Steven Wright’s wife Sandy died of triple-negative breast cancer. She told him on her deathbed to hike the Appalachian Trail.

What followed was 2,200 miles of the most honest reckoning Steven has ever had with himself: hiking with five broken bones, through three hurricanes, while still, for stretches of it, wanting to be dead. He argued with God. He wept in a mud puddle. He watched a tree fall on the stump where he had been standing two minutes before. And in a small wooden hut the night before the finish, he finally forgave himself for something that had nothing to do with Sandy.

Steven Wright is now two years off the trail. He wrote a memoir. He takes calls from people in the dark.

Dark Miles is a narrative documentary series from Hiker Trash Radio. These are the stories that happen on the trail that the finish-line photo never captures.

Show Notes

If you or someone you know is struggling, help is available 24/7. Call or text 988.


Steven Wright’s wife Sandy told him on her deathbed to hike the Appalachian Trail. She had six days left to say it.


He didn’t go right away. First came 18 months of grief that got worse instead of better, a breakdown, an escape from a hospital in a nightgown, and a moment in his truck on a highway where he shut his eyes and turned the wheel. A thunderstorm stopped him. A phone call brought him back.


When a counselor finally asked what made him happy, he said hiking. She said go. He heard Sandy’s voice saying it.


He hiked 2,200 miles with five broken bones, through three hurricanes, with the wanting-to-die still following him into the wilderness. And somewhere on a mountain in December, in 14 inches of snow, a dead ash tree fell on the stump where he had just been standing, and he realized he wanted to live.


In this episode:



  • Sandy’s diagnosis, her death, and the deathbed conversation that sent him to Georgia

  • The breakdown, the escape from the hospital, and the moment on the highway

  • Starting the AT with a torn rotator cuff and no intention of stopping

  • The nightmare that followed him from home into the wilderness

  • The mud puddle, the chainsaw, and the man who pulled him out

  • The phone call from his daughter that broke the darkest stretch

  • The night at the lake in Maine where he felt Sandy’s presence

  • The falling tree and what it told him about whether he wanted to live

  • The wooden hut, the snow, and a 30-year-old guilt he finally put down

  • What he does now when people call him from the dark


Dark Miles is a narrative documentary series from Hiker Trash Radio — produced stories about the internal terrain of the outdoor experience. These are the miles that don’t show up on Strava.

Connect with Steven Wright:


Book — The Weight I Carried:  theweighticarried.com


Email:  theweighticarried@gmail.com


Instagram:  instagram.com/stevencwright


 


Connect with Hiker Trash Radio:


Website:  hikertrashradio.com


Instagram:  instagram.com/hikertrashradio


Apply to be a Dark Miles guest:  hikertrashradio.com/dark-miles


 


If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 988. Available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.


Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Comments & Upvotes

Listen On

Also In Season 11