piece about their adventure:

Boots on The Ground By Scott Mason

WRAL-TV's Scott Mason shared this photo from his recent Appalachian Trail adventure. He and a close friend make a long-awaited trek to make Mason's turning 60.

Im a city boy. Never camped before, not really. But always love playing the cowboy.

I sprang for a pair of boots once on a trip to Dallas, fake snakeskin, and went strutting around Harris-Teeter back home in Raleigh. I felt tall and rugged though I dont think anybody noticed.

Awhile later, I took another trip, this time to Cleveland, and met an old college buddy over beers in a bar. He brought up the Appalachian Trail. Well start in Georgia, hike a week or two, then pick up where we left off the next year, and the next. Shoot, well hit Maine by the time we lose our hair.

I hoisted my PBR, whacked the can against his, and hollered, Im in!

But I wasnt in when the trail came calling that fall. Too much to do, I told him. Next year. But the next year, he solo trekked again and again and again. I didnt wear my fake snakeskins to the Teeter anymore.

A decade passed, and all the while my buddy kept section hiking his way up the mighty AT. I was sure hed given up on me the way my Orthopedic had bailed on my hips. Double replacement very soon, the doc said with a face grimmer than Clint Eastwoods in a spaghetti western.

I joined a gym. My wife bought a Peloton. I lifted and biked, and the ol hips improved, and when my buddy rang me out of the blue Yeehaw! I was suddenly back in the saddle. Yes, I told him. Yes, yes, Im in! I was also in AARP. I was about to turn 60, and this time there was no turning back.

We met on a Sunday night at a hotel in Hagerstown, Maryland, and I splayed my backpack belongings all over the bed. Too many clothes, too many Cliff bars. I left a pound or two in the car, repacked the pack, and we toasted our journey-to-be. Craft beer instead of PBR, but okay.

We caught a ride the next morning to Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, our starting point, and I felt like a hiker. I looked like a hiker. I was ready to be a hiker. We hiked and my loaded pack grew heavier with every step. Maybe I was not so ready.

The scenery, at least, proved a pleasant distraction. The Potomac River shimmered in the morning sun. A deer eyeballed me from 20 yards away. Everything was lush and green. My buddy showed me how to adjust my shoulder straps, and the weight shifted. Much better, and okay, this was good. This was great. I was loving it but love proved a short honeymoon.

The woods closed in, and the rocks popped up. So many rocks. By day two, I would have given a hundred Cliff bars for one pair of ankle braces.

Three nights, four days, 40 miles through Maryland, and at one point, the trail was not a trail at all but an endless series of boulders. My legs wobbled over them, my poles scraped across them, and worse, we bounded the daggum boulders in a driving rain.

Oh, yes, it rained, but that was day three, and by then I was a battle-scarred veteran. Bring it on, I growled. Aint gonna stop, and I didnt. And rarely did the rain.

WRAL-TV's Scott Mason shared this photo from his recent Appalachian Trail adventure. He and a close friend make a long-awaited trek to make Mason's turning 60.

I planted one foot in front of the other during those grueling days. I sang the National Anthem to myself 10 times. I wrote a short story in my head though I cant remember it now. I told my friend jokes I hadnt thought of in years.

We laughed. We hiked. We camped. Each night, I set up my tent in an hour and slept about as long. I thought an air mattress was supposed to be comfortable. I thought the middle of nowhere was supposed to be quiet.

Breakfast was always a slim packet of oatmeal, but I wasnt hungry anyway. I guess the exertion robbed my appetite though even that early, I nearly scarfed a Mountain House lasagna just to rid the pack of a few more ounces.

Each day was like the other. But not like it, too. Surprises greeted us along the way, such as the friendly fellow hikers we met. One gave us his spare water filter when ours broke. We asked for his address so we could mail him a check later, but he waved us away. Nah. Glad to help.

We rested at beautiful overlooks and passed Civil War battlefields. We came upon a stretch near Boonsboro dedicated to George Washington, and around the bend rose the Washington Monument, the original one, a 40-foot stone tower built in 1827.

The whole trip was a surprise, the fact I made it, that my body made it. My ankles and hips, too. I practically jogged the last half mile, the pack never so light as it was then.

We arrived just before dusk at Pen Mar County Park, about a quarter mile from the Pennsylvania line. My buddy hiked that last little bit and stepped across, but not me. P.A. could wait, I thought. Maybe next fall, maybe the next state on the list, and forget tiptoeing over. Id tackle it from one end to the other. All in. Yeehaw!

I settled myself on a bench, slipped off my pack, and kept an eye out for our ride. The driver was running late, but that was okay. It was all okay. Everything was outstanding. I gulped the crisp air and gazed at the grey sky. The rain had quit. But I had just begun.

Alone with my thoughts, my cowboy boots sprang to mind, the snakeskins Id tucked deep in my closet. I realized my hiking boots would not be keeping them company. At that moment, I knew the muddy clodhoppers now on my feet would remain close at hand and, sure, maybe Id even wear them to Harris-Teeter just so theyd stay broken in.

