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AARP AZ - Age Disrupting 71 year old will attempt, in one season, hiking the Triple Crown in 2019

Mike with AARP Fans 2.5.19




A quick update as of 4/29/19 on Age Disruptor and Triple Crown Hiker Mike Fagan. It has been a crazy 72 hours for Mike and team. Mike Fagan sustained a serious injury resulting from a fall while hiking in rain north of Harper’s Ferry W. Virginia. He pitched forward on slippery terrain in the rain and hit his left shoulder on a rock. When he got up, he discovered that he was unable to lift his left arm. Fagan continued to hike to the nearest shelter and called in the incident to his GCHH Support Team. The GCHH van and personnel took Fagan to an Urgent Care facility in Frederick, MD where he received treatment and diagnosis including x-rays. The initial findings are soft tissue damage to the shoulder and rotator cuff. He must return to Arizona for further treatment including an MRI to ascertain whether surgery is required. Fagan, 71, started the trail in Georgia on February 5, and was over 1,000 miles (nearly halfway) into his trek and was expected to reach Katahdin in Maine at the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail in early to mid-June.

 

From the start, Mike and his GCHH team knew that something like this could happen. GCHH.org is now implementing its contingency plans. This plan involves turning a one-person hike into a “relay-hike” for fellow Age Disrupters … 71 year-old Vietnam Veteran Mukhtar Najee-Ullah, one of the GCHH Support Staff is continuing north along the trail until the next replacement hiker arrives. The Triple Crown Challenge project’s intention was always to involve as many 50+ year old individuals as possible in the support and successful completion of this mission. GCHH intends to complete the second half of the Appalachian Trail with 55-year-old female AARP member, Sherri Eggers. Sherri will hike the final half of the Appalachian Trail and attempt completion by early July. Then other carefully selected 50+ hikers will be chosen from a list of volunteers to hike the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail – The Triple Crown of Hiking, a feat fewer than 400 people have achieved.

Mike will evaluate when he can return to the trail after doing the MRI in Arizona.  The focus now will be less on Mike and more on how people over 50 can age without setting limitations.

 

For more details you can always visit www.gchh.org and/or I will keep you updated as I know more.

Wishing Mike a fast recovery, so he can get back to what he loves doing.

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Michael (Mike) Fagan is a 71-year-old Arizona resident from Clarkdale . Mike is an expert in fitness, wellness, nutrition, naturopathic supplements, and most health related fields. He has hiked all over the world in the harshest environments and is quite adept at most athletic endeavors. Mike Fagan owns a Health Food store, called Montana Harvest Natural Foods in Billings, MT and has a local radio show, “Let’s Stay Healthy” on News Talk 730 that supports healthy eating and activities while focusing on the education of its customers rather than just selling them products.


 


Put the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and the Continental Divide Trail together, and you're talking more than 7,900 miles of walking across 22 states, with one million feet of elevation gain thrown in for fun. Reportedly only five have done so in one season. (As of November 2018, 396 hikers have been designated Triple Crowners by ALDHA-West since 1994 yet all these took more than one season). To put in perspective the significance of this accomplishment, 3x as many people have walked on the surface of the moon than completed the Triple Crown within in one calendar year.


 


Mike will attempt to conquer the Triple Crown in one season, starting in February 2019. He will be wearing a Garmin GPS locator and carry a satellite phone, so he can be tracked and followed.


The projected mileage goals are 252 days of hiking an average of 30 miles per


day = 7,700 miles. The tentative proposed route is based on a 2016 successful completion that


started with the Appalachian Trail: 2/5-4/29, the Pacific Crest Trail: 5/3-7/23, and the Continental Divide Trail: 7/28-10/16.


 


Resupplies and support are arranged through AZ nonprofit Gold Canyon Heart and Home. Joe


Chiappetta , Executive Director of GCHH is thrilled to be part of the project and invites people to track Mike's progress. GCHH is organizing and sponsoring the project as part of its senior outreach and support activities. One person hiking the Triple Crown can inspire thousands. One person hiking the Triple Crown with the support and active participation of others in their age group creates the opportunity to inspire millions…. The entire vision of this project revolves around senior participation. It’s about creating greater awareness that age is only a number, and that number equals experience and talent across literally every career, skill-set or hobby. "

If you want to help out, please visit https://www.gchh.org/triple-crown-senior-support/



Stay tuned in 2019 for more details and tracking. We will be following Mike and sending updates.  

Start of journey in Georgia

2/5/19 Start in Georgia.

If you want to track Mike daily, visit https://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0UCjE6iPk0xxySdL2g0CdZzSUlyXzLgRg

or

https://www.gchh.org/triple-crown-senior-support/


GOOD LUCK MIKE!

More pics of Mike

Mike starting journey 2.5.19


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