thoreau postman 1.0

Silas helps me mark route on wall map

There is in fact a sort of harmony discoverable between the capabilities of the landscape within a circle of ten miles’ radius, or the limits of an afternoon walk, and the threescore years and ten of human life. It will never become quite familiar to you.

 -HDT, "Walking", 1862

Inspired by HDT, do I have what it takes to familiarize myself by foot with every road and trail within a 10-mile radius of home? Like the every single street project, but beyond city limits, likely broader in scope: 314 square miles!

Maybe it's better to start simpler and smaller with a 1-mile radius. How many miles would I need to run within 3.14 square miles? Turns out about 50 (sans freeways). A cool looking app proved no help at lowering this number.

With the scrabble-o postponed, I decided to get to work on this "Thoreau mile" over the weekend. It was nice to not have to drive anywhere. Saturday's 25-mile run got the southwest half completed on the other side of the interstate.

Highlights included Bennett Place, a site of historical significance dating back to Thoreau's time. I also enjoyed exploring some new trails and access points into Duke Forest. Learning the location of little free libraries was fun, too.

Bennett Place

The mostly sunny day was appreciated by my recovering body, but it got a bit warm. I took a couple salt tablets and downed a couple extra bottlefuls of water at the Bennett Place visitor center. My paper map fell apart despite ziploc.

The mental challenge of choosing the best route while on the go and using a marker to trace my route a'la Rickey Gates was fun at first and helped the miles slip by... But as mind and body fatigued, it became more of a chore.

Come Sunday, it felt like I had run 25 miles the day before and not really in a good way. I was a bit clunky at the start, but appreciated the company of my family for the first couple miles. Silas helped me figure out the best route.

Soon the sun was out and I was counting down the miles to Tommy's Mini Mart. My route allowed me to hit up this neighborhood canteen twice for cold refreshments! I ran through unmapped neighborhoods on Sunday's 23-mile run.

Surely this would've given Thoreau heartache: a wildness replaced by countless cul-de-sacs. But a landscape is a landscape and I was here to familiarize myself with it. I found this exercise worthwhile and will plan to continue it.