Like an old friend: Appalachian Trail keeps Yale coming back year after year
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(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is part four of a four-part series about Steve Yale, who was born in Williamsport and lived in Lock Haven for 17 years, who is hiking the Appalachian Trail for the fifth time.)
Millions of people every year at some point visit a part of the Appalachian Trail. And of those hikers who see or hike a portion of it, roughly 3,000 attempt to hike it from start to finish.
While an exact number isn't known as to how many of those 3,000 people hike it in consecutive years from start to finish, it's surely a low number. But among them is none other than Lock Haven native Steve Yale. This year marks Yale's fifth consecutive year hiking the trail from its start in Georgia up through the New England region to its conclusion.
It's a daunting task for anyone to hike it once. To hike it twice is just as difficult. But five consecutive trips? It's what Yale enjoys and what he loves.
But what is it that keeps Yale -- who was born in Williamsport in 1975 and lived in Lock Haven for 17 years -- coming back year after year, seeing similar scenery and terrain each trek?
Because, well, it's like visiting a friend for him who he hasn't seen in awhile.
"Every mountain I climb on the Appalachian Trail is like an old friend. I love the footwork involved with the trail. I play the trail like a fiddle with my feet," Yale said. "If I'm not on the trail, I think about it constantly. I'm obsessed."
That obsession with the trail is why he's currently on his fifth expedition throughout the Appalachian Trail. You don't hike it from Georgia through Maine multiple times if you don't have a love for it.
"Each year is different. Same trail, different weather," Yale said.
Like someone perfecting their craft or a painter continuing to get better while brushing a masterpiece onto a canvas, Yale approached hiking the Appalachian Trail in a similar fashion. He always is picking up new tips and new strategies while hiking to improve how he does year after year. Yale admits he had no real idea what he was doing his first year hiking it.
"I listened around other hikers to use their tips and tricks," Yale said. "I still learn new stuff every year."
Yale is already well past the halfway mark of the Appalachian Trail this year, having hiked his 10,000th career mile. By mid-July, he had made it through Pennsylvania, his home state which he affectionately nicknamed Rocksylvania for its hilly terrain and mountain range.
Yale's 2020 excursion was a bit different than other years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Because of the pandemic, there were less people on the trail and, as such, less maintenance.
"That made it a little more difficult," Yale said.
Yale watched YouTube videos as well for tips regarding nose breathing to get better for pacing on the trail.
"Breathing is important. I learned to tie my shoes correctly with a heel locking loop," Yale said. "I always look down at my feet when climbing. Looking up at mountains will hurt you, looking at your feet and smaller steps will help you."
While hiking through Duncannon, Yale met a trail angel -- a person who helps hikers by allowing them to shower, stay and rest at their home -- named Mary who is well known on the Appalachian Trail to hikers. There's numerous along the trail who help hikers, as Mary and a woman named Janet have been doing it for decades, Yale noted.
Yale always had a hope that one day his son would be able to hike the Appalachian Trail alongside him. But, unfortunately, that wish never would come to fruition as Yale's son died last February. Yale was able to bring his son's ashes with him on the trail later that year, and carried the ashes to Mount Katahdin, the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail in Maine.
"The ashes are just a prop, I feel him with me always," Yale said. "It's been a little over a year, but it's on my mind a lot. …I feel him with me out here."
Feeling his son with him out on the trail will perhaps give Yale extra motivation to reach the end of the trail once again. But, as Yale said once before, there's no ifs or maybes about finishing the trail: he will.
And no doubt Yale will be on the trail a few more times over the next few years.