048 - Seek to do More with James Appleton

In this week's episode James Appleton, an author and outdoor enthusiast, shares his journey of growing up in the Adirondacks, his passion for hiking, and the transformative power of nature. James discusses the unique qualities of the Adirondack Mountains, the challenges of hiking the 46 high peaks, and how his experiences have shaped his spiritual connection with God. He also talks about his podcast and the importance of helping others discover their strength through outdoor adventures. In this conversation, James Appleton shares his transformative journey from a sedentary lifestyle to finding purpose through the outdoors. He discusses the importance of connecting with nature, even for those living in urban settings, and emphasizes the value of creating personal adventures. James reflects on navigating life's challenges, particularly during the pandemic, and how these experiences prepared him for his current mission of helping others achieve physical and mental strength through his Seek to Do More program.

Connect with James:
Instagram: @jamesappleton46 / @seektodomore / @46of46podcast
Websites: www.46outdoors.com & www.seektodomore.com

The Balance of Gray
God, doubt, and proof walk into a podcast... it goes better than you’d expect!

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

The Signpost Inn Podcast
Find peace, clarity, and companionship for your spiritual journey.

Listen on: Apple Podcasts   Spotify

Chapters

• 8:59 [Ad] The Balance of Gray
• 9:49 (Cont.) 048 - Seek to do More with James Appleton
• 28:46 [Ad] The Signpost Inn Podcast
• 29:32 (Cont.) 048 - Seek to do More with James Appleton

Transcript

McKenzie Smith (00:07)
 On today's episode of my Valley, his victory, have James Appleton. He is an author, New York state licensed guide and passionate podcaster living in Lake Placid with his wife and three daughters. In 2018, he created the Lake Placid Niner Challenge.

James Appleton (00:16)
Yeah, I'm that way. I just let it rip. I just let it rip.

McKenzie Smith (00:36)
a popular hiking initiative designed to introduce new adventures to the ADK peaks. Through his 46 to 46 podcasts, James shares stories and insights from the Adirondacks, celebrating the region as a true outdoor paradise. He wrote Adirondack campfire stories, tales and folklore from inside the blue line, and he's gearing up for his next release, focused on the Adirondack 46, on the Adirondack 46 high peaks.

coming in March. James also runs Seek to Do More, a fitness coaching business offering programs like the Great Range Athlete Challenge, which helps people build strength and resilience for outdoor adventures. Thanks so much for being with us today, James.

James Appleton (01:19)
Yeah, thanks for having me. It's a pleasure to be on your podcast. Thank you.

McKenzie Smith (01:22)
Absolutely. I know I just read your bio, but why don't you go ahead and just share a little bit about yourself and who you are.

James Appleton (01:29)
Yeah, sure. So I'm a dude who lives in the Adirondack park and I like to share stories about my adventures out in the Adirondack park and people who also are here. And most people around the country aren't too familiar, the Adirondacks, it's the biggest protected wilderness in the United States. It's in New York state, which most people would never assume. It's a pretty hot place to go if you live in the Northeast. It's over 6 million acres.

which is bigger than every, every, national park, in the United States. So great place to recreate great place to climb mountains, paddle, hunt fish, whatever you want to do in the outdoors mountain bike. So basically I'm just a guy who likes to go out there and likes to share my stories of what I'm doing out there with people who also want to want to recreate here in the ADK. That's a, that's a big, that's a short, short introduction to what I do or what I like to do, I guess the foundation really.

McKenzie Smith (02:24)
Yeah, is the Adirondacks where you grew up?

James Appleton (02:28)
Yeah. So I grew up in the 80 K, however, like anyone who grows up in a small town, like all I wanted to do was get out of the small town. so growing up, you know, like you're in the mountains, you're in the thick of it. So, you know, to give people an idea, like there's nowhere in the country that's like the Adirondacks. It's basically like public and private land mixed together. Like you're like, it's, it's like living inside of a national park where there's towns and stuff in between the mountains. It's, awesome.

But when you live in that sort of area, like it loses its, it loses its magic, right? Like you see the mountains everywhere. If you were to see the view outside of the high school I went to, you would lose your mind. But when you're a kid in high school, it's like, who cares? Can I leave now? so growing up, know, I outdoor culture and like mountain culture skiing and running around in the woods, paddling, hiking, all that stuff. Like it's just like part of life. So you kind of, you don't really notice it, but until you're gone, then you notice it. But

McKenzie Smith (03:11)
you

James Appleton (03:25)
Yeah. I left and then when it continued life and then eventually found my way back and once finding my way back, through some like physical fitness transformations and like changes in that regard, I opened myself up to actually being able to explore the mountains, without wanting to die when I would go hiking. So it has completely changed literally the trajectory of my entire life. So yeah, I grew up here, but now as an adult being back here,

It feels like an absolutely different place to me, which is exciting.

McKenzie Smith (03:58)
Yeah, that's really interesting. You didn't appreciate it. You wanted to get out and then you left and came back and now it's like just this place that you have fallen so in love with and that... Do you...

James Appleton (04:03)
Yep.

Yup. Yeah. Like I don't want to leave now. Like I don't

even want to leave to know to do like there's a, there's multiple lifetimes worth of adventures to have here. So, it's just, it's amazing. And I'm just like super blessed that it's been, that it's taken to me or not taken to it, I should say in that regard. So it's exciting. It's funny because when I was gone, so I, you know, moved away, went to college, the whole thing. And then I was touring in a band in my twenties and every time we would get out West.

