Nimblewill Nomad's
Great
American
Loop |
|
Odyssey 2013 is destined to go down as an
extraordinarily grand affair,
perhaps Nimblewill's final
adventure. It'll be entirely a
roadwalk, one he's chosen to call
the GAL (Great American Loop).
Over the years, having envisioned no grand scheme,
with no predetermined design or
plan, dawned on the old fellow a
year or so back that he was well on
his way to trekking down the outer
fringes of the entire lower 48. Yup,
a path clear around our beautiful US
of A--all four corners, all four
sides.
If you've followed the old intrepid's wanderings even
the least over the years, you'll
know how he likes to connect places,
hook them together, by trail,
roadwalks, bushwhacks, whatever it
takes. His very first long trek
pieced together road and tread, a
trail spanning near the breadth of
the eastern North American
continent. It's since become known
as the ECT (Eastern Continental
Trail).
In 2004-'05, a young, ultra long-distance hiker named
Andy Skurka became the first to hike
an amalgamation of roads and tread
known as the C2C (Sea-to-Sea Route),
a trail crossing the upper reaches
of the United States, from the
Atlantic to the Pacific. In 2007,
not content, Andy kicked up a cloud
of dust that hasn't settled to this
day. He hooked the Continental
Divide and Pacific Crest National
Scenic Trails together, then to hike
that amalgamation in one continuous
trek, a trail he's named the GWL
(Great Western Loop). Since, and to
chime in the least, Nimblewill
has cobbled together his own
versions of the GWL and C2C.
And so, as for the GAL, of the near-countless miles
around and across the lower 48
Nimblewill has hiked over the
years (the byways and trails),
connecting 18,257 of them now track
the entire GAL--save for 1,555.5 miles
from the Continental Divide Trail in
New Mexico to the Florida Trail in
the Western Panhandle. And as to
this last segment of this last and
final leg, as to the completing of
it to close the loop that is the
GAL? Well, that's what Odyssey 2013
is all about!
We have a brand new 2013 Odyssey section up now. It features
a map of the GAL, how everything
connects and fits together, with
dates and mileages, and links to
daily journal entries, for each of
the four legs. As usual, it also contains a list of Nimblewill's
sponsors, his gear list, and his itinerary.
The journals have started, photos and videos
will soon follow, as the
Nimblewill Nomad makes his way
along this years journey.
Please check back often. Ah, and
he'd be delighted to have you follow
along. For sure, as always, we'll
have a grand and memorable time of
it! |
