Blog

Day Eight Saturday, October 18, 2025 Lisa: We made the tough decision to walk twenty miles in a day--because we were determined to bypass the weirdness in Rantoul (no offense, Rantoul!). We woke up feeling stronger than we'd felt the first day, so we were excited to...

Day Seven Friday, October 17, 2025 Lisa: We were remembering last  year's detour outside of Ottawa and couldn't wait to see the completed leg between Pomona and Ottawa. While this leg is largely uncovered, it's beautiful, and the new bridge is spectacular. Marianne:...

Day Six Friday, October 17, 2025 Lisa: We met a lot of people on the trail. It was a hot day and when we got to Pomona, we hid our strollers at the trailhead and went into town where we charged our electronics at the library. There we met Vicki, who's the librarian....

Day Five Thursday, October 15, 2025 Lisa: We wished we could have spent more time in Glenda's barn, but we had to get moving.Osage City to Lyndon[dsm_block_reveal_text block_reveal_text="Click on the yellow crosses to the right to read the sections below"...

Day Four Tuesday, October 14, 2025 Lisa: We started our day with Marianne leaving her backpack at the Miller trailhead. Luckily Marianne texted our Miller friends Sandy and Clinton, who jumped on their e-bikes and brought it to us so we didn't have to add another...

Day Three Monday, October 13, 2025 Lisa: We got a great night's sleep in the Sleep Shack at basecamp, and we were excited to see our friends in Miller. ​Basecamp Flint Hills to Miller[dsm_block_reveal_text block_reveal_text="Click on the yellow crosses to the right to...

Day Two Sunday, October 12, 2025 Lisa: We were so tired after no sleep with cows screaming all night long, so our butts were dragging, but we were excited to see Bushong and Allen again.Campsite to Basecamp Flint Hills (Allen, KS)[dsm_block_reveal_text...

Day One Saturday, October 11, 2025 Lisa: We didn't need to get started too early because we only had about seven miles to walk to our first campsite--Marianne had reached out to a rancher and requested permission to camp on their land. So we had breakfast at the...

The Night Before Friday, October 10, 2025 Lisa: I arrived in Council Grove from Denver at around dinner time, ready to hit the trail. Marianne: Steve gave me a ride to Council Grove so Lisa didn't have to drive all the way to KC and then drive all the way back to CG. ...

Day Nine Monday, October 14, 2024 Lisa: We were grateful to be traveling eastward, as the mile markers, which had started around 40 miles behind us, ticked us down to Mile Zero. It was a bittersweet day. By that point, nine miles seemed like nothin'. Marianne: It...

Day Eight Sunday, October 13, 2024 Lisa: A little bit of melancholy started to descend on us as the temperature dropped and we got closer to the end of the trail. Marianne: Leaving Ottawa felt like leaving summer camp before your friends. There were still things to...

Day Seven Saturday, October 12, 2024 Lisa: This is one stretch of the trail that isn't completely done (they're constructing a bridge—no word on when that will be completed) so there's a full-sun detour along dusty dirt roads. But arriving in beautiful Ottawa was a...

Day Six Friday, October 11, 2024 Lisa: An eventful day. Marianne had two flat tires thanks to tiny thorns that got embedded. We'd walked over five miles before we realized—she just thought she was overtired from the previous day's epic mileage. We had no other choice...

Day Five Thursday, October 10, 2024 Lisa: After a great night of sleep in a real bed in Danielle and Colton's beautiful Airbnb, we were raring to tackle our longest hiking day. (Who are we kidding? Neither of us slept for shit.) Marianne: We started out early since we...

Day Four Wednesday, October 9, 2024 Lisa: Our new friends at the Miller United Methodist Church got on the horn to other churches down the trail to let them know what we were doing and ask if they could help in any way. A church at our next stop, the Community...

Day Three Tuesday, October 8, 2024 Lisa: We would have liked to spend more time at Basecamp Flint Hills, but we had miles to go before we could sleep. And we were looking forward to spending the night indoors in Miller! Marianne: I still couldn't believe that Lisa and...

Day Two Monday, October 7, 2024 Lisa: We were feeling pretty invincible after clocking 14 total miles on our first day. But we kept telling each other not to get cocky. Even so, the mere 5.8 trail miles from Bushong to Allen and Basecamp Flint Hills campground was a...

Day One Sunday, October 6, 2024 Marianne: After a good night's sleep, we drove to the trailhead (watch out for highway patrolman on 177—it's a speed trap!) at Allegawaho Heritage Memorial Park near Council Grove, Kansas. This is a very spiritual place, and we started...

The Night Before Saturday, October 5, 2024 Lisa: I drove 500 miles from my house in Littleton, Colorado, to Marianne's in Overland Park, Kansas. While she attended an evening wedding, I packed up the gear in my two-door coupe. For reasons unknown even to Marianne,...