and as we say here in Central Oregon, "It's dry cold".
Jim

Oh my, I'm so pleased to see all the feedback, even the ones implying my dumb youth, but I digress, it's true to an extent, this is a potentially dangerous and reckless adventure I hope to pursue, but it's replies like these that help me better prepare myself for what lies ahead. I have been considering doing the biking thing, I'll need to start bettering my physical condition for that though (I'm not terribly out of shape, but I'll need to stop smoking, and do some preparations to do so) and I agree that it's a lot more productive distance-wise.

I was also thinking about the lodging issue, and again, my dumb youth kicks in, and assures me that if I keep everything well planned that I hopefully won't be stuck in a desolate area by nightfall (I'm actually a hardcore insomniac so walking at night isn't an issue, as potentially dangerous as it may be) Someone brought up that walking highways are dreadfully boring, and it sounds like a lame reply to this but I own several media players, loaded with music, and I have literally watched an entire day go by just getting lost in my music, I'm sort of easy that way.

And judging by distance of highways and long stretches of sightless walking, I want to do a bit of greyhounding.

At this point it sounds like hydration is a major aspect, and while it was on my mind, I suppose I hadn't focused enough on it, does anyone have any simple solutions to keeping water with me? Are camelbacks good/can they be used in unison with a backpacking pack? (Not sure of the technical term for a backpacking pack aha..)

Planning is going to be the biggest part for me, I realize this, I have no specific time I want to do this trip, just before my life starts falling into place and I start adopting more fiscal responsibilities, thus rendering a trip of this magnitude more difficult to do.

I hear people saying that hitch hiking is a no go, and I was afraid that would be the case, so I never really put to much faith in that idea (I am 6'2" and medium set, so I'm not a small guy anyways, not sure if that matters to serial killers and such though xD)

Talking to friends and family about the potential of this trip, I keep hearing the word GPS come up, and I know that should be essential, as well as an atlas and a compass (I learned how to read maps while preparing for my continental divide trip) Any input on the navigation portion?

Again, I have to thank everyone for their words of advice I'm nowhere near ready, but having this sort of help is really quite... well... helpful

Most commercial backpacks have a sleeve for a camelback and are setup to route the tubing to your shoulder straps for easy access. You'll also probably want a water treatment option. A popular option around here is a sawyer gravity fed system. I have a steripen (that I haven't gotten to use much yet ), and pump filters are another option.


It's not the hitch hikers killed by serial killers that was the problem. Hitch hikers were free spirits that weren't too bothered by that kind of thing. It is the hitch hikers that were serial killers that got everybody too scared to pick anyone up.

Samual,

Check out this site: http://imjustwalkin.com/

It's about a guy who walked across the country. I like his idea of a converted baby jogger to carry his gear. If you carry a pack on it, you can mail the jogger ahead if you do a long stretch of trails.

"Young and stupid" is a compliment. Those of us who are now old and stupid miss those days. Might be a good trail name, too.

You can overplan the trip trying to see interesting things people know about. But then you will miss the things people don't know about.

I've been looking at the American Discovery Trail and have hiked about 40 miles of it since this thread started. Very little of it is actually on roads. There are a lot of little local paths it uses that aren't on maps.

The printed directions are very good and can be followed without a map, although a reasonable map to get back on track if misplaced is a good essential.

I got the maps and data points for Missouri, Kansas and Colorado. I rode a bicycle through Missouri pretty much along the same route and it's fine for walking. I think I'd take a bus or something through St. Louis and Kansas City. However, the trail through Kansas City gets very good comments in the journals. I've driven the general route though Kansas many times. I say general as it uses secondary roads in the vicinity of where I drove. No problems I can see there.

I've found Streets and Trips to be the best for planning. It won't give a perfect track, but close enough. I found it's seldom more than 10 miles between grocery stores within 0.3 miles of the trail.

It starts to fall apart a little bit where it uses the Colorado Trail. There are only a few weeks in the year when snow isn't a threat, but it's easy enough to go around on roads. The Colorado Trail is challenging to plan, but a person who walked from Delaware should be able to figure it out with the data book, maps, and monitoring weather through www.trailforums.com.

Personally, if I was set on crossing the country, I'd consider heading north out of Colorado into Utah, Idaho, Montana and Oregon. But that would take a little more planning to see if it's feasible.

Camping isn't a serious problem. I've called a few small town police departments and they all said they'd find a place to spend a night if you are passing through. That agrees with a book I've read about a solo bicycle trip across the country.

Planning it is really a simple process, just not easy as it's so big. I think I'd want a friend planning ahead for me and making calls to police stations for camping. I'd probably use a bounce box to send maps forward and resupplies in case I couldn't find what I wanted. You can generally count on one being someplace in a week. As long as there are always bailout plans, I don't see any extraordinary dangers.

I looked at the Lewis and Clark Trail. Although I like the route better, I couldn't find a databook on it. It looks like it's still in the planning stages.

The whole thing wouldn't be cheap. A very rough estimate is about $11,000. (I've already tripled it.)

If the OP is looking for adventure, the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail starts in Yorktown, VA and ends in western Oregon. It also passes through Pueblo, Co (Where I live.)

It looks a little more doable than the complete ADT.