I'd look around the mountains or like in the Northwest, like, this is so awesome. Look at these huge mountains. Like, this is so great. And then it just, remember being on tour and it just like hit me. It's like, you grew up with these, with mountains, just like this literally everywhere you would go in town, gigantic mountains everywhere, yet you didn't care. now out here for some reason, it feels exciting to you, but it's like, this is exactly what you're used to. You could have, you never took advantage of it. So there were the moment where I remember being on the road, like,

I had this and then I took no advantage of it. So that was part of the desire once eventually coming back to say, okay, I'm not going to, I'm not going to take it for granted. I'm going to dive in and wow, did I have, have, I dove in, dived in, divvinin.

McKenzie Smith (05:20)
Yeah.

Dove? Dovin? I don't know. That's funny. Yeah. And now, you know, you're writing books about the Adirondacks. You have a podcast about the Adirondacks. What makes it? I know you said it's like the biggest, biggest piece of land, protected land. But for you, what makes it so special?

James Appleton (05:24)
Dovet it in? I doveted into the mountains.

there's like a real mysterious quality to the mountains here. And yeah, you know, there's, there's the 46 high peaks, which are just mountains above 4,000 feet, which for many people would say like, those are small tiny mountains, but pretty much all of the mountains in terms of like hiking trails are going straight up. And there's that, you know, three, two to 3000 feet of elevation gain up every single mountain. like they present a awesome adventure. and it's just this, this mysterious quality, like

It's hard to explain, but there's like a magic to it. And anyone that recreates here and climbs and goes into the mountains, like they experienced this kind of transformative nature that I think happens everywhere in the outdoors, but especially here, it's like you go back in time because this wilderness, like this park, it's unlike anything else in the United States in terms of like this mix of public and private lands, like together. so like, like I told you, it's a six, 6.2 million acres. It's bigger than

Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, the Smoky Mountains, the Everglades and Glacier National Parks combined. Like that's how big this park is. It's bigger than like six, six different states in America. So you picture something like that and there's only, I think there's like 150,000 year round residents like throughout the entire park. So you picture that sort of size and you think, wow, there is just so much rugged wilderness here. So there's just.

adventures for a lifetime. So I think that is what kind of makes it so, A, it makes it so appealing for people to come from all over. So it's, it's a one day drive from 60 million Americans and Canadians. So again, in the Northeast, it's a hot spot to go, because of where it's kind of located, but it's, it's the place where people go to, to like, to, to unwind, to, to simplify things. And I think that is what kind of brings the magic to it and why people become so obsessed with coming here.

I mean, I, you know, from my podcast, people tell me all the time, like I'll ask a question like, what is it? What do you feel like when you drive into the Adirondack park? Cause you always pass a sign no matter what road you're you're on. And so many people say home. It feels like I'm home and I can't quite describe why it feels that way. People that don't live here, but yet that's, it gives you that feeling. yeah, it's hard to describe, but there is just like a magical lore to it in a sense. the adventures are endless.

I mean, the amount of untapped land in this park that no foot has ever touched is enormous. I mean, it's that way obviously everywhere, but very much so here as well.

McKenzie Smith (08:26)
Yeah. So with it being so big, do you have a favorite section or I don't know quite how it's divided, a favorite section of the park?

James Appleton (08:35)
Sure.

yeah, for me, it would be the high peaks region, the high peaks wilderness. So again, those are like the mountains over 4,000 feet. And that's actually where I live in Lake Placid, which is like smack in the heart of the high peaks wilderness. so that would be my main area that I explore, but also so you can drive two hours in the park and just be somewhere else. So it's like, it's that big where it's, there are different sections and areas of this gigantic park state, cause it's technically a state park.

McKenzie Smith (08:50)
Okay.

Okay.

James Appleton (09:08)
So, but the high peaks area is like, where I live. That's where I do most of my, my hiking. And that's definitely the, it's the main attraction for sure here in the Adirondacks. No doubt about it.

McKenzie Smith (09:18)
Yeah. Yeah.

That's cool. I have, yes. I did.

James Appleton (09:22)
You've been here though. You've been here, yes?

shoot, did

I just jump the gun on you telling people you've been here? But yeah, because I know you had said you said you've been here.

McKenzie Smith (09:31)
No.

Yeah, no, I was there. We went for our first year anniversary. We just hit our fourth year anniversary. So we came there for our first year anniversary and did Lake Placid and did I think it's called like Indian. Yep. And just explored there's like a

James Appleton (09:38)
Awesome.

Indian head. Yep, sure.

McKenzie Smith (09:55)
I don't even know what it was called. We did a hot air balloon ride there. We did a bunch of just like hiking around and there's like a gorge maybe. Yep. Yeah. All the touristy things probably, you know. Yeah. No.

James Appleton (09:58)
Nice.

High Falls Gorge. Sure. Cool. Yeah, yeah, no, it's great. It's a tourist town. That's what we do here. So awesome. But you saw the mountains.

you saw, I mean, you would have experienced too this just like, like I said, it's like mysterious quality to these peaks and these mountains, almost like they're secrets that they're telling that you'll never know. You'll never learn, but there's something about it. And that's what keeps drawing me in and then everyone else as well.

McKenzie Smith (10:22)
you

Yeah, I know whenever we were planning it, I had always wanted to do fall up in the Adirondacks. I had heard about that for a long time and that was our anniversary in September. you know, kind of the ideal time to go. we, but I didn't know that it was really New York. I thought it was more like New Hampshire, Vermont, you know, that sort of where the mountains were.

James Appleton (10:38)
Mm-hmm.

Sure.

McKenzie Smith (10:55)
Because for me, as someone who knows absolutely nothing about New York, I just imagine the city and I'm like, I don't want to go there. But there's so much more to the northern part of the state that is just so different. And it's kind of crazy how polar opposite, you know, those ends of the states are. But I think so many people just think, yeah, New York, New York City, and they write off the rest of the state. And there's there's really so much and I've only seen very, very, very small bit of it. But it's absolutely beautiful.

James Appleton (11:09)
Yeah, big time.

