Day 54 – 8/24 – Bridgeport to Gering, NE – 34 miles
Somehow, over the course of Nebraska, I’ve climbed from 1089 feet in elevation to 3921 feet, all while walking on consistently flat ground! A similar experience in Kansas should have prepared me for this phenomenon, and yet I’ve been blindsided once again. 3000 feet of elevation gain, with barely a hint of it along the […]
Days 51-53 – 8/21-8/23 – Spring Creek Campground to Bridgeport, NE – 77 miles
Multiple days have passed since a momentous development in this walk, and yet I’ve paid no reference to it in this written account. I have left the American Discovery Trail, after nearly 4000 miles of walking spread across five years. Will I ever return to it? It’s difficult to say. On one hand, while walking […]
Day 50 – 8/20 – Paxton to Spring Creek Campground, NE – 34 miles
Happy days are sometimes the hardest to write about. After too much time spent on the Lincoln Highway in recent days, it was a delight to spend the morning on the Keystone supply canal. Perhaps 20 feet wide and flanked by a dirt access road, the close proximity to water brought a steady, gentle breeze, […]
Day 49 – 8/19 – North Platte to Paxton, NE – 33 miles
After a lengthy departure from North Platte, looping around the largest rail yard in the world and the Golden Spike Tower, this was another walk spent too much on the Lincoln Highway, though that wasn’t without some positives. The route passed through three towns–Hershey, Sutherland, and Paxton (my destination) and all three still possess independent, […]
Days 47 & 48 – 8/17-8/18 – Cozad to North Platte, NE – 48.5 miles
For all the attention that Route 66 receives as the great American highway, perhaps more should be directed towards the Lincoln Highway, a transcontinental route (connecting Times Square, NYC with Lincoln Park, San Francisco) that preceded the 66 by more than a decade. In this stretch of Nebraska, the Lincoln Highway has supplanted the Oregon […]
Days 45 & 46 – 8/15-8/16 – Kearney to Cozad, NE – 67 miles
Slowly, ever so slowly, the landscape is changing. The corn is still there, never fear, but as I plunge south of the Platte over these two days, the land ripples, and cattle encroach upon the monocrop dominance. My presence seems to be an even more dramatic change for these cows, as they consistently respond to […]
Days 43 & 44 – 8/11-8/12 – Central City to Kearney, NE – 82 miles
Is there a more futile quest than striving for historical authenticity? I’m following in the footsteps of so many pioneers and settlers now. Different footsteps, different routes, depending on the day. On the morning out of Central City, I’m tailing the Mormon Trail, as those bedraggled believers, fleeing westward, deliberately distanced themselves from the more […]
Day 42 – 8/10 – Stromsburg to Central City, NE – 24 miles
Toughness comes in many flavors. On one hand, I’m pretty tough–look at how far I’m willing and able to walk on a daily basis! Can’t argue with that. On the other, I’m a total softie when it comes to being dirty. I’m fine with one or two nights of camping, but I’ll move heaven and […]
Days 40 & 41 – 8/8-8/9 – Lincoln to Stromsburg, NE – 67 miles
I’ve been thinking a lot these past two days about how the structure of the day shapes the experience. Obviously, a long walk shapes the day very differently than a short one; there’s potentially more room for lingering, exploring side streets, and easing the pace with the latter. The day’s destination might play a bigger […]
Day 39 – 8/7 – Lincoln, NE – 8 miles
One of the more annoying questions that I started using in interviews with students over the last few years was some variation on “why do you like what you like?” Often, it’s a maddeningly difficult question to answer. Sometimes, when it comes to certain hobbies or activities, there’s a simple (if somewhat disheartening) answer–simply because […]