Wooster man hikes the Appalachian Trail

Help Wanted: It’s a message just about every business seems to have posted these days.

Experiences Wanted: It’s a life mantra Wooster resident Isaiah Schafrath lives by, who is probably unlike anyone you’ll meet.

Schafrath, 24, recently finished hiking the entire Appalachian Trail by himself.

The Appalachian Trail runs from Springer Mountain, Georgia to Mount Katahdin, Maine and spans 2,194 miles, passing through 14 states.

The 2016 Triway graduate began his hike with two friends from Pennsylvania on Feb. 28. The trio hiked about 700 miles together, but one of his friends went down with an injury and Schafrath completed the final two-thirds by himself.

“I love being one with nature,” said Schafrath, who completed the AT on July 17. “Everything is so interconnected. Everything’s working for a purpose and helping each other out, and it’s just this beautiful flow. We’re a part of that, and I think we lose sight of that a lot of the time.”

Schafrath said he went on the hike to grow as a person and inspire others.

“I want to be a role model for those in hard times,” he said. “I’m just a regular guy from Wooster, Ohio. What I did proves that any regular person can do amazing things when they put their mind to it.”

While Schafrath enjoyed the serenity of many days by himself, he’s in no way a loner.

He’s answered help wanted ads for restaurant server jobs wherever he’s lived to fund his trips and cherishes the many friends he’s met along the way.

Schafrath is presently a server for The Leaf Restaurant in Wooster. He’s saving up for his next adventure: moving with his sister, Devon, in November to Australia, where they plan to bicycle around Tasmania.

Past experiences for Schafrath include working and living in Yellowstone National Park for seven months. He got into rock climbing there and actually climbed to the top of the Grand Teton. He also lived in Steamboat Springs, Colorado and spent time in Telluride, Colorado and Seward, Alaska.

Schafrath is the son of Aaron Schafrath and Brandy Musselman and great-nephew of the late Dick Schafrath, the former Cleveland Browns and Ohio State football great.

Although a book could be written called “Isaiah’s Travels,” the focus of this story is to detail Schafrath’s thru-hike of the AT.

“It started a couple years ago with a pinky promise I made with Adelaide,” said Schafrath, a former golfer and basketball player at Triway. “She’s my best friend, and we said, ‘We’re gonna hike the Appalachian Trail together.’”

It wound up costing Schafrath about $7,000 to thru-hike the trail. That included travel from Wooster there and back, gear, food and supplies, and money for occasional resupply trips into towns.

Schafrath held several fundraisers to support his trip and had enough money left over to make a donation of $3,165 to OneEighty Inc., a nonprofit domestic-abuse and drug-treatment center based in Wooster.

“I dropped the check off right before leaving,” Schafrath said. “There have been people in my life affected by some of the problems they help people with, and it’s something that’s close to me.

“It’s awesome when you go and reach out to see how genuine and lovely people are. I can’t possibly say it in words how thankful I am for everyone who donated to help OneEighty and also to make my trip possible.”

World opens up

Schafrath didn’t do much research about hiking the AT beforehand, preferring to “take it as it is and the surprises that come with adventure.”

According to www.AppalachianTrail.org, more than 3,000 people attempt a thru-hike of the entire AT each year, but only about 25% complete it. About 60% of hikers quit within the first month while 50% get off the trail at some point due to an injury or illness.

Schafrath averaged hiking 16 miles per day including time spent off the AT in a town. During a 1 1/2 month span, he averaged 28-33 miles per day. He woke up at sunrise around 6 a.m. and went to bed around 9 p.m., consumed about 5,000 calories a day, and went through four pairs of hiking shoes.

A severe case of poison ivy was tough to endure for several days, but Schafrath kept going. He endured weather ranging from 8 F in Tennessee to 98 F in Pennsylvania. He walked through snow, sleet, rain and blazing hot days.

Schafrath encountered black bears — fortunately about 30 feet away — and on a few occasions, porcupines and snakes. He carried his own tent, sleeping in public trail shelters only if there was a rainstorm.

Many parts of the AT are well-maintained, but other stretches have “jagged rocks that eat up your shoes,” Schafrath said. “It’s not friendly walking. It’s a job to take care of your body. At the end of every day, I had a cork ball, and I’d roll out my feet. I’d stretch to keep my legs loose, and I’d make sure to eat enough to not lose weight.”

The total elevation gain of hiking the entire AT is equivalent to climbing Mt. Everest 16 times.

Schafrath spent most of his days hiking alone but cherishes some of the friends he met along the way. He was given the trail name “Woodstock” in reference to the stuffed animal from “Peanuts” he carried. It had been owned by his beloved late grandmother, Kathy Kaufman.

“The time on the trail was absolutely magnificent,” Schafrath said. “I’d make friends with people and spend several wonderful hours with them but know I’ll probably never see them again.

“(Nature) doesn’t care where you’re from, your upbringing or your beliefs. You don’t have to play any particular role, like most people do in their day-to-day lives.”

The journey’s final stretch came as Schafrath climbed up Mount Katahdin, Maine with some fellow hikers.

“You’re scrambling up the last peak with your pack,” Schafrath said. “It’s not a sheer rock face, but it’s a tough climb.

“You start breaking down. It’s emotional knowing it’s coming to an end. We sat up there for a while, and a tear came to my eye. I was flooded with all the memories from the trail: the random stuff that happened, all the cool people I met and beautiful things I saw.”

Schafrath’s next experience he’s planning is the Australia trip.

He’s also thought about completing the other two major long-distance trails in the USA, “Triple Crown of Hiking” — the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail.

“You just go in a direction, and it’s like the world opens up,” Schafrath said.