But without a doubt, I also
LINK: https://www.capitolbroadcasting.com/2021/10/20/reporting-from-the-appa...
See more stories from cbc

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

09/09/2026

IBC 2026: Sony Introduces SEL814G Fisheye Zoom G Lens

Sony Electronics has announced the SEL814G, the company's first fisheye zoom G Lens for full-frame Alpha E-mount cameras. The lens will be available in Octo...

09/09/2026

IBC 2026: Telestream Expands Practical AI Capabilities Across Vantage and UP Platform

Telestream has announced an expansion of its Practical AI capabilities across th...

09/09/2026

IBC 2026: Chyron and Haivision Announce Camera-to-Cloud Live Production Integration

Haivision and Chyron have announced a technology partnership integrating Haivisi...

09/09/2026

ManningCast Reveals 2026-27 Season Schedule with Heist Mini Movie

Omaha Productions has released ManningCast: Heist, a short film featuring Peyton and Eli Manning attempting to break into NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell's o...

09/09/2026

IBC 2026: Imagine Communications to Showcase XVR Updates

Imagine Communications will demonstrate the next evolution of XVR at IBC2026 (Stand 1.B73, RAI Amsterdam, September 11-14). XVR is Imagine's channel-in-a-b...

09/09/2026

IBC 2026: swXtch.io Launches AI Broadcast Orchestration Tool abbe

swXtch.io has announced abbe, an AI-based orchestration layer for live media workflows, making its world premiere at IBC2026 (Meeting Room 5.MR13, Hall 5, Septe...

09/09/2026

Inside the NFL Returns to X for Second Season, Marking 50th Anniversary

NFL Films has announced the second season of Inside the NFL on X as an X Original, premiering Wednesday, September 9. The series marks Inside the NFL's 50th...

09/09/2026

LiveU Expands AP Partnership with LU900Q Fleet and MAM Integration

LiveU has announced an expanded partnership with The Associated Press, deploying the largest fleet of LU900Q intelligent production units in the industry as par...

09/09/2026

Diversified to Consolidate New Jersey Operations into New Newark Facility

Diversified has announced plans to consolidate its four existing New Jersey locations into a new facility in Newark, expected to be fully operational by the end...

09/09/2026

IBC 2026: Wisycom Showcases MATF Antenna Matrix, PFL RFoF Box, and MPR60 Updates

Wisycom will exhibit new RF products at IBC2026 (Stand 8.D60, September 11-14), including the MATF Wideband Antenna Matrix, PFL Portable RF over Fiber Box, and ...

09/09/2026

IBC 2026: G&D and VuWall to Introduce vsNEO KVM-over-IP Platform

Guntermann & Drunck (G&D) and VuWall, both Panoptec companies, will introduce vsNEO at IBC2026 (Stand 8.B63, September 11, RAI Amsterdam). Pre-orders open in ea...

09/09/2026

Mo-Sys Completes Restructuring, Promotes Selin Kemal to Managing Director

Mo-Sys has completed a business restructuring and relocated to a new facility in Canada Water, London. As part of the reorganization, Selin Kemal has been promo...

09/09/2026

Aicox and TAG Video Systems Power Monitoring for Telefnicas TSAmediaHUB

Aicox has integrated TAG Video Systems' Core monitoring platform into Telef nica's TSAmediaHUB audiovisual contribution and distribution infrastructure....

09/09/2026

IBC 2026: Blackmagic Design Releases DaVinci Resolve 21.1

Blackmagic Design has released DaVinci Resolve 21.1, a free update available now through the Blackmagic Design website. The release adds new AI tools, workflow ...

09/09/2026

ESPN and Apple Music Collaborate on Monday Night Football Music Curation for 2026-27 Season

ESPN and Apple Music have announced a collaboration on music curation for Monday...

09/09/2026

Sacramento Production Services Deploys Wisycom RF System at Sutter Health Park

Sacramento Production Services has completed a wireless audio overhaul at Sutter Health Park, home of the Athletics during their three-year residency in Sacrame...

09/09/2026

NDI and NVIDIA Collaborate on AI-Powered Multilingual Content Workflows

NDI and NVIDIA have announced a collaboration to develop AI-powered workflows enabling broadcasters to create and distribute multilingual content from a single ...

09/09/2026

Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame Announces the Class of 2026

Christopher Chip Adams, Troy Aikman, Jim Dove, Jim Eady, Bucky Gunts, Robert A. Iger, Charlie Jablonski, Robert Kraft, Tom Rinaldi, and Dick Stockton to be ho...

09/09/2026

NBC Sports Opens 21st SNF Season With Expanded Schedule, Traveling Studio Show, and Bulked Up Toolkit

ND2 returns as the primary unit, While FNIA gets SSQC and new flexible Rover...

09/09/2026

Celemony Tonalic gains additional Paul Kleber upright bass

New parts aimed at hip-hop and pop productions The latest update to Celemony's innovative virtual session musician expands the collection of built-in in...

09/09/2026

Sonarworks Autumn Sale

Save up to 40% until 21 September 2026 Sonarworks are currently running their Autumn Sale, with discounts of up to 40% currently available across their rang...

