Little Papers Big Country

Here's a report on the first couple of days:

Started on the American Discovery Trail at 8:41 am, April 30, walking west away from the Atlantic Ocean at Cape Henlopen State Park in Lewes, Delaware. My wife and our little dog saw me off.

The day was clear and cool, and would have been perfect walking weather except for a ferocious wind in my face the whole way.


I was full of adrenaline and walked at a brisk pace. I foolishly hoped to get to Bridgeville on the first day, but ran totally out of gas by about 4 p.m., about six miles short. Found a nice, sheltered spot in a state forest and pitched camp for the night. So bushed that I fell asleep as soon as I lay my pack down. Had to wake up to set up the tent! Nice, calm evening. Birds started to quiet down as the sun set, with only the whipoorwill still singing after dark. Tent kept the skeeters at bay admirably.

The ADT avoids busy highways, so I walked quiet back roads all day. Saw very few people. This was not a problem, except I found that I was drinking water at a ferocious rate, and I needed to encounter sources of water. The only streams I crossed were nasty.

Stopped at Milton, the only town on the route, and had lunch and got water. Later, when I was ready to fall down, a nice lady sitting in her yard filled a water bottle for me.

I reckoned that I could make 30 miles the second day to reach Denton, Md., and my rendezvous with my pal Larry Effingham, [publisher of The Star Democrat], so I set off about 7 am.  By about I:30 p.m. I had reached the Delaware-Maryland line and was feeling pretty good about my progress, with only about seven miles left to walk. That's when I took a wrong turn and added about four miles to the trip.

The day was cool and sunny and I walked flat terrain. Delaware could not be called the most interesting countryside, and most of the territory I traversed was plowed fields or scrubby woods. Because I was guzzling water like crazy I kept hoping I'd find civilization along the way to get some food and water, but never saw as much as a gas station all day. Passed through a couple of villages that were nothing but clusters of houses. Stopped at a lumberyard and refilled my jugs, but that was the only place I could have stopped.

I realized pretty quickly that I'd taken a wrong turn, but a look at the map showed me that the route I had taken would get me to Denton. I just didn't understand how much further it was. And instead of walking on quiet country roads, I walked along two busy highways, with huge trucks whizzing past my ears and lifting the hat off my head, over and over. I was tired, running out of water, and my feet hurt like crazy. I'd read the words "weary and footsore" lots of times in books, but on day two I really grasped the full meaning of the phrase!

As I walked along the highway I kept looking at directional signs, and it appeared that Denton kept moving away from me! On the outskirts of town I finally found a gas station and bought a Coke. Putting on my pack and walking again after I had sat on the gas station stoop took a real act of will.

Finally saw a sign telling me lodging was ahead at the next highway exit. Then I saw that the next exit was half a mile further down the road. When I'm driving, half a mile is trivial. On sore feet that last half mile was endless.

I checked into the Best Western about 4:30 p.m., after walking more than 35 miles. The desk clerk did not seem happy to see me, since I was hairy, dirty and smelly, but after producing enough ID, I finally got a room. Found huge, bloody blisters on both feet. Took a long bath and soaked away the muscle soreness, drained the blisters and started to recuperate. Washed my clothes in the sink (these high tech fibers wash easily and dry fast!).

Met old friend Larry Effingham for dinner, and crashed into a dead sleep.

Up late this morning, trying to figure if I can walk on these tender tootsies. The rest of my body feels fine and ready to roll. Am tempted to try ten miles today, to get to a state park with good camping facilities. That will set up a 20-miler the next day to reach the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and my next interview in Annapolis [at The Capital].

I think if I restrain myself and don't try to cover more miles than I can handle, I can settle into a rhythm. Hope so. I have proven that I can walk 30+ mile days, and that doing so beats the hell out of me. Need to use my noggin if I want to finish the remaining 148 days of this journey.