American Discovery Trail: Way Up North

Conway Pedestrian Bridge

The northernmost point of the American Discovery Trail is in George Wyth Memorial State Park in Waterloo, Iowa, where we find ourselves this week. How far north is it? For Pacific Coast residents, it is at about the same latitude as Grants Pass in southern Oregon. Not so far north I would say, as I live a day's drive north of Grants Pass. The trail goes east to west much more than it wanders north or south.

So where is the southernmost point, you ask? Well, if you take the southern route through Missouri and Kansas, it looks like the southernmost point is somewhere in Kansas. The way we are headed, though, the southern point will be in Bears Ears National Monument in southern Utah. Bears Ears looks to be just a tad farther south than San Francisco, a day's drive south from Grants Pass.

I just finished segment 28 of the trail, leaving 40 to go. At 1,750 miles and 3.875 million steps, I am 36% of the way along, making good progress.

The Conway Pedestrian Bridge, by the way, crosses the Cedar River at the 4th Street Bridge in Waterloo. Unfortunately, our route does not take us across it.

Actual walking is coming to that depressing time of year. This morning it was 40 degrees when Arlo and I left the house, and it will just get colder from here. We have not seen the sun all day, and this too will be normal for a few months. Also, it starts to get dark around 4:00 now, and of course the shortest day of the year is more than a month away. So, we hunker down and stick it out until late January or maybe February, when the world starts to get warmer and to lighten up again. It's a good time to play lots of bridge.

Fairy-tale mushrooms*, and seemingly every other type of mushroom, love this weather. I am not sure what gets them going, but it has rained a lot - and given where I live, rained a lot means a lot - so maybe that is the key. In any case, I have never seen so many mushrooms of various colors, shapes, and sizes.

*Not a scientific name. I made it up. Actually, these appear to be Orange Fly Agaric mushrooms. "Highly poisonous."