Day 38 – 8/6 – Eagle to Lincoln, NE – 14 miles
The heat wave broke hard overnight, leaving unrecognizably delightful conditions today–cool, overcast, and even a little misty. Felt a little like Portland. The remainder of the MoPac was similar to what preceded it, and before I knew it I was already transitioning into Lincoln sprawl, shifting over to other pedestrian tracks. I had one stop […]
Day 37 – 8/5 – Wehrspann Lake to Eagle, NE – 35 miles
This was the fourth straight day with extreme heat and the worst of the bunch, breaking triple digits. It’s definitely been wearing me down, similar to the stretch through canal country in Illinois. One or two days of high heat, no problem. The cumulative impact of it, though, is more exhausting than the sum of […]
Day 36 – 8/4 – Omaha to Wehrspann Lake, NE – 16 miles
Five days later, the carnage is everywhere. After a night spent tossing and turning in my sweltering attic, I abandoned the powerless Airbnb and my plans for a day off in Omaha, pushing out of the city and back into the bliss of air conditioning. Any initial, selfish thoughts–I really wanted to visit the Joslyn […]
Days 34 & 35 – 8/2-8/3 – Atlantic, IA to Omaha, NE – 72 miles
There are two stories that I could tell about these past two days. Here’s the first: the conditions were challenging. The distance alone offered plenty of difficulty. Consecutive 60-km days are tiring, especially for the amount of walking hours required. Other factors compounded the challenge. And yet, the biggest lesson of these two days is […]
Days 32 & 33 – 7/31-8/1 – Stuart to Atlantic, IA – 40 miles
Corn is the story of Iowa, but it comes with a hell of a plot twist. In my mind, it was straight-forward enough. Field after field of delicious corn, just waiting to find a barbeque and a slab of butter. I certainly saw plenty of teenagers hawking “sweet corn” in parking lots across the state, […]
Day 31 – 7/30 – Des Moines to Stuart, IA – 41 miles
A quick cup of coffee, a slice of “breakfast” lasagna, and some petting of two very good dogs, and suddenly I was hurtling along the highway, back to where I left off in Des Moines. Storms had raged overnight, waking me around 2am and lining the Walnut Creek Trail with puddles. After bidding farewell to […]
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 […]