Day 32, Jeannine the walker

Before exiting the Grand Canyon National Park, I visited the Desert View area (less touristy, eastern side) and watchtower. I got there pretty late after sleeping in and taking down camp slowly.

I downloaded a movie on Netflix the prior day and managed to watch it last night, staying up quite late. Offline Netflix & Amazon Prime Video are small comforts from home - it is nice to watch something. In fact, it was the first movie (or thing) I've watched since embarking on this trip.

Anyways, at the eastern side of the Grand Canyon, I climbed the tower (there is a several story watchtower perched on the edge of the canyon). For the millionth time, the views are unbelievable.

And that is it for this national park. Cycling back down to the desert, there are miniature canyons all over the place:

Now my journey takes me north, leaving Arizona and meandering through Utah and eventually Idaho, Wyoming and Montana.

Cycling on Highway 89 was rough. Literally. The road is bad in some spots with very little or no shoulder. Paired with a brutal crosswind and I was flying all over the place.

Thankfully, the cars were very courteous on this section and only passed when safe and gave me room. Maybe this is an area where cycling on the road is more common.

Regardless, I spotted a woman pushing a stroller on the other side of the road. That's weird I thought and hollered at her when I passed. She responded enthusiastically; I could tell there was no baby in her stroller.

I stopped, crossed the highway and introduced myself.

Behold, Jeannie, the walker.

I asked her about the preferred name for folks traveling by foot; walkers. Not zombies though.

She is pushing a stroller, filled with about 90 pounds of provisions from Los Angeles to Maine. In her words, about 3500 miles at an average of 25 miles a day.

Wow.

We discussed wild camping in the area, mostly because we had the same apprehensions about staying on an Indian reservation. Jeannie totally assuaged my concerns relaying some conversations she had earlier with others about the topic. There should be no issue.

However, she did tell me about her first real scare of the trip, just yesterday. In this barren landscape, people are scarce and towns, even more scarce. She was passing through a town when a clearly drunk individual approached her from across the street. Going into panic mode, she fumbled for her bear-mace and machete. The guy reached down, pulled a Bud Light out of his pocket and handed it to her.

Go figure.

My hat is off for Jeannie and her journey. I thought traveling 60 miles a day was slow enough. She is seeing the entire United States by foot.

Before departing, Jeannie gave me a business card. What a clever idea - so I ordered some. They're being letterpressed by Hoban Cards and I cannot wait to see them!

She gave me a huge hug and I pedaled on.

For camp, I scoped out a few spots on the side of the road and chose one when it got dark. I'll take a picture tomorrow.

Joe