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West and East

Anonymous Mon 04 Mar 2024 16:35:24 No.2705687 View View Reply Original Report

Quoted By: >>2705688 >>2705690 >>2705695 >>2705719

In about a week, I'm departing from Chicago, and walking to the west coast (not sure on a precise destination yet, lol)
I already walked from the coast of Virginia to Chicago, and I think I learned what I need to know going forward, but I'm not entirely sure.
I'll be taking a northern rout through the Dakotas, and while I am aware that it will be more desert like in terms of terrain, what should I expect to encounter out west that I would not have encountered in the eastern side of the nation?

Also, has anyone else here done this sort of thing?

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 04 Mar 2024 16:40:08 No.2705688 Report

Quoted By: >>2705697

>>2705687
No but please give advice. Do you just sleep a few yards from the interstate? Have you ever ran into spooky shit? Do you run into bad humans out there?

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 04 Mar 2024 16:44:23 No.2705690 Report

Quoted By:

>>2705687
Not sure how much you relied on frequent stops in towns, but the further west you go the distances between towns gets incredibly far. You'll definitely need to be conscientious of how frequently you'll be able to stock up on things. Also wildlife is potentially more dangerous again due to the lack of settlements even if you're following alongside interstate and highway routes.
Exposure will also be a bitch. It will be drier, but also a hell of a lot more windy, and frankly a lot of the weather on the plains can be intense, and then into the mountains it's similarly rough.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 04 Mar 2024 16:54:37 No.2705695 Report

Quoted By:

>>2705687
>while I am aware that it will be more desert like in terms of terrain
the great plains are not a desert. but it will still be full on winter with possibility of sub zero temps and blizzards. >>2705687
>what should I expect to encounter out west that I would not have encountered in the east

much bigger and formidable mnts...as well as much fewer people

Anonymous

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Anonymous Mon 04 Mar 2024 16:57:09 No.2705697 Report

Quoted By: >>2705714

>>2705688
Its illegal to follow the interstate, so I walked along backroads, highways, bike trails, and sometimes just fucked off into the woods following a dry creek bed for a week.
Sometimes I slept with the road a stones throw away. Sometimes I slept several days walk away from the nearest sign of humanity. Sometimes I slept behind dumpsters in the city while homeless people were around. I would say a good half of my sleeping spots were under bridges though, as there was always a bridge around, and it was the ideal shelter.
>Almost always a source of water to drink/bathe in
>safe from the rain
>out of sight
bridge life best life, except for when the cops show up for a call about your campfire smoke, lol. Even then, just be polite and promise to be gone by morning, and they'll leave you alone.

As for spooky shit, yeah. There were some unusual encounters, but the majority of the spookiness came from my first few weeks when I was getting properly used to the wilderness. I've been camping all my life, but its one thing to sleep at a campsite on the AT, and its quite another to be fucked off into the mountains, and see SOMETHING circling your camp off in the woods, barely illuminated by the orange glow of a dying campfire. I will admit though, the several nights of shuffling around a campfire in a half crouch, while making ooga booga noises into the woods and waving a kabar around were very fun, even if I was shitting myself.
Fun fact: when deer get scared, they make this weird chuffing noise that sounds like sneezing into a harmonica, and if you wake up to that at 3am, you will have a jolly old time. Learned that the fun way.

For bad people, yes as well. They all are in the cities. Fuck the cities. You probably already knew that. NEVER leave your shit unattended. External frame backpacks make it difficult to watch behind you, but make excellent shields against bottles thrown by crackheads.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 04 Mar 2024 17:46:47 No.2705714 Report

Quoted By: >>2705739

>>2705697
>Its illegal to follow the interstate
I can understand ON the interstate, but surely you're allowed to walk along frontage roads when available and a safe distance off the side when unavailable

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 04 Mar 2024 18:01:31 No.2705719 Report

Quoted By: >>2705739

>>2705687
If you're going north enough to be in Montana you can take the Pacific Northwest Trail from the continental divide to the Olympic coast.

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 04 Mar 2024 18:13:19 No.2705721 Report

Quoted By:

man, I want to try a coast to coast walk some day. starting in the south east

Anonymous

Anonymous Mon 04 Mar 2024 19:03:25 No.2705739 Report

Quoted By:

>>2705719
Oh hell yeah, I didn't know about that.
About how often is there a town on the trail? My current system has me able to go about a week without food resupply.
How often is there water as well? I carry about three days worth, but can extend it to five in a pinch.

>>2705714
Not on the road, the shoulder, or even off to the side. Its retarded. Hell, in ohio I had cops picking me up for walking regular highways, and they'd dump me back in the town I came from, fucking up my time table. Fuck ohio cops.

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