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University Library, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Library Walking Challenge 2022

Helpful Resources

Need some ideas? Want to inspire your colleagues? We've set up online space to share our favorite hikes and hiking-related stuff:

Share your favorite hikes here: https://go.library.illinois.edu/Hikes2022

Share gear, tips, apps, encouraging words and deep thoughts here: https://go.library.illinois.edu/Gear2022

(Use your U of I Google login to access these links)

 

Contact Us!

If you have any questions or concerns, please email Walk@library.illinois.edu. Folks from the Wellness Committee will be monitoring this email and answer your questions.

REMEMBER...Do This for You! Do this to feel good and to be a better and healthier parent, spouse, friend, and co-worker...they all need you around and at your best. This Challenge is about encouragement and wellness!

Good Luck and Get Walking!

Where are we going?

This year, our goal is to walk/hike four trails for a total of 11,640 miles or 24,583,680 steps!

Allerton Woods

Photo https://www.britannica.com/place/Appalachian-National-Scenic-Trail#/media/1/30384/218548

Appalachian Trail (2190 miles - 4,625,280 steps)

Appalachian National Scenic Trail, also called Appalachian Trail, mountain footpath in the eastern United States extending from northeast to southwest for about 2,190 miles (3,524.5 km) along the crest of the Appalachian Mountains. The trail runs from Mount Katahdin, Maine, to Springer Mountain, Georgia, passing through 14 states (Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Georgia), 8 national forests, and 6 units of the national park system. The exact length of the trail can vary year to year as the trail is modified or rerouted. (source:https://www.britannica.com/place/Appalachian-National-Scenic-Trail
Interactive map: https://appalachiantrail.org/explore/hike-the-a-t/interactive-map/

Arrowhead Lake in the High Sierra

Pacific Crest Trail  (2650 miles – 5,596,800 steps)

The Pacific Crest Trail spans 2,650 miles (4,265 kilometers) from Mexico to Canada through California, Oregon, and Washington. It is a National Scenic Trail. It reveals the beauty of the desert, unfolds the glaciated expanses of the Sierra Nevada, travels deep forests, and provides commanding vistas of volcanic peaks in the Cascade Range. The trail symbolizes everything there is to love—and protect—in the Western United States. From PCT website: https://www.pcta.org

Continental DivideTrail (3100 miles – 6,547,200 steps)

From the CDT website: 

The Continental Divide National Scenic Trail (CDNST) is one of the most significant trail systems in the world. Established by Congress in 1978, it spans 3,100 miles between Mexico and Canada, traverses five states and connects countless communities along its spine. The span of one day’s hike offers an immense diversity of landscapes; the CDT encounters a multitude of ecosystems from tundra to desert, hosts a rich variety of wildlife, and preserves nearly two thousand natural, cultural, and historical treasures. 

Considered one of the greatest long-distance trails in the world, it is the highest, most challenging, and most remote of our National Scenic Trails, ranging from 4,000 to 14,000 feet. For the long-distance hiking community, the CDT is one-third of the “Triple Crown,” and annually, while the number is growing, approximately 150 ambitious travelers attempt to complete an end-to-end trek. CDT interactive map: https://continentaldividetrail.org/cdnst-interactive-map/ 

Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail, Montana

Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail  (3700 miles* – 7,814,400 steps)
*pre-2019 route (in 2019, the Trail was extended an additional 1,200 miles)

The Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail follows the historic outbound and inbound routes of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1803+1806). The Trail's purpose is to commemorate the expedition through the identification, protection, interpretation, public use and enjoyment, and preservation of historic, cultural, and natural resources associated with the expedition and its place in U.S. and tribal history. 

The Trail traverses river valleys, the Great Plains, and the Rocky Mountains, connecting 16 states (Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, IllinoisMissouriKansasNebraskaIowaSouth DakotaNorth DakotaMontanaIdahoWashington, and Oregon) and many tribal lands. 

Learn more about the Trail at https://www.nps.gov/lecl and https://experiencelewisandclark.travel. Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail interactive map: https://www.nps.gov/lecl/planyourvisit/maps.htm.