Public Education & Information
Walking West 08 Hike
The Association on American Indian Affairs (AAIA) would like to announce the arrival of Liz and Ed Morgan in San Francisco, California on Tuesday, November 18th. Liz and Ed started their Walking West 08 Hike 
from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean on March 25th from the Isle of Palms, Charleston, South Carolina. From start to finish, Liz & Ed walked 3,364 miles over the past seven and one half months.
AAIA is very appreciative of Liz & Ed's efforts to raise awareness of the past, present and future of Native American people and communities, and raise support and funds for AAIA. Below is the last entry from Liz & Ed's trail journal. Look for a follow-up article on Liz & Ed's trip in our Spring 2009 newsletter, Indian Affairs.
November 23, 2008
5 Days After Completion
They say tomorrow never comes - well, it did take us four days to get back to our journal.
On Thursday, November 20th we continued to enjoy visiting with Marcia, Al, and Kent in Oakland, CA. When Laura came to San Francisco, CA she had rented a car and Liz was put on as an additional driver, so when Laura flew back to TX we kept the car. Mid afternoon we said thanks for all you did and headed to the UPS Store where we shipped our packs and most of our stuff back to SC. We then returned the car to the airport and called the nearby hotel where we had made reservations to pick us up in their shuttle.
Very early Friday, November 21st we took the hotel shuttle to the airport and got checked in and through security. We then bought a book (Europe through the back door) and several post cards before goind to our gate. Everything was routine for boarding but then the pilot told us there was a leak in the hydrolic system. After about an hour and a half of sitting on the plane at the gate they finally got the hose replaced and we were off. We quickly changed planes, as we only had about 30 minutes before take off, in Phoenix, AZ, grabbing a couple personal pizzas and sodas to eat on the plane. The rest of our trip went smoothly and we were picked up at the airport in Dallas, TX by Laura and then all went to Laura & Shaun's home.
Saturday, November 22nd was a very relaxing day - we awoke late and watched tv and ate all day.
In the morning on Sunday, November 23rd Laura & Liz went out shopping for clothes and groceries while Ed slept late. We all then went out to eat and shopping for a lap top. Then it was back home for more relaxation and watching tv.
You might have noticed a trend in our days - doing as little as possible and eating. We are enjoying being able to relax and visit.
We have been avoiding writing about our mental health because, quite frankly, one should probably not try to psycho analyze one's self, especially since we are obviously crazy.
It's obvious that some people undertake a long backpack because they enjoy the sport and being in the out-of-doors. While we certainly have enjoyed our outdoor backpacking experiences, we did not undertake to walk across the country for that reason. If that had been the reason we have a long backpacking trail in the east, the Appalachian Trail, that perhaps would have sufficed. However, that doesn't fit in with Liz's desire to walk across the country. Still there is an official coast to coast trail, the American Discovery Trail, that we could have utilized but did not for two reasons. First, Liz wanted to walk out her back door and start across the country and second, that trail is 5,000 miles long as it wanders on trails, gravel roads, back roads, and highways, plus it doesn't have a theme it just crosses the country and Ed very much wanted there to be a theme to our walk. The end result was a planned walk from Charleston, SC to the west coast utilizing primarily roads of one type or another and occasional trails. Thus our journey's main focus was to get to the west coast as opposed to the day to day enjoyment of backpacking in an outdoor setting.
The mental challenge early in the trip was coping with road walking all day. Because we are backpackers we had some idea of what to expect in terms of blisters, sore muscles, and carrying a pack. So those things did not in themself cause mental stress. However, we typically walk ten to twelve miles a day when backpacking and we were not really prepared for the added physical stress of walking just a few more miles each day.
In the beginning when we would get tired every afternoon and yet need to do a few more miles it was discouraging to think we would have to do this all of the way across the country. To add to our physical stress, in the evenings our feet would throb. When these issues persisted through several weeks we began to question whether or not we could substain this effort for seven months. After about a month our feet were calloused and, though still sore in the evenings, weren't throbbing anymore. Reaching the mountains and hiking with our niece, Elizabeth, on the Appalachian Trail picked up our spirits considerably.
With the help of friends and family in SC & GA, along with their being shorter states to cross, we seemed to be making good progress for the first part of our walk. Then, even with interaction with friends and family across TN, the realization of how far it is across the country began to sink in. We walk all day long, find a place to pitch our tent, crawl in, ache for a while, then get up the next morning and do it all over again and yet our total miles walked and our progress seemed to increase painfully slow.
When you live in the east you think of St Louis, MO as being the gateway to the west and yet, because of our planning, we know it is less than 1,000 miles and still it seems like we will never get there. As strangers showed us kindness and were interested in our journey it encouraged us to keep going.
Through MO, hiking with Linda & Bob was a positive mental experience. Not only did we enjoy their company but it helped our motivation. Then, family and friends in western MO and eastern KS, put us into good spirits as we headed across the great plains. We moved well for a while and had a number of very positive interactions with people we met. NE however was our next long state to get through.
We did pass our halfway point in NE. For Ed this was not a positive event but was actually quite depressing knowing that the very hard effort it took to get there had to all be repeated again. Many afternoons he would fantasize to himself about going home but did not share his doubts with Liz for fear that she would agree. For Liz not having any more family or friends until near the west coast was discouraging as she looked forward to those breaks and changes in our routine. Having people following our journey and sending us messages of encouragement gave us considerable comfort.
We were also becoming concerned about the weather during the second half of our journey. We had felt it was important that we be past the ID mountains by mid October and it was becoming obvious that we weren't going to make it by then. The thought of getting caught in a snow storm in ID however and having to backtrack walking and maybe not making it to the west coast made us start thinking about an alternate route. With Laura & Shaun having moved to TX, we thought it would be a good break for us, as well as nice to visit with them, and would also allow us to use their computer and get new maps for planning our alternate route.
Now, having a visit with family to look forward to, we were again motivated. For now all we had to do was make it to Casper, WY (where we were going to fly out of). Then from Casper, WY to Salt Lake City, UT we were in reasonably good spirits although the unexpected cold nights were discouraging at times. A break in Salt Lake City, UT lifted our spirits yet the next stretch was going to be difficult but we were at this point determined. NV was another long state with few resources which was not encouraging but we knew that it would be followed by our last state and a fairly narrow state, CA.
NV seemed to take forever but then suddenly it was done and with each passing day our spirits improved. We had been worrying about getting across the Sierra Nevada Mountains, but with family support that obstacle was quickly overcome. Soon we were in Sacramento, CA and with the warm days and bright sunshine our spirits soared and we were encouraged and excited as we reached the Pacific.
As a constant throughout our journey we needed short term goals and things to look forward to which would help keep us positive and motivated, not just walking each day nor looking to the final destination which was usually so far away. It was easy to say as we planned the journey that all we had to do was to get up each day and walk but it is a long way across this country.
In general we have positive mental attitudes and a lot of determination. Walking across the country certainly challenged these traits but with much support from all of you and people we met along the way we were successful. Would we do it again - you've got to be kidding me! Are we glad we did it - absolutely! However if we knew then what we know now would we have done it - that's a good question!
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