SavageLlama
06-24-2004, 10:43
This hiker isn't carrying a heavy heart
By Bill Moor
June 20, 2004
South Bend Tribune (http://javascript<b></b>:NewWindow(%20'FIISrcDetails','?from=article&ids=xsbt');void(0);)
When Steve Galat of Mishawaka mailed home his big backpack from his Appalachian Trail trek, his wife, Colleen, didn't worry.
When he sent back his hiking boots, she didn't worry either.
That's because he also sends back his love anytime he can get good cell-phone reception out there in the mountains.
"Like a lot of the hikers, Steve has learned so many things along the way -- and one of them is to keep what you carry and wear down to the bare minimum," Colleen says.
"He started his trip carrying 60 pounds, and now he is down to 35."
After Colleen and their four children visited Steve on the trail in Pennsylvania earlier this month, he isn't carrying around a heavy heart, either.
"I think Steve was getting a little homesick before we joined him for a few days," Colleen says. "He saved his beard for us until we saw it, and then he shaved."
Without his whiskers, it was probably easier to get kisses from his three daughters anyway.
I wrote about Steve just after he left on his 2,174-mile journey on the Appalachian Trail. He started in northern Georgia on April 7 and should be finished sometime in early August on Mount Katahdin in Maine.
A surgeon by profession and a fitness buff by nature, Steve, 41, admitted in my earlier column that he was burned out and thinking about entering another field of medicine.
"I know there is a certain amount of romantic appeal about a trip like this," Steve had said. "But part of my reason is to gain a little clarity in life. Our lives are a spiritual journey, and I hope this experience serves as an allegory of sorts."
"He says, though, that 80 to 90 percent of his thoughts are things like, 'I'm cold,' 'I'm hot,' 'I'm hungry,' and 'I'm tired,' " Colleen says with a laugh. "But he also has had time to work some issues out in his mind without having people always bugging him."
He has been making good time -- averaging about 30 miles a day on the rugged terrain. "In fact, he has done so well hiking up the mountains that his trail name is Stairmaster," his wife says.
It is traditional for hikers along the Appalachian Trail to give each other nicknames. According to Colleen, Steve periodically runs into trail buddies who have been dubbed with such monikers as Dead Lung and Mrs. Gorp and Sunshine.
But mainly, his is a walk of solitude, "and Steve does admit he fights loneliness from time to time."
The Trail Angels help. "They are people who live along the trail and who might show up and cook breakfast for hikers or maybe leave a bag of oranges for them," Colleen says. "It is really nice of them and very appreciated."
Steve mostly sleeps in little three-sided shelters along the trail or under the stars. He also has been known to occasionally go into a small town along the trail and eat a pizza and sleep in a hotel bed.
"He likes the hiking, but he isn't wild about the camping," Colleen says.
She and their four kids -- 15-year-old Dan, 13-year-old Abbie, 10- year-old Kristina and 8-year-old Bethany -- walked with Steve for two days. They were with him when he crossed the bridge over the Delaware River and out of Pennsylvania.
"When we left him (and drove back to Mishawaka), it was 55 degrees and raining," she says.
Steve smiled anyway.
"He looked great," Colleen says.
The family hopes to join him again in early August when he finishes his long journey.
"The only potential problem is that he is doing so well that he might finish at the end of July," Colleen says. "That's when the older two kids will be in camp and the younger two in their summer swim championships."
Of course, they don't want their dad to slow down. OK, maybe just a little.
They also hope he can get good reception on his cell phone today so they can all shout, "Happy Father's Day, Dad!"
# # #
By Bill Moor
June 20, 2004
South Bend Tribune (http://javascript<b></b>:NewWindow(%20'FIISrcDetails','?from=article&ids=xsbt');void(0);)
When Steve Galat of Mishawaka mailed home his big backpack from his Appalachian Trail trek, his wife, Colleen, didn't worry.
When he sent back his hiking boots, she didn't worry either.
That's because he also sends back his love anytime he can get good cell-phone reception out there in the mountains.
"Like a lot of the hikers, Steve has learned so many things along the way -- and one of them is to keep what you carry and wear down to the bare minimum," Colleen says.
"He started his trip carrying 60 pounds, and now he is down to 35."
After Colleen and their four children visited Steve on the trail in Pennsylvania earlier this month, he isn't carrying around a heavy heart, either.
"I think Steve was getting a little homesick before we joined him for a few days," Colleen says. "He saved his beard for us until we saw it, and then he shaved."
Without his whiskers, it was probably easier to get kisses from his three daughters anyway.
I wrote about Steve just after he left on his 2,174-mile journey on the Appalachian Trail. He started in northern Georgia on April 7 and should be finished sometime in early August on Mount Katahdin in Maine.
A surgeon by profession and a fitness buff by nature, Steve, 41, admitted in my earlier column that he was burned out and thinking about entering another field of medicine.
"I know there is a certain amount of romantic appeal about a trip like this," Steve had said. "But part of my reason is to gain a little clarity in life. Our lives are a spiritual journey, and I hope this experience serves as an allegory of sorts."
"He says, though, that 80 to 90 percent of his thoughts are things like, 'I'm cold,' 'I'm hot,' 'I'm hungry,' and 'I'm tired,' " Colleen says with a laugh. "But he also has had time to work some issues out in his mind without having people always bugging him."
He has been making good time -- averaging about 30 miles a day on the rugged terrain. "In fact, he has done so well hiking up the mountains that his trail name is Stairmaster," his wife says.
It is traditional for hikers along the Appalachian Trail to give each other nicknames. According to Colleen, Steve periodically runs into trail buddies who have been dubbed with such monikers as Dead Lung and Mrs. Gorp and Sunshine.
But mainly, his is a walk of solitude, "and Steve does admit he fights loneliness from time to time."
The Trail Angels help. "They are people who live along the trail and who might show up and cook breakfast for hikers or maybe leave a bag of oranges for them," Colleen says. "It is really nice of them and very appreciated."
Steve mostly sleeps in little three-sided shelters along the trail or under the stars. He also has been known to occasionally go into a small town along the trail and eat a pizza and sleep in a hotel bed.
"He likes the hiking, but he isn't wild about the camping," Colleen says.
She and their four kids -- 15-year-old Dan, 13-year-old Abbie, 10- year-old Kristina and 8-year-old Bethany -- walked with Steve for two days. They were with him when he crossed the bridge over the Delaware River and out of Pennsylvania.
"When we left him (and drove back to Mishawaka), it was 55 degrees and raining," she says.
Steve smiled anyway.
"He looked great," Colleen says.
The family hopes to join him again in early August when he finishes his long journey.
"The only potential problem is that he is doing so well that he might finish at the end of July," Colleen says. "That's when the older two kids will be in camp and the younger two in their summer swim championships."
Of course, they don't want their dad to slow down. OK, maybe just a little.
They also hope he can get good reception on his cell phone today so they can all shout, "Happy Father's Day, Dad!"
# # #