Yeah.

Yeah.

When you look at New York state, like you can drive eight hours in the same state and never leave the state. like it's, it's, it's a good size, obviously compared to like the States out West, it's smaller, but for a Northeast state, it's very big. But yeah, that's, and that's why in terms of the outdoors world, the Adirondack park, despite its size is this like secret in a sense where unless you're in the Northeast, you have no idea because that's all anyone would think of.

the state of New York would be New York city. So that's kind of that's, and that's why there's a people up here. Like they have this little chip on their shoulder. They have a little swagger about them. It's like an, if you know, you know, sort of thing. And because of how rugged the trails are and how difficult the mountains are to climb, because again, they just go, the trails just find a drainage and go straight up the peak. like it is a very physically demanding way of hiking and the trails are terrible. They're terrible. they're not well made, they're, they're everywhere. I mean,

McKenzie Smith (12:02)
Yeah.

Yeah

James Appleton (12:21)
Thousands of miles of maintained trails So you have to be in a very specific Like physical fitness level to enjoy them and if you don't it sucks because again They don't like switch back their way up the mountains. They just go straight up So that does allow you to get in really good shape when you when you go out in them a lot

McKenzie Smith (12:43)
Yeah. So share with us just a little bit about if someone were to read your book or listen to your podcast, what they would hear about.

James Appleton (12:52)
Yeah, sure. So I started the 46 of 46 podcast in 2019. In the summer of 2018, I had just climbed all 46 high peaks in one summer. Like this was this goal I set for myself. So here in Lake Placid where I live, becoming an Adirondack 46er, which means you've hiked all 46 of the high peaks. It's a thing. Like it's like a, it's a thing. It's a very noble and, and you know, this cool achievement.

McKenzie Smith (13:08)
Wow.

to badge of honor.

James Appleton (13:22)
Yeah. Big time. So when you grow up in that culture, you're like, man, that's so awesome. And then eventually I was in, so I was, we were back living here and my wife and I back living here. And, a few years earlier, I had started strength training and fitness and like gotten better shape and all this stuff. So all of a sudden it allowed me, I went hiking and it didn't want me, I didn't want to die. When I got to the summit, I was like, Holy crap. Like that was easy. I can't believe I've never hiked a mountain and felt that way.

And then that was the kind of the catalyst that said, okay, why don't you start? Why don't you try to hike the 46 high peaks? And at the time I knew that summer. I work in the film industry and at that summer I was going to finish a movie in like, I think the end of may. And then the next one I knew started at the beginning of August. So I knew I had a good chunk of time with jobs on both sides where it's like, I actually will be home this summer. And I actually could like go after this goal because normally the summer I'm always gone.

So I said, let's do it. So I set this goal to hike all 46 high peaks in the summer to be coming at around at 46 or like finally this cool thing. and I was not the hiking type, you know, I go outside and hike mountains here and there growing up, but like always hated every second of it because it was hard. so I hiked all 46 high peaks in the one summer. And because I had, I was, I was already,

McKenzie Smith (14:24)
.

James Appleton (14:46)
running that Lake Placid Niner challenge that you start, that you talked about, because I do like the smaller mountains. And I thought that this is a great way to showcase the smaller mountains that are around the high peaks that people don't really think about. So I already kind of was involved in like the hiking world in a sense after climbing the 46 high peaks. But I decided, I decided that it would be so neat because I know all these people are always, driving up to the park from wherever they live, whether it's New York, Boston, Rochester, Buffalo, wherever.

They're always driving up here. Imagine if they could listen to the hike where they're coming to hike Cascade and Porter. Couldn't they listen to an episode about Cascade and Porter? So I decided, okay, let me tell my whole 46 or journey start to finish. And since I'm an audio guy by trade, it just made sense to like do it in a podcast form because it didn't exist. There were plenty of blogs that people had and I was like, that's old news. That's boring. So I decided to do the, do it as a podcast and

McKenzie Smith (15:40)
Yeah

James Appleton (15:45)
My, you know, I default to like storytelling. I default to, that sort of kind of medium. So I scripted out the whole story, start to finish, of every hike told all these stories. So in the record and the podcast episodes, I S I tell the story of each hike and each one's a different episode. So I, took me, it took me like three and a half months to hike all 46 high peaks. And it took me like six months to create season one of the podcast.

McKenzie Smith (16:15)
yeah, I bet.

James Appleton (16:16)
so it took so much longer to actually do that, but I wrote them all out. scripted them. I recorded them. edited them. add sound effects. had music. I had funny stories throughout. Like you really feel like you're on the trail with me. And I wanted to put that out. It's just this like. Collapse this like story start to finish a little audio doc you could listen to on your car when you're driving up to hike whatever amount each mountain was a different episode. So I did that, put it out Netflix style with no.

you know, intention on continuing it. I just wanted like one story start to finish. You know, I work in the film industry, so people do like short films all the time or they do their own feature films. It's like, this is my version of that. And then because of doing that, it got a bunch of downloads really quickly and, it kind of took, it took off pretty quickly. And then eventually people were messaging me, asking me to do more episodes. So it was always out hiking. So was like, I guess I could just start writing about other hikes and other mountains. And then it just very organically snowballed.

McKenzie Smith (16:47)
No.

James Appleton (17:12)
to now, which is like an enormous part of my everyday life. I like put food on the table because of things from this podcast. So it's crazy how it has evolved. but then you also asked me about the book. the book came from Adirondack campfires, came from campfire story episodes that I wrote for the podcast, which are just like fictional stories, like campfire stories that I set in places that all these hikers will know. Cause they always go there.

