Thru-Hiker Ron Kessler Going Cross Country

The Cape Gazette newspaper from Delaware has a 7 March 2008 article "Walkers for a cause start cross-country trek at Cape State Park" by Ron MacArthur. It's about the start of a projected 9 month coast to coast hike on the American Discovery Trail.

Normally that's not something covered here, but in this case there's a connection. The hikers are Josh Howell and Jodi Harrington (who met on MySpace and then face-to-face for the first time the night before their 1 March start date) and Ron Kessler. All three are hiking "for a cause," but different ones.

Here are the connections:

"Harrington said she realized she had to do something special to test herself and decided to walk the Appalachian Trail. 'But I ran across the American Discovery Trail and got hooked on the idea,' she said. 'It’s a nine-month commitment.'"

and

"Kessler is the most experienced of the lot. He has crossed the country twice before on bicycle trips, and he hiked the entire 2,160 miles of the Appalachian Trail two years ago."

And I guess the other connection is that the American Discovery Trail has to cross the Appalachian Trail at Harpers Ferry or so.