Days 29-30 – 7/27-7/28 – After Maxwell to Des Moines, IA – 30 miles
Every time I explain the American Discovery Trail to people, I have to lead with this: it’s not a wilderness trail. Unlike walking in Europe, everyone’s assumption for long-distance walking in the US is that it’s passing through mountains and forests and bears, with only the most-occasional podunk village encountered for resupply. That’s understandable; the […]
Day 28 – 7/26 – Marshalltown to after Maxwell, IA – 37 miles
Looking back a day later, what sticks in my mind about this walk the most is a series of disconnected images, as opposed to one cohesive narrative. I’m at Dunkin’ Donuts, grabbing a coffee on my way out of town. A couple is already there, enjoying their consistent morning routine, with drinks and breakfast. I […]
Day 27 – 7/25 – Grundy Center to Marshalltown, IA – 31 miles
There’s not a lot to say about today’s walk! After the American Discovery Trail’s northward march from the border to Cedar Falls, this stage set about a course correction with a vengeance, leading me 26 miles south, with only a handful of miles’ worth of westward progress. This walking was entirely spent on roads, though […]
Day 26 – 7/24 – Cedar Falls to Grundy Center, IA – 33 miles
The alarm rang at 5am, which is pretty typical. With 30+ miles ahead of me, and what typically settles out to be a ~3mph average (including breaks), that early departure helps to ensure that I finish the job around 4-5pm. With the hottest part of the day landing between 3 and 6, it’s nice to […]
Days 24 & 25 – 7/22-7/23 – North Cedar Rapids to Cedar Falls, IA – 64 miles
Back in March, I was in Spain to re-walk the Camino Primitivo, and I was fortunate enough to have that timing overlap with Semana Santa. This was my first opportunity to see Spain during Holy Week, and I was eager to see some of the processions and celebrations the Catholic country is famous for. Three […]
Days 22 & 23 – 7/20-7/21 – West Branch to North Cedar Rapids, IA – 44 miles
I had certain expectations for the walk from West Branch. A quick perusal of the route made it appear that I would be following some sort of rail trail the majority of the way. And maybe that will be the case someday! Instead, my expectations were defied, almost from the start. The Hoover Nature Trail […]
Day 21 – 7/19 – Walcott to West Branch, IA – 33 miles
William Henry Harrison’s tomb sits within a towering edifice, perched atop a hill, visible from throughout the valley below. By contrast, Herbert Hoover’s, along with that of his beloved Lou, rests at ground level, surrounded by nature, obscured within the larger park preserving his childhood home and presidential library. There’s something appropriate to that juxtaposition. […]
Day 20 – 7/18 – Davenport to Walcott, IA – 16 miles
As I grapple with my Americanness, one of the Manichean struggles centers on our tendency towards excessiveness, grandiosity, and gluttony. In so many regards, my lifestyle runs oppositional to those habits. I live within my means; keep my footprint small; tend–in most cases–towards the understated. When I see others engaging in such practices on an […]
Day 19 – 7/17 – East Moline, IL to Davenport, IA – 14 miles
Look, I love long days of walking through beautiful countryside. Some of those stretches along Illinois’s canals, even as they pushed double-digit miles between cold drinks, were beautiful enough on their own to keep me humming along for hours. But even then, there’s some degree of diminishing returns. It is possible to have too much […]
Days 15-18 – 7/13–7/16 – Joliet to East Moline, IL – 135 miles
Note: For full access to everything from the walk, check out my Patreon and Instagram pages. As I’ve written, my overarching goal when I set out on this walk was to understand America more deeply. I’ve spent years engaging in long-distance walks, mostly in Europe, and I came to perceive that as a sort of self-indulgent escapism, especially as […]