And because of that, like it eventually turned into a book and a publisher reaching out about, you know, putting the book out and all this sorts of things. But it's basically like they're fun, spooky campfire stories set in places all around the Adirondack high peaks that people will know. Of course, you don't need to know where I'm talking about to enjoy the book. But that was the point was that, you know, if you're hiking Nye Mountain, you're going to hear the story about the Nye Wolf. And then I'll get messages from people like, Hey, no signing of the Nye Wolf today.

McKenzie Smith (18:09)
Yeah.

James Appleton (18:10)
you know, stuff like that. So it's fun. It's all, it was all kind of in good fun, but yeah, that's where that book came from. And that's the podcast. It's been a very organic, progression from it since I started. And again, it wasn't like, didn't tend to, I just wanted a story start to finish. And then it is now morphed into something significantly bigger, which is exciting. Actually since, you know, since, you know, I can talk about the subject here on this podcast, I would say, it was, it was

McKenzie Smith (18:23)
Yeah.

Yeah.

James Appleton (18:36)
It was all part of the good Lord's plan, quite frankly, because of what I'm doing for people. When I look back on it now, I can say like, can see like how one thing led to the next, which led to the next, which is like, this is what I'm supposed to be doing. And it's kind of neat to see that in hindsight.

McKenzie Smith (18:53)
Yeah, absolutely. So on that subject, I would love for you to share just how being in the outdoors and recreating outdoors, hiking, whatever, you know, you're doing plays a role specifically in your relationship with Christ.

James Appleton (19:08)
well, I think most men find a stronger connection to God outdoors than they do in churches. And I stand by that personally. I think that there's just something different about the church setting versus the wood setting. and I also think you can't be in the outdoors, you can't be in the mountains, you can't be out there and not see like there's something, this isn't here on accident. There's no way this is just here.

And I think there's a, there's a huge beauty in that. I wouldn't say necessarily that the outdoors is like where I find my spiritual life, like growing or anything like that. But I do find that that's where I would say that's where the good Lord speaks to me more than anywhere else in terms of like needing answers, needing clarity. And I think people always talk all the time about like, I need, I need some clarity or I need to

decompress, let me go for a walk in the woods or walk outside and walk on a trail. And to me, I say like, yeah, he's going to speak to you out there, go outside. And that's how I feel where people don't necessarily connect those dots in that regard. But I think it's kind of hard not to connect those dots personally. So I would say that was, that would be, that would be a big kind of part of my life in terms of my spiritual life, that I feel a deeper connection. And I find that I, I get those

I get that clarity out there so much more than I get in my dining room in the morning, you know, having my own prayer time or my own, like getting in the word. it's like it can, the dots connect once I get outside. and again, I can't explain why, but, it's pretty consistent for me at least. I'm sure it is for many people.

McKenzie Smith (20:51)
Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I think what you said, there's specifically for men, you know, there's kind of that like hunter gatherer nature in us and the explorer and the, you know, just trying to get out there. And I mean, that's that's kind of our nature, right, especially men. And so I can definitely see how that could seem more connected being outdoors than

you know, just going and being a part of something and having to just sit, you know, and be a...

James Appleton (21:19)
Yeah, I feel like

that helps. Obviously men and women are different, also obviously women can be just as connected to God outdoors as men. You know, I've just always been like the big believer that, and this might not come with people might not like it, but I believe that church is not really meant for the majority of men. The same way school is not meant for the majority of boys, like sitting down, be quiet, stare up the front. just don't think sing songs. It just doesn't appeal, I think, to

the majority of men like things like like what you just talked about outdoors. So that's a but that's that's my own. That's my own my own hot take. It's probably a hot take.

McKenzie Smith (21:52)
Yeah. Yeah.

Hot take. Yeah, I mean, I think there's...

I think that the American church specifically, and I know I've done episodes about about church and all of the things. And I think that there's there's benefits to certain things and there's there's ways in which the American church, I think, has done it really wrong. And I think that really, you know, we're supposed to live life in community and be led and be mentored by somebody. But I don't necessarily think that that always has to happen in a church. But I think that, you know, Christian community, you know, if you look back in old times, like a lot of it is just how house church and people live in life together and people equipping

James Appleton (22:13)
Mm-hmm.

Sure.

McKenzie Smith (22:31)
each

other and you know it doesn't have to be this a thousand people congregation just sitting listening to a pastor I think you know there needs to be a lot more involvement than that for sure so it

James Appleton (22:42)
Yeah, and

I'm not saying don't have community at all, like absolute must. I'm just saying like, God will do what he wants to do, whether you're in the outdoors or whether you're in a church. He's gonna get to you. You cannot run. You could run, you can't hide, I guess. Maybe that's more of the better phrase.

McKenzie Smith (22:52)
for sure.

You

Yes, so true. So true. So can you share a story about God has maybe revealed himself to you or spoken to you through being in the outdoors?

James Appleton (23:14)
I wouldn't say I've necessarily been like spoken to like in the outdoors and the way that you're taught, you're, you're asking like a, like, I didn't have like a, like an epiphany moment out there, but I know he has spoken to me because of what he led me to, which is the outdoors. you know, we're all meant to do his work. meant to do greater things. And I have found that because like I told you, like, when I look back on my own journey from like losing a bunch of weight to

getting in better shape to then going to the outdoors and like my whole life is basically now revolving around helping other people realize they're stronger than they think they are. And that's not something that I came up with. That is, that is just was like put into me. Like this is what I'm supposed to do. and that is because of what I've done outdoors in the mountains and how this like platform that I've built has evolved. it's like, I know

without a shadow of a doubt that this is God's doing, that this is what I'm supposed to do. I don't know why, but I help people get in better shape so that they can go out and experience the mountains and experience the transformative power that the outdoors brings. And when I say that, mean, to me, I think you can't be out there and not see that there's something above, something bigger than all of us. Will everybody connect the dots to Jesus Christ? No, many do.