09/09/2026

Bjooks Beat Gems to begin shipping

Upcoming title officially launches in September 2026 Bjooks' celebrations for this year's 909 Day will be welcome news amongst drum machine lovers, ...

09/09/2026

NITV to bring First Nations netball to audiences nationwide

NITV to bring First Nations netball to audiences nationwide 9 September, 2026 Media releases Every match of the 2026 First Nations Tournament will be live ...

09/09/2026

NFVF CALL FOR PROPOSALS: YOUTH FILMMAKER PROJECT FACILITATING COMPANY 2026

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) invites eligible Tier 1 and 2 South African production companies to submit proposals to serve as the Facilitating ...

09/09/2026

Nielsen launches CTV Ad spend data into its Italian Ad Intel product

Italy launch follows UK and Germany as Nielsen expands product across EMEA Milan, Italy, September 9, 2026 - Nielsen, a global leader in audience measurement, ...

09/09/2026

Gracenote Expands AI Product Roadmap with Sports MCP Server, Entertainment SLM and Agents

Planned solutions tackle accuracy, cost and latency barriers to deploying AI at ...

09/09/2026

Dalet Promotes Brian Doheny to CEO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/09/2026

Studio Technologies Expands StudioComm Monitoring With In...

Studio Technologies, a leading manufacturer of high-quality audio, video, and fiber-optic solutions, introduces its new Model 791 Control Console at IBC 2026 (N...

09/09/2026

Maxon Brings Exclusive Preview of Fall Innovations to IBC...

Maxon, maker of powerful, approachable software solutions for creators working in 2D and 3D design, motion graphics, visual effects and visualization, is headin...

09/09/2026

NUGEN Audio Leads the Dialog Intelligibility Conversation...

NUGEN Audio unveils DialogCheck v1.2, the latest evolution of its intelligent dialog intelligibility and compliance tool, at IBC 2026 (Pod P27). With a sharpene...

09/09/2026

Trusted Partner Network Launches Fix It or Risk It to Hel...

Trusted Partner Network Launches Fix It or Risk It to Help the Entertainment Industry Tackle Everyday Security Risks Industry-Wide Campaign Launches at IBC2...

09/09/2026

FCC to Vote on Opening Up Spectrum for Satellite, IoT

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/09/2026

NDI, NVIDIA Collaborate On Real-Time AI Multilingual Content

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/09/2026

83 percent of UK advertisers are using AI but speed and n...

AI has moved firmly beyond experimentation in UK advertising, with more than eight in ten marketers (83%) now actively using or piloting AI in production, accor...

09/09/2026

Pixitmedia by DataCore to showcase cloud and connected pr...

IBC2026 - Stand 7.D22 At IBC2026, Pixitmedia by DataCore will showcase its latest capabilities designed to simplify distributed production, accelerate workflow...

09/09/2026

Net Insight Showcases Open Live Media for Controlled Live...

Stockholm, Sweden September 9th, 2026 At IBC2026, on booth 1.B47, Net Insight will showcase Open Live Media, its architecture for delivering resilient live ...

09/09/2026

Net Insight and DMC expand repeatable remote production m...

Net Insight today announced that DMC Production Norway is continuing the use of its Open Live Media technology for premium European football, deploying Nimbra 5...

09/09/2026

Amagi to Showcase Four AI-Native Innovations Built to Pow...

Amagi, the media industry cloud platform for unified broadcast, streaming, and monetization, will showcase four new AI-native capabilities at IBC2026, Hall 5, S...

09/09/2026

Limecraft Brings Connected Automated and Intelligent Medi...

Limecraft today announces version 2026.6 of its AI-powered production platform, extending capabilities for connected media operations. An AI-assisted approach t...

09/09/2026

Telestream Advances Practical AI from Content Understandi...

Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, today announced the next evolution of its Practical AI strategy, evolving its comprehensive portfoli...

09/09/2026

Dalet Appoints Brian Doheny as Chief Executive Officer

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the appointment of Brian Doheny as Chief Executive Officer (CEO)....

09/09/2026

LiveU Offers Starlink for News and Sports Broadcast as Cl...

LiveU is now a Clarus Integrated Reseller, bringing Starlink's fast, reliable broadband directly into LiveU's cellular bonding EcoSystem through a singl...

09/09/2026

Study: New Streaming TV Series Orders Plumet

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/09/2026

G&D, VuWall To Introduce vsNEO KVM Platform At IBC2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/09/2026

FCC May Ramp Up Regulation of How Broadcasters Cover Polls

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/09/2026

Avid to Demo New Avid Content Core Features at IBC2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

09/09/2026

Wisycom Showcases Latest Innovations at IBC 2026

Wisycom is showcasing the latest additions to its ecosystem of professional RF technologies at IBC 2026 (Stand 8.D60). This includes its new MATF Wideband Anten...

09/09/2026

VisualOn and Cires21 Cut Delivery Bitrate Up to 76 Percen...

AMSTERDAM, IBC2026 VisualOn, Inc. and Cires21 today released an updated joint whitepaper at IBC 2026 demonstrating measurable, high-impact improvements in visu...