Corbin man completes 6-month thru-hike of Appalachian Trail

Erin Cox, The Times-Tribune, Corbin, Ky.
·5 min read

Nov. 1—CORBIN — After being off the Appalachian Trail for a week, Stephan Say was still dreaming he was on his six-month long trek. Say, who lives in Corbin, completed the trail October 15, after having set out on the 2,194.3 mile journey on April 15.

Say, 27, was one of thousands who attempted to hike the entirety of the Appalachian Trail this year. Say also successfully completed it, which according to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, only 1 in 4 who attempt a thru-hike successfully complete it.

Say, who attended the University of the Cumberlands and after graduating, moved in with a friend in Corbin, had done some day hiking and camped some throughout college.

"I honestly have never done anything like this. I pretty much winged the entire trip," Say said.

The thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail (AT) became an idea for Say when one of his friends suggested they should hike the AT — to which Say had to ask, "what is that?"

Say began researching the trail and thought it would be the opportunity of a lifetime.

Turns out his friend meant they should hike part of the AT, not the whole thing. But for Say, the thru-hike had become his goal.

He had watched a YouTube video called "Appalachian Trail: A Journey to the Soul," where a man who had depression hiked the AT. Say related to the man.

"I lost my dad last year, and since 2015 I've lost 11-12 people who were close to me or I was friends with, and it had made me angry and bitter," Say said. "I would see people so happy and so full of life, and it would upset me because I felt anything but."

According to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy, "over 3,000 people attempt to 'thru-hike' the entire footpath in a single year. People from across the globe are drawn to the A.T. for a variety of reasons, such as reconnecting with nature, escaping the stress of city life, meeting new people or deepening old friendships, or experiencing a simpler life."

"[Hiking the AT] went from something I wanted to do to something I have to do," Say said.

For Say, once he got on the trail, there was no turning back. Through the bad days and the good, Say knew he would finish the AT.

"I am not the same person I was when I started it," he said. "It changed me more than I could ever describe. I feel so happy, so full of life. I have that childlike wanderlust like when I was a kid."

Say started the AT in Georgia and traveled north.

The Appalachian Trail passes through 14 states. Virginia is home to the most miles of the Trail (about 550), while West Virginia is home to the least (about 4), according to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

He started his hike on April 15 — on the 8.8-mile approach trail.

"I didn't know that you could just get dropped off at the top of the mountain," Say explained with a laugh. "I only made it like halfway up the approach trail my first day so I didn't even make it to the trail."

Many who do thru-hikes begin in the spring and aim to complete the trail in six months, ending in October, as Say did.

Before setting out on the trail, Say did quite a bit of research on hiking gear, but still he ended up swapping out most of the items he had started with. He went through five different pairs of shoes.

The hikers have hiker boxes along the trail where they can place unwanted items in it and they can take items from it. Say got about 15 items from the hiker boxes to use throughout his journey.

"The only way to prepare for a thru-hike is to thru-hike," Say said. "No matter what I did it was still trial by fire in Georgia. It was very, very rough."

"I've been eating Ramen and potatoes for the past six months," he said, describing a meal the hikers call a Ramen bomb.

"It's pretty much impossible to keep weight on out there," he added. "They say the guys end up looking like the 'Walking Dead' by the end of it and the women look like supermodels."

Along the trail there are also about 260 shelters, many of them three-sided, that hikers can stay in.

Hikers usually adopt "trail names" while hiking the AT, according to the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. For Say, that name was Motor Mouth, giving nod to his gift of the gab.

He hiked the trail mostly on his own, just weaving in and out of other groups on the trail. He made friends for life as they endured such a strenuous adventure together, it gave them an unbreakable bond.

He met a man from Slovenia who was the third person from his country to complete the trail. They plan to do more hikes together in the future.

"I got everything I wanted out of this trail and more," Say said. He is now planning to do a thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail (2,653 miles) and the Continental Divide Trail (3,028 miles). By completing all three trails, Say would complete the Triple Crown of Hiking.