So I can only do my part and not leave it to God at that point. But I do feel that what I'm doing right now was just placed upon me, not because I wanted to or chose it, but because I was chosen to do it. Because I'm like a natural born cheerleader. So when people need that in their lives to show like you are stronger than you think you are, you can do more than you think you are. You can keep going like.

they need that kind of reinforcement in their life. And when people don't have that, they don't live up to their full potential. So that's kind of where I'm, where I am in life in terms of what I'm doing. And, it all stems because of like the outdoors, like that is like, it's the foundation of what I, what my, my message has been basically like built in the outdoors, if that makes sense. and I don't think it would, I don't think I would be doing this. I mean, I know I wouldn't be doing this if I wasn't, if I didn't have this like,

McKenzie Smith (25:11)
Thank

James Appleton (25:36)
hiking specific like platform in a sense that was very organically built because like I would have lost, you know, like I lost a bunch of weight as I told you before, and you know, kind of had that like physical transformation, but I would still be this guy who just works on movies and just kind of lifts in his garage on his own. Like there's no bigger purpose to it, but the outdoors, the hiking thing like that took what he did for me over here by the grace of God, I took what he did for me. And he said, we're going to use that for, for good.

McKenzie Smith (25:55)
Yeah.

James Appleton (26:05)
You don't get to do, don't get to reap the reward and not actually be impacting the world around you. So we're going to do use it for good. And, that's how I feel it. I mean, a hundred percent. That's, that's how the outdoors has, or like I have found God through the outdoors is because of I'm, following what I'm supposed to be doing, I guess, if that makes sense.

McKenzie Smith (26:25)
Yeah.

Yeah, you were obedient and you stepped into purpose and the out...

James Appleton (26:29)
Not because I wanted to either

at all. I just am like supposed to, guess. So all right, Lord, let's go. Show me the way.

McKenzie Smith (26:37)
Hey,

that's a real sign of obedience. You can't see the picture and you don't understand, but you do it anyway. So, well, thank you for sharing that. I know we'll get into a little bit more of that, I think in a little bit, but.

James Appleton (26:41)
Yeah.

Yeah.

McKenzie Smith (26:52)
I would love for you to share, I know you live in Adirondacks, you live in a super beautiful, you know, world-class destination place, but for someone who maybe lives in a bigger city or doesn't have the opportunity to go and hike these big mountains all the time, what are some little things that they can start doing in their everyday life to start connecting with God through nature in the world around them?

James Appleton (27:14)
I'm sure you hear from people all the time saying to go utilize your local parks. to me, anywhere you live, like there's local parks everywhere and it doesn't matter whether you're like 20 miles in the back country or you're like 30 yards from your car, just getting in the woods, hearing the birds, hearing the trees, hearing the wind to me again, it's again, it's hard to, it's hard to articulate. It's hard to explain how that impacts you to your very core, very soul.

And again, like I talked about before, when people say, I need to go clear my head, let me go, let me go for a walk. Let me go for a walk through the woods. Like, I just feel that there's a bigger reason why that environment clears your head or that environment offers clarity. Because I do think it's you connecting with something significantly bigger than you and way bigger than just some trees and some birds in the sky or birds in the, in the woods.

McKenzie Smith (28:07)
Yeah, yeah, so good. There is lots of science to prove it to. Even not even from a, I know it's hard to put in words from a spiritual perspective, but being in the outdoors really does lower your stress and all sorts of health benefits that you can't even fathom just from stepping foot on the ground instead of our carpet in our house.

James Appleton (28:20)
Mm-hmm.

Sure.

I'm also a big believer in creating your own adventures, no matter where you live. So for example, my podcast, like it revolves around adventures in the Adirondacks, whether mine or other people's. and there was a time where I was doing these other episodes that I called, summit session spotlight. And it was basically, so the summit sessions are what I call episodes that I do when I have a conversation like you and I are having now, I call those episodes summit sessions.

McKenzie Smith (28:37)
Yeah.

James Appleton (28:59)
And then I have the other episodes that are like the trail documentary stuff. but I did summit session spotlight where I spot put the spotlight on somebody who was creating their own adventure right where they lived. So like I'm spoiled. I live literally in the middle of the mountains. I'm, I am a mile and a half from like six different hiking trailheads, rivers, lakes, everywhere. mountains everywhere I walk, there are mountains above. So I'm in an awesome spot for that.

Most people don't live in places like that, but you still can create adventures wherever you live. So one, I remember one summit session spotlight was this kid from New Jersey who hiked the, I think it was like 51 mountains, mountains around New Jersey. They were basically like to, to count. had to be over a thousand feet of elevation. So obviously New Jersey is not a very mountainous area, but he's like, okay, I'm going to create. There's the 51.

points over a thousand feet. I'm going to go to see every one of them. And he did it. It was, it wasn't a thing. He just decided I'm going to create this adventure. And there was another friend of mine who did one too. And he lived in Toledo, Ohio. And he was like, there's this, this river that runs like through where he lives called the mommy river. And, it's not like a river that people go paddling on or it's just like,

It's like dirty old river. said, you know, I'm going to paddle it start to finish. So he created his own local adventure. He camped two nights on it. Well, doing this paddling thing, it's like, that is what it's all about. Create your own adventure. Even if you're taking like, I'm going to take this little, you know, park trail. That's only a mile loop. And then there's this one over here. It's like, I'm going to connect them with roads and then I'm going to, you could create your own backpacking trip. Like when you start to do things like that.

