Hiker Crossing Country To Remember His Children
SOCORRO, New Mexico (STPNS) -- Cross country trekkers - whether walking, running, bicycling, skateboarding or driving a lawn mower - are a relatively common sight along Highway 60 each summer, but one walker is tackling the journey during the winter months.
Steve Fugate, sporting a sign that says "Love Life" stopped in Magdalena last week for a week's rest on his way to San Diego.
Fugate officially began his walk in Surry, Maine, although he had walked to Surry from Blairsville, Ga., earlier in the spring.
"I wanted to cover as many miles as possible on this walk, so I'm going corner-to-corner," he said. "I don't like to take highways normally, but this time I'm displaying my Love Life sign and want it to be seen by as many people as possible."
Walking long distances is nothing new to the 61-year-old Fugate, who said he's "pushing 20,000 miles" in lifetime walking.
"I'm hoping to reach 30,000 miles lifetime walking distance," he said.
Fugate, who owns and operates car detailing shops for high-end vehicles in Vero Beach, Fla., has found pleasure in taking long hikes for most of his adult life.
Everything changed for him in 1999. His son Stephen was running the detail shop as he began his walk along the Appalachian Trail.
"My son was running the shop, but had made plans to follow me on that walk," Fugate said.
He said he was about halfway through the walk when he got the news.
"I found about my son committing suicide while on the trail," Fugate said. "He was 26 years old in 1999. My life ended then."
It took Fugate nine months to resume that walk.
"I decided to finish the walk in honor of my son," he said. "I was driven to do it in his name.
"One night about 7:30 in a shelter overlooking a vista in the Green Mountains I heard coyotes, and they sounded like they were crying. And I was crying with them," Fugate said. "Then I heard the yelp of a pup. And here I was, yelping for my pup."
He said he initially sought relief from various agencies.
"I got with mental health groups, religious groups, and other support groups, but nothing would gel," he said. "I decided to take on another challenge and did the Pacific Crest trail. I found it helped with my grief."
Six years later Fugate experienced an additional tragedy.
"I was 160 miles from home in Florida and talked with my daughter on the cell phone," Fugate said. "The day after that discussion I had walked 9,277 miles, when I got the cell phone call that my daughter Shelly was dead."
He said he was giving a television interview on the highway at the time.
"I broke down right there in the middle of it, with traffic going by," he said. "They called it an accidental drug overdose."
Although there is discomfort on much of his walk, Fugate is determined.
"When I wake up and my tent is frozen on the inside and out, or the mosquitoes get bad, I can't seem to quit," Fugate said. "I will make it to San Diego. I want very much for my babies to be proud of their father."
He said the deaths of his children inspire his determination.
"Both of my babies are gone. One did a self-centered thing and the other a foolish thing ... like they stopped loving life."
"This walk is a reminder to love life. I absolutely, genuinely love life. If I can love life, anyone can love life," he said.
He said his experience in Socorro County has been memorable.
"There is a difference in different parts of the country, but the people here are friendlier than most elsewhere," Fugate said. "A man in Luis Lopez let me spend the night at his house. It's not like that everywhere."
Fugate's layover in Magdalena was necessitated by the need for new equipment.
"I'm waiting for new sleeping bag to arrive," he said Monday.
He left Magdalena with his new sleeping bag Monday on his way west on Highway 60.
Fugate hopes to complete the rest of the "triple crown" of hiking, which includes the Appalachian Trail, the Continental Divide Trail and the Pacific Coast Trail.
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