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Sailing on Foot — 1,863 Miles with Rand Timmerman | Ship’s Log #30

Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories

Chapters
0:00
Introduction
1:42
Why hike the Appalachian Trail at 72?
5:42
Family reactions and taking the first step
9:34
Preparing for the trail and facing wildlife
13:52
A close encounter with a massive black bear
17:26
Vietnam, trauma, and the road to recovery
22:58
When the journey became deeply spiritual
24:24
Surviving a terrifying storm in the Smoky Mountains
28:03
Two Truths and a Lie
38:08
Lessons from a father who overcame polio
41:16
One step at a time
Project Candor: Ordinary People. Unexpected Stories
Sailing on Foot — 1,863 Miles with Rand Timmerman | Ship’s Log #30
Jul 23, 2026 Season 1 Episode 30
Jeanne Andersen

“I was taught at a very young age that I could cope with life and deal with almost anything – one step at a time.” – R. Timmerman

Episode Summary 

Rand Timmerman enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1966 after hearing a radio report in an upstate New York bar — and nine months later found himself in a rice paddy in Vietnam. Decades later, four years into recovery from alcoholism and carrying an artificial knee, he stood on top of Springer Mountain, Georgia in a blizzard at age 72, setting out to hike the Appalachian Trail with his 71-year-old brother, Ron. 

In this Ship’s Log, Rand takes Jeanne from a frozen ten-foot standoff with the biggest black bear he’s ever seen, to five hours pinned inside a collapsing tent on a cliff edge in the Smokies, to the nightmares that followed him home from Vietnam and the recovery program that, in his words, gave him a whole new life — more joy at 80 than he ever had before. He walked 1,863 miles before a fall in Massachusetts ended his hike; Ron went on to finish all 2,200. 

The conversation closes with the lesson Rand’s father — a polio survivor who built a 20-foot boat in the family basement — taught him as a boy: deal with what life gives you, then cope with it, one step at a time. And of course, Rand brings three headlines to Two Truths & A Lie that all sound too wild to be true. 

Guest Bio 

Rand Timmerman is a Marine Corps veteran, retired attorney, and author. Born in a small upstate New York village with more cows than people, he served with the 1st Marines in Vietnam before an unlikely path took him to JAG school. At 72, he hiked 1,863 miles of the Appalachian Trail with his brother and captured the journey — and his recovery story — in his book A Spiritual Passage. 

Guest Links 

Website: http://randtimmerman.com 

Please visit Rand’s website, where the author discusses his book “A Spiritual Passage” and provides videos and other information about his journey. 

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