McKenzie Smith (30:34)
Yes.

you

James Appleton (30:49)
I think it really opens up a your creativity, but it opens you up to these very noteworthy adventures that most people won't have. And then when you start to do that, you're going to encourage other people to go have the same adventure. You're always going to have a story to tell. Even if you're just doing this trail that connected with this road that came over here and like you, you, create that stuff, no matter where you live, it's unbelievable what you can actually come up with. And then you're always going to remember them because they're going to give you something worth remembering. I think that's.

really like the, most people lack is, and I hear it all the time because I can't tell you how many times you will say, yeah, well you get, live up here in the mountains. Like you're so lucky you get to go here. So what do you do at home though? nothing. It's like, there's all these trails here. You could do stuff. You could create your own things here. Yeah, it's not the same. I get it. It's not the same, but it's still really awesome. Like it's still way better than only feeling like you have to come to a place like this to have that sort of adventure.

McKenzie Smith (31:46)
Yeah.

James Appleton (31:46)
And

when you do it, you get super creative and then it creates these. It's true to you. Like it's your own adventure, which I think is really neat.

McKenzie Smith (31:54)
Yeah, that's so good. Thank you for sharing that. You did that on your podcast and that we'll have to link some of the episodes so people can go and listen. Cause I think that that is, that is so good. Like you, there's opportunities everywhere. You just have to get a little creative and set a little goal for yourself. You know, I want to, I want to hike 10 peaks or, you know, 10, whatever. Like, I think that's so good. Just making do with what you have around you and kind of making a game out of it. And.

James Appleton (32:08)
Yes.

Absolutely,

making a game out of it. That's That's exactly it.

McKenzie Smith (32:25)
Creating your own little

adventure. I think that's great. Thank you. That was that was really helpful. I think that's really good really good

James Appleton (32:32)
Well, most people don't

live in a place, you know, most people don't live near these outdoors paradises. So it's like, okay, we got to get creative and you can still have that adventure. and the more creative you get, the cooler it is, you know, that you could, you could paddle this one thing and then hike from here to there. Then mountain bike from here to there. Like there's just so much you could do. You just got to get a little creative and let it be fun. And there's no wrong. There's no right or wrong. You're just.

McKenzie Smith (32:39)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Yep.

James Appleton (32:59)
If it's like four miles long, cool. It's four miles long. If, if a mile of it was on the road, who cares? It's part of it.

McKenzie Smith (33:05)
Yeah,

yeah. If you look at almost any major thru-hike, you're gonna walk on the road at some point. So don't think that if the people that hike the biggest trails in the world can walk on the road, so can you. It's okay.

James Appleton (33:09)
Yeah, it doesn't matter. You're connecting things.

Yeah,

exactly. Here in the Northeast, there's, there's 4,000 or sorry, there's 115 mountains over 4,000 feet in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. And, I had him on my podcast and, this one dude did, did them as a through hike. So he walked hundreds of miles on the road. So he started in the cat skills, which is like central New York state.

one or two, the one or two mountains there that are over 4,000 feet. Then he walked like the equivalent of like a two, two hour drive just along a road to get into the Adirondack high peaks, hiked all the Adirondack high peaks. And then he walked, you know, multiple days to get from New York state after doing the 46 over to Vermont to the trail head, did all five of those went on and like, just, he just created this amazing through hike of these 115 mountains. just because he's like,

McKenzie Smith (33:53)
Holy cow.

James Appleton (34:14)
It would be cool if, if like, if I did it as a through hike and just walked the roads to get between each one instead of getting in the car. That's it. It's all takes a little creativity before you know it, you'll be on podcast telling your story because it's probably going to be unique and interesting.

McKenzie Smith (34:18)
Mm-hmm.

I love it. I love it. Okay, well, switching gears a little bit into the title of this podcast, My Valley, His Victory. I would love for you to share a valley or a season of wilderness that you experienced and maybe just what God taught you or prepared you for in that season.

James Appleton (34:46)
Mm hmm. My life started changing drastically for my wife and I in 2020. We were both fired from jobs due to COVID vaccines and all that stuff. So that was a huge and she was a nurse emergency room nurse. So talk about having a job that's very, you assume, very steady, never going anywhere. And then it's just kind of yanked out from under you. So that was an enormous season of

no, what do we do? And through that season, I remember telling my wife that I said, don't worry, babe, this is going to be the best thing that's ever happened to us. Mark my words. And I didn't know why, but that was the catalyst that started basically my transition from, we'll say, like college career in the film industry to like what I'm doing now.

And that was, that was what began that journey, but I wasn't ready for that journey yet. over those next few years, I could feel God stretching me and preparing me for something else. I remember even telling my parents, telling other people like I'm being prepared for something, but I don't know what it is. I don't know why, but I'm being stretched and I felt it completely. And I've never been the type who would, you know, use.

It's like, I, I feel called to do this. I feel called to do that. I feel like Christians throw that phrase around way too much. I feel like they use it as a cop out so that they can either not do something or do something that they want to do or don't want to do. But anyways, that was the, that's been the very first time where I knew like, I am being, I'm going to be used for something, but I don't know what it is. And now, you know, with what my business is now, we called seek to do more, which you mentioned before, like

This was the transition that I needed, my family needed for me to like get off the road and out from being gone for six to seven months a year, traveling for work so that I could actually be home with my family. Especially as my family was growing and all this stuff, we have three kids. But it was that kind of like dark season during the pandemic where all of a sudden life got flipped up, turned upside down.

And that was the, but that was the catalyst for getting me where I am now, which is I'm now home for dinner seven nights a week, which is unheard of, absolutely unheard of in my, in my world. Like my daughter, my oldest is 10 and even she's just like, it's weird having you home like every night. This is so great. because it's that's since well before she was here was I still doing this traveling thing.

McKenzie Smith (37:27)
Okay.

Yeah.

