Logistics of walking across the USA

In My Humble Opinion
1

I am thinking about walking across the USA, from the Atlantic ocean to the Pacific ocean and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations on handling the logistics of it all.

Presumably I would stick to state highways, not interstates or freeways. It is legal to walk along state highways, isn’t it? As long as I’m not hitchhiking?

How long do you think this would take? Do you know of anyone that’s done it?

Obviously, I’d need to take things like water, food, clean socks, a rain slicker, small first aid kit, a swiss army knife, pepper spray, a small 1 person tent, sleeping bag…

I’m sure there’s plenty that I’m missing, but is there anything really obscure that I should remember to take?

I would appreciate any tips you can provide (or if you can direct me to a really good outdoors/survival message board).

2

You might have problems with the (implied) plan to set up camp along the way. Setting up camp on private property without prior permission is, as I understand it, trespassing. Which is not to say that you wouldn’t seek prior permission, but is intended to say “hey, don’t forget to seek prior permission.”

3

It’s been done relatively recently, but since I’m not doing it I’ll leave it to you to do a google search. I don’t know how long it would take, but let’s assume it’s 2,500 road miles and you average 10 miles per day. That’s 250 days or about 9 months. As word gets around I think you’ll find people willing to help you (offer you a place to sleep, a patch of ground to set up a tent on, food, etc.) but you may also attract less savory people. I think at least one of the people who did it was approached by someone who said, in effect, “Are you that person who’s walking across the country? Give me your money.” You might consider traveller’s cheques.

4

Art Garfunkel might know something about it – he walked across the country (though he did it in steps over 15 years). I’d guess it’d take close to two years to do it at a leisurely pace. I don’t if there’s ever been a transamerican hiking route established, but there is a bike route. You could follow that if you liked, as most highways that allow bikes allow pedestrians I would think.

5

My basic understanding is:

Wizard - A person who wields magic through intense study.

Sourceror - A person who is born with the ability to wield magic naturally.

6

Whoah–I posted this reply in the wrong thread!

7

Funny, I was just reading about this sort of thing last night!

One of my favorite reference books, The People’s Almanac, has been at my bedside recently, and from the section ‘Sports Immortals’: (The following is my own paraphrasing)

The Pedestrian - Edward Payson Weston began his walking career by losing a bet in 1861. As a result, he had to walk from Boston to Washington, D.C., in ten consecutive days, and had to arrive in time for the inauguration of the new president. (Lincoln)

At 1:00 PM, February 22, he began from Boston’s State House. Followed by horse-drawn carriges, the diminutive (5’7"-130 lbs.) 22-year-old covered the first five miles in just 47 minutes, settling into a 3-3/4 mph pace after that.

He was in New York on the 27th. He got to the Capitol building at 5:00 PM in a driving rain. He missed the actual swearing-in, but managed to attend the Inaugural Ball.

He then turned pro. Six day races were popular at the time, and he became quite a contender. Soon he was taking private challenges.

On Oct. 29, 1867, Weston left Portland Maine for Chicago. To win $10,000 he covered the distance in less than 26 days.

In 1907, at the age of 68, and after years of similar competitions and bets, he covered the Portland-Chicago route again, but walking a trail 19 miles longer than the first, and bettering his time of 40 years prior by 29 hours!

For his 70th birthday, he walked from NYC to San Francisco, in 104 days, 7 hours, covering 3,895 miles. The following year he returned to New York, this time from from Los Angeles, in 76 days, 23 hours, ten minutes. (This ‘shorter’ route was 3,600 miles.)

He spent the last two years of his life in a wheelchair, however. Ironically, he was struck by a car in Brooklyn whilst walking across the street.

8

The American Hiking Society, at http://www.americanhiking.org could probably give you plenty of travel tips and route advice.

Sounds like it could be a great experience. Let us know if decide to try it!

9

I helped a guy at my library who wanted to walk from LA to Las Vegas, but he wanted to walk on the Interstate. Not just on the road, but on the freeway through Los Angeles.

I tried to tell him that pedestrians were prohibited on such roads, but he told me that he had the right under Federal law to walk on any Interstate Highway.

I decided not to push it and let him enjoy a leisurely stroll along a controlled access 8-lane highway with trucks going 65 MPH by him.

10

I didn’t walk the whole way, as that was not the object, but when I hitchhiked around the country I walked a fair bit of the way.

I got a light aluminum framed backpack with two main compartments, as well as some side pockets. In the larger of the two main compartments I kept my clothes. Three pairs of blue jeans, two T-shirts, two denim long-sleeve shirts, a sweater. an Army jacket and many pairs of socks. I wore hiking boots. I also carried a wool navy cap (the Army jacket had a hood).

In the bottom compartment I carried a military mess kit, a Sterno little wire thing camp stove, a waterproof flashlight (with spare batteries, when I could), a Swiss Army knife, a poncho and 35’ of nylon cord. I also carried in there matches in a watertight (US Army WWII surplus) container, bar soap in a watertight (US Army WWII surplus) plastic container and a toothbrush in a (you guessed it - US Army WWII surplus) container. I didn’t shave yet, so no shaving gear.

