He has had thoughts about hiking the Appalachian Trail (AT) since he was ten. We had taken several three-day journeys, while living in Marshfield, Massachusetts, through New Hampshire and up Mount Washington with his friend Jason Fopiano and father Steve Fopiano. They lived about two miles from us.
After graduating from the Vista Unified School District, serving seven years in the U.S. Marine Corp, graduating from MiraCosta College, and UCI, Steve Garretson started preparing. The pandemic had placed his acting career in Hollywood on hold, so he started taking longer and longer hikes in Southern California. The Pacific Crest Trail seemed like a good alternative to the AT, due to the travel restrictions in 2020 to the east coast and on the trail itself, but after hiking from the Mexican Border to the Imperial Valley, when the trails finally opened again, he decided that the AT was still his priority.
In July, 2021 Steve flew to Maine and started the 2193 miles trek with Georgia as the destination. His hiking through Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts was up and down the hills without any major setbacks. He did have a minor ankle sprain while ascending Mount Katahdin, Maine, early in the trip that slowed him down. The beautiful mountains along the trail were refreshing and challenging. His childhood friend Jason Fopiano had passed away the previous year from an illness. They had planned to hike part of the trail together. Steve Fopiano had a bench built facing Mount Washington in New Hampshire as a memorial to his son. When Steve Garretson arrived at the site of the bench, Steve Fopiano drove up from Massachusetts and they met to memorialize Jason and to renew their friendship from thirty years ago.
In another part of the AT in New Hampshire, Steve G. met a small group on the trail, and they started discussing their hometowns. When Steve mentioned that he grew up in Marshfield, Massachusetts through eighth grade, a young lady asked him a few questions. Upon mentioning his name, the young lady became very excited as she had graduated from high school with our older son Bill, who was captain of the high school wrestling team.
Steve kept running into Sherlock, another hiker on the trail. They started to hike portions together and kept each other company for long stretches and provided mutual support in the towns along the way. They hope to connect somewhere on the trail when Steve returns in a few days.
In August, Steve endured the aftermath of two hurricanes, one up from the Gulf of Mexico and the other one was a northeaster. The rain was intense and washed-out parts of the trails which made hiking more difficult. Many parts of the trail turned into just rocks and ditches. Fortunately, the winds had receded, and the tent was not blown away.
After 691 miles, Steve sprained his ankle again and needed to stay off if it for two weeks. The ankle sprain occurred as he was entering Connecticut, which was a fortunate place because his first cousin Michael lived about an hour away and picked him up. Michaels’ father, my older brother, who lives another hour east picked up Steve, took him home to his son Matthews house, and let him get cleaned up. The next day Uncle Bob took Steve to Hartford’s Bradley International Airport and Steve is now in Vista, California resting his ankle, getting it x-rayed, getting equipment upgraded, and visiting his girlfriend Robyn. 
The trip back home has been especially great for his mom, Julie, and me. I am excited for his brother Bill to visit as well as our daughter Debbie’s son, Bobby, and his fiancé Kaitlyn. Debbie lives in Kentucky and cannot make the trip at this time but hopefully, they can meet when Steve completes the journey in Georgia.
Our sons’ goal is to complete the entire AT immediately after this two-week recovery. We are excited to continue to receive his regular updates and incredible photos (over 400 so far). We are all pulling for him to get back and finish the rest of the AT but are concerned with the upcoming winter snow along the way. Our daily prayers will be for his safety and for good weather. However, we are totally confident as he will always be a U.S. Marine. (Ooh Ra and Semper FI)