James Appleton (37:30)
So I know that that is the biggest thing is that God was preparing me for doing what I'm supposed to do, which is, as I told you, like helping people become physically and mentally stronger for life, for the outdoors, for all the things that they wanna do. That's what I'm supposed to do. Why? Because he showed me how to do it through my own kind of physical transformation. And as I said before, like he wasn't gonna let me just have that and keep it to myself.

even if that's my natural instinct, my natural instinct is like a work in silence, never tell anyone my business, keep it all to myself. But like he wasn't going to allow that. And I now know that even though it's not my natural instinct to create a podcast, to have a social media page, to like talk, like I don't care. Why would I share my stuff? Like, I don't care who cares, but I have, I had to break out of that because again, I'm telling you, I feel it with every fiber of my being. God was like, Nope.

You're not going to just have this and not share it. You're not going to, I'm not going to let you. So anyways, long story short, to me, that's the biggest, the biggest connection that God has stretched me over the years to do what I'm doing right now. And for, know, whether I'm feel capable or not, this is where he's got me. So that's what I'm doing.

McKenzie Smith (38:48)
Yeah, talk to us a little bit about your physical transformation and just give us a little bit more context to that story so we can understand a little bit more how significant what you're doing today is.

James Appleton (39:01)
Yeah, I mean, I just so I had a I had a baby at my wife and I had our first child at 28 or I was 28. She was 27 two months after the baby came. So I was at that point, I was 300 pounds, just lazy man child like the whole shebang. Just your typical eat whatever you want. No cares. Lazy did nothing. Watch a lot of TV like you're pretty much like what you see of men on sitcoms. Quite frankly, that was me. Bumbley men on sitcoms.

And we were laying in bed two months after my daughter was born and my wife rolls over and says, she's like, so what's your end game here? Like we have a daughter now, like what's happening. And it was basically her saying like, it's time for you to actually become a man and put your health first, put your family, like it's time for you to grow up at that time. As I told you, I was, I was playing in a band before that. So for most of my twenties, I was like a child playing in a band touring the country.

McKenzie Smith (39:31)
Hahaha

James Appleton (39:59)
Then I go work on movies and I come back and tour the country and then I go work on a movie like doing that, like that sort of life, child life. but that was the catalyst that began like, okay, it's time for you to get your own life in shape. So it started with losing a bunch of weight. Cool. And then it became like, okay, let's become a better husband. Cool. Let's become a better man. Cool. Like it just kept going because you don't kind of have this large physical transformation.

McKenzie Smith (40:04)
.

James Appleton (40:27)
And not also rewire your brain and how it functions. And for me, I think I have like a little chip on my shoulder because I was able to do that, have that physical transformation, despite always traveling on the road, working, you know, 70 hour weeks on movies or TV shows. Like there's very little time to work out or, but when you say, no, I'm going to do it no matter what, I'm going to get it in no matter what has to happen. and then like eating, like I'm on the road. I'm never home. It's like,

No, I can still do it. I just have to take it one meal at a time. What can I do? What's the best choice I can make? Like when you do it under those conditions, you become a lot more, like you build a lot wider base to actually like make the transformation happen. So, and it did, and it was like, it's a journey. Like I'm, I'm still on the journey. You know, it's been 10 years now, but I'm still on the journey. I, by no means would it will ever have arrived, but compared to where I was before I'm at a significantly different place. So now basically I just help other people do the same.

And it's been enormously impactful and very humbling, quite frankly. Not something I want to take any credit for. Because again, don't believe that I created anything that I'm doing. don't believe I created. I believe it was like put in me and I'm just like the vessel to get it out.

McKenzie Smith (41:44)
Yeah, I think that it's in your story as a really, I'll say good. That's not the word I want to use, but that's the word that's coming to mind. Good picture of like, God didn't, you know, immediately use this. It was like five years of you kind of working in in silence and preparing yourself. And, you know, I know you said that, you know, God was preparing you and

James Appleton (42:02)
Yeah.

McKenzie Smith (42:08)
Definitely he was working through you at that time, but there was all of this work in silence. And then there became this pivotal point of like, this is why you've been doing all of this. And now I want you to take it and I want you to help other people do the same thing. And I think what you're doing is so valuable because I know you work with men and women, but you know, just, think our, our world specifically currently is just so focused on immediate gratification and

James Appleton (42:36)
yeah.

McKenzie Smith (42:36)
no discipline for the most part, you know, and it's like, that's a core, a core piece biblically. And I think just like in order to do anything and to do it well, like that has to be a staple in your life. And so I think that it's really cool. I know that, you know, jester Julie, who was on the podcast before went through your program and I think is still actively in your program, right?

James Appleton (42:59)
Mm-hmm.

She's still with us.

McKenzie Smith (43:03)
Yeah, yeah, and so just to see even her transformation and seeing the way that you helped her get back into hiking shape and become, you know, her best self. I don't want to use that, but that's what I'm thinking of.

James Appleton (43:17)
Sure. Well, now that's, mean,

I always, I use the phrase like helping people become the strongest version of themselves because strength, strength matters, whether it's mental strength, physical strength, spiritual strength, like life is going to be hard. You know, like if we never get to go into the outdoors ever again, we never get to go climb a mountain ever again, we're going to, we'll survive. Like life will go on. We're not going to, we're not going to suddenly die, but what the outdoors does is it makes you a better version of yourself. So great.

McKenzie Smith (43:26)
you

James Appleton (43:46)
Let's do what we can do so that you can go out there. You can go enjoy the mountains, do the things that like light up your soul and help you connect with God. but that's like surface level. What really happens is like below the, below the surface is when challenge arises, what do you do? Do you crumble or do you say, okay, let me figure out a way around this. Like that sort of mindset tweak is really what makes all the difference. mean, Julie is a prime example of becoming mentally strong and yeah, she's also having some

freaking awesome times out in the outdoors now on the trail, because we use that as like the vessel to build the stuff that actually makes the difference, is how do you persevere? How do you, are you resilient? Are you mentally strong when these things go, when things don't go your way or things go wrong? You know, how do you, how do you react when life isn't quite what you hoped it would be? Do you let it kill you or do you say, watch this? it's a huge difference. And again, like I said, with the outdoors,

McKenzie Smith (44:37)
Yeah.

