Day 21 – Chester to Red Bud, IL
Walking through this region, probably any region, can get monotonous. I understand the arguments for bicycles; they’d make it much easier to cruise through 10 miles of soybeans and corn unscathed, and on to the next interesting thing. There is something quite profound, I think, about the supremely slow-burn of a long-distance walk. For one, […]
Day 20 – Murphysboro to Chester, IL
I had two options for today, neither involving the ADT as a consequence of yesterday’s detour to Murphysboro. I could follow the highway, with pretty consistent traffic and good shoulder, all the way to Chester, some 31 miles, with no real towns along the way. Or, I could cobble together backroads and minor highways to […]
Day 19 – Giant City State Park to Murphysboro, IL
Yesterday’s leisurely afternoon in the Giant City lodge afforded me the opportunity to take a close look at the next few days and sort out some alternative plans. Originally, I had intended to complete the River-to-River Trail today, walking out to Grand Tower, but I scrapped that plan for a few reasons–the trail is just […]
Day 18 – Goreville to Giant City State Park, IL
It’s pretty much the lamest advice you can offer a person: go to bed and hopefully it’ll feel better in the morning. But here’s the thing: it’s true! Of all the things that long-distance walking has given me, it’s a healthy sense of admiration for my body’s ability to undo the damage I’ve done to […]
Days 15-17 – Shawneetown to Goreville, IL
The Wonder Bread truck driver is having a bad day. I’ve just walked into Goreville’s Dollar General on Thursday afternoon and Wonder dude is leaning over his hand truck, now freed of its glutinous burden, and working on unloading his own. “I mean, I’m not allowed to be on Facebook, but she’s friends with her […]
Day 14 – Wabash River to Shawneetown, IL
How do you photograph absence? As I walked around Shawneetown this afternoon, I found myself staring more at vacant lots and decrepit signs than I did most of what remains. I can–and did–snap pics of those, but what do those still images convey? A faded sign doesn’t just recall a shuttered restaurant; it evokes memories […]
Day 13 – Evansville, IN to Wabash River, Illinois
The plan today was pretty straight-forward. Wake up. Power through the first 20 or so miles to Mount Vernon (Indiana). Eat. Rest. Burn an hour or two. And then push through the remaining 10 miles of Indiana, cross the bridge over the Wabash River into Illinois, pitch the bivy, and declare victory on the day. […]
Day 12 – After Boonville to Evansville, IN
The persistent whiteness of Indiana has been an unstated but daily reality of my walk through this state. Prior to today, I could count on one hand the people of color who I have engaged with thus far–an African American police officer near Corydon, a South Asian clerk in Fulda, an East Asian clerk in […]
Day 11 – Santa Claus to after Boonville, IN
One of the exciting things about the American Discovery Trail from a historical perspective is how it overlaps with so many long-distance routes that were pivotal to the formation of the United States–things like the Pony Express, the Oregon Trail, and the Mormon Trail. Thus, the process of walking westward on the ADT is to […]
Day 10 – St Meinrad to Santa Claus, IN
An easy day, the additional reward for yesterday’s shortcut. I was already locked in to stopping at Santa Claus (yes, that is actually the town’s name), so I rolled with a delightfully short day. I lounged around St Meinrad this morning, listening to the bells toll first for morning prayer and then for mass, and […]