SavageLlama
07-26-2004, 14:09
http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories/2004/07/23/local.20040723-sbt-FULL-D1-His_feet__appetite_g.sto
His feet, appetite grew on Appalachian Trail
By BILL MOOR South Bend Tribune
July 23, 2004
Steve Galat, of Mishawaka, grew in many ways during his just-completed 98-day hike of the entire Appalachian Trail.
That includes his feet -- from size 11s to size 13s.
"They are pretty bruised and swollen," Steve says. "I had to buy new hiking shoes along the way."
He didn't have to worry about his head getting any bigger, though. The Appalachian Trail -- 2,174 miles of up and down hiking ... over rough terrain ... from northern Georgia to the mountains of Maine -- can keep anyone humble.
Like the trail, his attitude had its peaks and valleys, too. "I would have a day where it would be rainy and cold, and I would wonder what I was doing out there," says the 41-year-old father of four. "Then another day, it would be sunny, and I would see an otter or a moose or some beautiful vista and it would really inspire me."
In earlier columns, I wrote about Steve before his trip and midway through it. He talked about being burned out with his job as a surgeon and wanting to take some time away to sort out his future.
Yet he admits that most of his thoughts on the trail were about how tired or hungry or hot he was.
"There are no definite signposts for life out there, either," he says.
He did get to clear his head, though, while averaging 22 miles a day and finishing last week -- almost three weeks ahead of schedule.
"I would get up at the sound of the first bird -- about 4:45 -- and be on the trail by 5:30," Steve says. "And then I often would hike until 7 that evening."
He met a lot of other hikers along the way, but none of them passed him.
"Nobody passes Stairmaster," he kiddingly says of the nickname he earned from others on the trail.
Steve knows he stunk at times, too, and looked like Grizzly Adams when he would let his beard grow.
"I know I alarmed some of the waitresses when I would get off the trail just by the amount of food I would eat," he admits. "One waitress wasn't even going to put in my order because she said I couldn't possibly eat that much food.
"But I did -- partly because I took her response as a challenge."
Much of the time, though, he slept in the trail shelters or under the stars and ate his banana chips and dates and hamburger helper.
Only once did Steve give any serious thought to quitting. "There was a heat wave in New York, and my strength was zapped, and I obviously had become dehydrated," he says. "I was considering taking a train home to recover" and then resuming his trek at a later date.
But that was one of the times he ran into what he and other hikers call "trail magic" -- when people known as "trail angels" supply hikers with food and other comforts and good, old-fashioned encouragement.
"The trail angels helped get me through my day at times," he admits.
So did his family -- wife Colleen and children Dan, Abbey, Kristina and Bethany -- whom he would call on his cell phone when the reception was good.
All of them joined him in early June for a few days on the trail, and Colleen met him for the last day of hiking to the peak of Mount Katahdin, the official end of the Appalachian Trail.
"I think I was happier to see Colleen than I was to see Katahdin," he says.
That's the way it should be.
"Now I am learning to be civilized again," Steve says.
And also waiting for his shoes to fit again.
His feet, appetite grew on Appalachian Trail
By BILL MOOR South Bend Tribune
July 23, 2004
Steve Galat, of Mishawaka, grew in many ways during his just-completed 98-day hike of the entire Appalachian Trail.
That includes his feet -- from size 11s to size 13s.
"They are pretty bruised and swollen," Steve says. "I had to buy new hiking shoes along the way."
He didn't have to worry about his head getting any bigger, though. The Appalachian Trail -- 2,174 miles of up and down hiking ... over rough terrain ... from northern Georgia to the mountains of Maine -- can keep anyone humble.
Like the trail, his attitude had its peaks and valleys, too. "I would have a day where it would be rainy and cold, and I would wonder what I was doing out there," says the 41-year-old father of four. "Then another day, it would be sunny, and I would see an otter or a moose or some beautiful vista and it would really inspire me."
In earlier columns, I wrote about Steve before his trip and midway through it. He talked about being burned out with his job as a surgeon and wanting to take some time away to sort out his future.
Yet he admits that most of his thoughts on the trail were about how tired or hungry or hot he was.
"There are no definite signposts for life out there, either," he says.
He did get to clear his head, though, while averaging 22 miles a day and finishing last week -- almost three weeks ahead of schedule.
"I would get up at the sound of the first bird -- about 4:45 -- and be on the trail by 5:30," Steve says. "And then I often would hike until 7 that evening."
He met a lot of other hikers along the way, but none of them passed him.
"Nobody passes Stairmaster," he kiddingly says of the nickname he earned from others on the trail.
Steve knows he stunk at times, too, and looked like Grizzly Adams when he would let his beard grow.
"I know I alarmed some of the waitresses when I would get off the trail just by the amount of food I would eat," he admits. "One waitress wasn't even going to put in my order because she said I couldn't possibly eat that much food.
"But I did -- partly because I took her response as a challenge."
Much of the time, though, he slept in the trail shelters or under the stars and ate his banana chips and dates and hamburger helper.
Only once did Steve give any serious thought to quitting. "There was a heat wave in New York, and my strength was zapped, and I obviously had become dehydrated," he says. "I was considering taking a train home to recover" and then resuming his trek at a later date.
But that was one of the times he ran into what he and other hikers call "trail magic" -- when people known as "trail angels" supply hikers with food and other comforts and good, old-fashioned encouragement.
"The trail angels helped get me through my day at times," he admits.
So did his family -- wife Colleen and children Dan, Abbey, Kristina and Bethany -- whom he would call on his cell phone when the reception was good.
All of them joined him in early June for a few days on the trail, and Colleen met him for the last day of hiking to the peak of Mount Katahdin, the official end of the Appalachian Trail.
"I think I was happier to see Colleen than I was to see Katahdin," he says.
That's the way it should be.
"Now I am learning to be civilized again," Steve says.
And also waiting for his shoes to fit again.