James Appleton (44:40)
It makes us a better version of ourselves and it's a better, it's what we love to do. So great. Let's, you know, let's tie that in. again, life will continue whether we ever go on a trail ever again. we'll still, we'll still be, we'll still be alive. So it's not the only thing, if that makes sense.

McKenzie Smith (44:52)
Yeah.

Yeah, I know a lot of what you do reminds me of.

The scripture in Hebrews that talks about let us run with perseverance, the race that's marked out for us. And I think that it's in your story specifically, you wouldn't have been able to do all of this and what God has called you to do if you hadn't done the first part. And so I think so often God is trying to build us up for something, but if we don't take the steps to do it, we may not be able to do the thing that he's called us to do because we're not in the right mental, mental shape, physical shape.

James Appleton (45:15)
Sure.

McKenzie Smith (45:29)
emotional state whatever you want to call it and so I would I would hate for us to you know miss out on on that opportunity by not doing doing the things that we're called to do so

James Appleton (45:35)
Yep.

I also feel if you're

not doing what you're called to do, I also feel that God is going to take away whatever is in your way to doing what he's having you do. I'm a big believer that you could push it off more and more and more than God's events. You're to say like, I'm going to pull the carpet out from under you. And I actually think that's where I'm, I believe that that's where a lot of those like rock bottom stories tend to happen is because that was when God pulled the rug out from under you.

McKenzie Smith (45:53)
you

James Appleton (46:11)
It was over. And you probably could have listened way before that and like taken action, but you didn't. So that's where it ended up leading to.

McKenzie Smith (46:16)
For sure.

I definitely, definitely agree that that is a way in which God can, can work. And I think that there's a lot of stories like that. know that's honestly kind of part of my story. Like I was, I was there. And so I totally, totally aligned with that thought. So for the seek to do more, is it more.

James Appleton (46:33)
Mm-hmm.

McKenzie Smith (46:42)
personal training? Is it a program that people go through? Are they being led by you, by people in your team? Kind of talk to us a little bit about what that encompasses if there's like five disciplines that you focus on or, you know, whatever that looks like.

James Appleton (46:56)
Sure.

So the Seek to Do More program, again, is this thing that was just like put into my brain by the good Lord. I'm almost a thousand days into it. And basically it's a series of seven daily commitments that you fulfill every day to become the strongest version of yourself top to bottom inside and out. there, you know, there's a mental, there's mental stuff, there's spiritual stuff, and then there's physical, because quite frankly, if you're...

It's, and it's founded on physical fitness because if your physical body isn't there, you're not alive anymore. Life isn't there. So there's a huge emphasis on your physical fitness and training. Yes. So like I help people build the training programs and because I love the outdoors, most people who come to me are backpacker, hikers, hunters, outdoors, people who like running around in the mountains. And so do I. So I build training programs specifically for that pursuit because that's what really lights up our soul.

but we take it one step further. it's, you could call it a fitness program because you'll have a coach who's actually like helping train you. but I just, I take a holistic approach to fitness because it's not just about what are the right sets, what are the right reps, what are the right exercises? It's like, you got to learn to get yourself to show up over and over and over again. And that requires this like,

your muscles don't get you to show up. Your mind gets you to show up on the days you don't feel like it. So when you, when you change that and you make that, you put as much emphasis on building that mental discipline and that resilience and that mental toughness, you're going to have a lot easier time showing up on the days you don't feel like it or the days where you normally would have just said, I don't need to, I don't feel good. But in say, no, I can still go or okay, I can't do the full thing. What can I do instead?

McKenzie Smith (48:26)
Amen.

James Appleton (48:48)
What can I do so I keep moving forward? So I put as much focus on that. And the way that we do that is through the Seek to Do More program, which again is seven daily commitments that you fulfill, that all of them improve either your physical fitness, your mental state, or your spiritual life. And a lot of people might get turned off by the spiritual part part. And some people tend to, but, also I determine your spirit kind of going even beyond any sort of faith.

McKenzie Smith (48:48)
Yep.

James Appleton (49:16)
It's like, how do you show up in the world? Are you showing up as the version of yourself that you actually want to that you're proud of that you would want your kids to do to be that you would want people to see you as most of the time or not. So it's like, okay, well let's focus on improving that. So that is what you're doing. And, anyone who's a Christian obviously knows that their faith is going to be an enormous part of that equation. So I feel by taking this holistic approach with fitness,

You have to also have the spiritual component. Otherwise you're still going to miss part of the part of the boat there.

McKenzie Smith (49:50)
Yeah, yeah, that's so good. So for a listener who maybe wants to find you, find your podcast, find more about Seek to Do More, where can they find you?

James Appleton (50:03)
So you can find me on Instagram, Facebook. My Instagram name is at James Appleton 46. That'll help you find everywhere else, but seektodomore.com and then 46outdoors.com will be my main places that I find myself at.

McKenzie Smith (50:20)
Beautiful. Well, thank you so much, James, for being here and for sharing your story and talking to us a little bit about that, Arundax, and just the way in which you have taken what God has taught you in your life and you are now encouraging and spurring others on in that same way. think that's so valuable and just love what you're doing and just thank you again so much for being here.

James Appleton (50:43)
Thanks so much for having me. If any of you, if you or any of your listeners ever come to the Adirondacks and want to get into the woods, get on a trail, hit me up. Love to love to go out there.

McKenzie Smith (50:52)
Love it. I need to make a trip back.