Backpacking Across the United States

**Ken** · 05-16-2013, 06:16 PM

This reminds me of .....

**crashdive123** · 05-16-2013, 06:32 PM

**randyt** · 05-16-2013, 06:33 PM

My brother hitched hiked from michigan to california and back in the mid 1970's. There is a interesting book I read 35 years ago called Walk Across America. It was about a fella that took off walking coast to coast. There is another one called The desert is my home. It's about a englishman that walked the coast of baja california from one end to the other. Then there is Enchanted Vagabonds, that one is about a husband and wife that made a boat and floated around a bit. As far as I know none of these folks lived off the land. Although Eustace Conway reportedly walked the AT in one fell swoop and lived on a awful lot of road kill.

**randyt** · 05-16-2013, 06:53 PM

Although not backpacking my friend Joe and his buddy's took off in a model t sometime before world war two. They went across the great plains working and oddjobbing as they went. A model t isn't really that great of vehicle, they may have been better off backpacking especially having to deal with flat tires. They worked for a farmer in the dakotas and he paid them in potatoes. Joe told me they ate taters for a very long time after that. They bummed around for a season and thankfully avoided any real trouble.

**edr730** · 05-16-2013, 10:22 PM

If you decide to do something other thatn walk, check out the North Pacific railroad and see if it's still legal to ride the freight cars. It used to be. I've road both the freight cars and dirty face. You could go to the tower and ask when the next train was heading your way. South Pacific has always been illegal. I've road it and others too, back in the day.

You can pick up the North Pacific west of Chicago, which you want to stay clear of. The North Pacific will take you to Glacier National Park where you used to be able to fish for free. Lots of fish, greens and mushrooms there. i always tried to take flour, baking soda, vinegar and popcorn with me too because some areas on the way seem to have nothing. No water, no trees and nothing to eat but grass which seems to make you hungrier, but I ate a lot of it. Everyone else would spit out the things that I would eat and I'd laugh.

i had people give me things I tried to give back because I thought they were worse off than me. They wouldn't take it back. It take a good and a tough person to do something like that and I don't forget them. A smile and an innocent face got me though a lot. I thought I was tough and maybe i was, but I was pretty naive about people outside my area where I grew up.

I got out of a car one night in Macon county Georgia and an older man asked me, "son, one of them boys your daddy?", no sir I said, he asked me again and just looked at me. I got out because I could. I saw these men do some things, and they were the bad kind of things. The old man didn't know me, but took me under his wing that night and was a very good friend for a short while.

It's not completely safe and it's not unlikely that you will run into some bad people too. I've been through most states and a few countries with a backpack and traveled as cheap as possible. You meet a cross section of people that you never knew existed. Good luck, be careful, hide your money.

**Outdoorguy** · 05-17-2013, 11:43 AM

Ok, I am going to give you more sound advice, that isn't telling you that it can't be done. You still might not like it, but this is how I would approach it if were you:
First, Plan your trip. Use google maps, or something like that, to decide the exact route you want to take. I personally wouldn't go cross country, I would check out something like the Appalachian trail, which stretches from Maine to Georgia. The Vermont section, called the long trail, is a challenging hike in itself, and crosses the states largest peaks. You're looking at a minimum of four months travel, so you would want to start in the spring.
But, if that isn't what you choose to do, this would be my plan:
Save $1000.00 each, so that you guys begin your journey with 2 grand. Use that for emergency funds. There might be times on your journey that you encounter storms and what not. You might want lodging for the night. You also have to take into account that you might not always catch fish. You will probably have to, or want to buy food at some point.
Pack light, but pack what you need. Bring a deep sided frying pan that you can both fry stuff in, as well as boil water. I wouldn't pack bowls, as you can eat right out of the pan, but water bottles would also be a good idea to pack, as you never know when and where you are going to be able to find potable water.
Pack some dry goods, and maybe a few canned goods as well, just incase the fish aren't biting. Pack multiple lighters, so you have a fire source, and keep them in plastic bags inside your pack.
Plan your route so you hit farming country in the Midwest. At some point, you might have to make money. There are a lot of farmers that would probably hire you for day labor, or perhaps barter with you for food and lodging.
Read everything you can about the wilderness in the states you're going to cross. What kind of dangers are there? Tics? Rattle Snakes? Water Moccasins? Killer bunnies?
Also brush up on eatable plants, and their seasons. Some of the more common ones (burdock for example) Can be found almost anywhere, even in urban environments.
Learn Basic survival skills. It's not smart to drink water straight out of an unknown stream. Parasites and bacteria could put you under, and having you wishing you were dead, or even kill you. Learn how to purify water, start a fire, build a shelter.
USE THIS SITE AND THE PEOPLE ON IT!
People get discouraged when they don't hear what they want to hear, but what you want to do is not impossible, it just takes planning. If I was you, I would plan my trip for next spring. Take the rest of this year to study up. Ask questions, and research basic survival.
I kinda rushed on this message, I'm leaving a lot out, but I just wrote what came to mind. Personally, I would say to hell with fishing licenses. I am not Encouraging you to break the law, but if you have a fishing line and some hooks in your pack, you could use them when need be. Maybe get a license for most states, where you can afford them. I know Vermont sells licenses on line now. If you don't have a credit card, buy a prepaid one, and purchase licenses from the states you feel you would need to.
You're not going to be able to take this trip and stay in the woods the whole time. You might want to consider hitch hiking. Also, remember appearance is everything. Don't trash the land, carry some decent clothes, and look presentable when interacting with society along the way. If people see you camping, and think you're a vagrant or druggy, you're going to have interaction with law enforcement. Law enforcement isn't always fair to those that aren't from their neck of the woods.
Some ideas to get you started, main thing is to remember that planning is key! Stick around the boards, learn some things from the very knowledgeable people here, and plan it out! Good luck!!

**hunter63** · 05-17-2013, 12:00 PM

Outdoorguy.....great post.
Thanks.

**hikingpeter** · 05-22-2013, 10:46 PM

If you want to go from ocean to ocean, you can thru-hike the American Discovery Trail, or take the North Country Trail and then "hop over" to the Pacific Northwest Trail, which will take you from MT (where it connects to the CDT) to the WA coast.

You'd probably be among the very first thru-hikers of the ADT route, and have enough road walking for an entire lifetime. (I had to remove the URLs from this post but the firsts are listed in the short Wikipedia article.)

Oh, and one more thing--take me with you! ;-) As long as you don't go hobo dust-bowl style, of course.