I didn’t carry much food, as a weight consideration, but I alwys tried to have something that would make a meal aboard - a can of chili or some such.

But I always carried some kind of candy. I’m not a big sugar-bear, so I didn’t just munch the stuff. But I always made sure I had some last-ditch energy with me.

My sleeping bag was what we called a mummy bag - heh, US Army WWII surplus - lightweight and tres snug.

I also wore two (can you guess what army’s surplus from what war?) canteens, that I refilled at every opportunity. That was part of the modus operandi for the whole trip. I bathed at every opportunity. I restocked my limited supply of carry-with-me victuals at every opportunity. Almost anytime I saw a laundromat, I did the load.

The whole rig weighed ~40-45 pounds, and I became used to it fairly quickly. The only superfluous stuff I took were my bongos and some drumsticks. And part of that turned out to be not-so-superfluous when my backpack’s frame broke and drumsticks jammed into the tubes allowed it to continue to function as a frame. Bondo, anyone?

I hope this helps you, pal. My trip took three months. All of the above worked for me.

Good luck!

11

The Guinness Book of Records used to have a record for fastest transcontinental walk. I think it worked out to about 40-50 miles a day. That seems pretty extreme. Twenty miles a day (5 months for the trip) would be a more reasonable goal, I think.

Since you’re looking for advice, I’ll move this thread to IMHO.

12

And, uh, yeah…I went commando that summer - if I was a chick I could probably move those bluejeans on E-Bay.

13

Well, I’ve hitchhiked it (both directions), and I can confirm - it’s a big continent. I’ve done a fair bit of real hiking too.

What I would do is get some really good maps and work out a route through rural areas along existing hiking/cycling trails.

Camping, etc - no real problem in rural areas (just find some woods or something, and be discreet). Poison ivy and mosquitos, of course. However, lots of the US isn’t rural. Either avoid cities as much as possible or time your daily walking so you you get out of built-up areas before dark. (Or, you can sleep in cities - I’ve done it. Cemetaries are great for crashing out in.)

Walking on freeways is illegal. Walking along busy highways. Not much fun - noisy, polluted air, people trying to give you rides, cops wondering what you’re doing, plus a small but real possibility of being run down by some drunk.

[obvious] Seasons. Obviously, avoid the rockies during winter, etc. Route. Avoid the desert areas in the southwest. [/obvious]

Equipment. Take as little as possible. Hitching, I had a pack of less than 20lbs, including tent and sleeping bag (just 1 change of clothes). Hiking, I’d need a bit more, especially in remote areas (eg, water). Do take a copy of “Undaunted Courage” by Stephen Ambrose, about the Lewis and Clark expedition - it’ll cheer you if when you think things are bad.

People. Expect lots of offers of food, showers and a place to sleep.

I miss those days - why am I sat in an office now?

14

As an alternative, you might consider biking across America. One of my high school teachers did it–dipped one tire in the Atlantic, biked the country, and dipped the other in the Pacific. (Then he sold the bike to buy a plane ticket home.)

One good piece of advice: hide money everywhere. 20 bucks in one pocket, 20 in your sock, 20 in your backpack, etc. The idea is that if you ever get robbed, you can ditch a single piece of cash while holding onto your larger bundle.

15

Yes it is possible and many people have done it. My father ran across the US in the Summer of 1999. Took him around 99 days I think, around 35 miles a day every day. Also be prepared to get new shoes ever so often, I think he went through 15-20 pairs.

16

You might consider somethign like the apliachian trail which takes several months to complete but at least there are areas to set up camp at regular intervals.

17

When I was in Sweden I read about something called Allemans Recht (sorry if I misspelled) that held that everyone had a right to set up a tent and stay one night even on private property. (Like a pasture or field – not on someone’s front lawn!) Try that in the U.S. and you might get a visit from the Sheriff – or be shot by the landowner!

18

Ah. Here is a page on Allemansrätten/Das allemans recht.

19

Other people who’ve walked across the country have written about it - you might want to read some of these first person accounts for information about routes, what to take, etc.

For example, Peter Jenkins’ Walk Across America . This is probably one of the best known books - he’s also written a couple of sequels.

Here’s a Web Site from someone who did it on a bike

Art Garfunkel’s Web site has a section about his walk

This guy is walking to present the gospel of St. Mark (?) Geoffrey Darling

Here’s a little bit of information about Granny D. who walked when she was 89 - the fact sheet talks a little bit about her route. She’s also written a book about her walk.

this book is about a woman who walked from the Golden Gate Bridge to the Statue of Liberty.

Cricket

20

My lady friend did this in the 80’s with a bunch of people to try to bring peace to america…They
did it in about 8 months but were required to take a bus sometimes as some cities wouldn’t
let them walk through for some reason. She got really skinny too.