The Worst Hike in the World
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A trip through the Plus 15: Part 1
Calgary’s downtown has the world’s longest network of elevated hallways and bridge connecting buildings. Beginning in the 1960s, it’s grown to around 16 km (nearly 10 miles) of designated path and enclosed bridges over city streets. Imagine a second city, built 15 feet above the ground, entirely climate controlled year round. It has benches, tables, […]
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A horrible hike at home
This walk was back in October 2024. I played around with maps like I usually do, and found what might be Calgary’s least scenic walk. Even better, it’s right by home. 52nd Street East is probably Calgary’s longest street that isn’t a freeway. It runs almost perfectly straight from McKnight Blvd (which would be 48th […]
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Two weeks later: looking back
Here, I’ve collected my thoughts and some writing from local journalists that really helped me makes sense of just what I saw on my hike. I can only speak from what I saw, as one man from way up north. When I started, I really didn’t know what I would find, other than a TON […]
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The route
Still writing up my final thoughts. In the meantime, here’s where I walked. I’m trying to add the pictures along the way, too: It seems to only work when you click “full screen”. I’ll try a different map in the coming days. See full screen
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Day 4: Let’s never do that again
It’s been a while since I’ve had vegetables. I’m mostly been eating what’s near the road, what’s cheap, and what’s fast. So a lot of fast food, street tacos, and donuts. I’ll usually try to get an apple and yogurt at breakfast but I’ve learned Motel 6 doesn’t give you a mini fridge. I ate […]
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Day 3: Starting to be less awful
I seem to always begin my days with having to cross a freeway. This time it was the Orange Freeway, though thankfully I was able to use an underpass without having to deal with the ramps. The highlight of the morning was a little rest at the Charter Oak branch of the LA County Library. […]
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Day 2: I really am stupid
34k (21 miles) today?! What was I on?! That kind of distance to walk in a day is already crazy, but my dumb ass didn’t consider the heat. Things started off pretty nicely. I had a bottle of electrolytes in hand, lightened my pack by leaving my Thomas Guide with the innkeeper (again, what was […]
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Day 1: Instant regret
After leaving downtown San Bernardino at 7am before the heat set in, and feeling partly recovered from Sunday’s race, I was immediately forced to cross the 215 freeway. Crossing the on ramps was more than a little terrifying, since the drivers didn’t stop despite me getting a walk signal. Even still, I wasn’t the only […]
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A preview
San Bernardino now, staying downtown. It’s the 2nd biggest city in the Inland Empire (or IE for short), a cluster of cities with a population around 4.5 million, and is the inland part of the Los Angeles-Riverside-Anaheim megalopolis that sprawls across Southern California. It’s remarkable that despite being home to such a large population, the […]
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How I got here, Part 2/2
I narrowed down my walking tour to two routes: The first choice is a loop around the Santa Monica Mountains. Starting in Hollywood, I walk to Downtown LA passing through Griffith Park, follow the Los Angeles River upstream, go west across the San Fernando Valley, cross the mountains through Topanga State Park, down to the […]