"I've come to a legitimate swamp"
December 19, 2020 7:20 AM   Subscribe

I Crossed Delaware in a Straight Line (SLYT) "My line was 12 miles through fields, woods, backyards, highways, and swamps."
posted by mdonley (19 comments total) 8 users marked this as a favorite
 
Previous goofy YouTube straight(ish) line hike posts:

Neither zigging nor zagging.
"What's the point of all this?"
posted by zamboni at 7:33 AM on December 19, 2020 [1 favorite]


I really like the idea. If one wanted to do larger straight line hikes, it would require the collaboration of the property owners they are passing by. But wouldn't it be fun if people enjoyed the concept so much that one could build out at least one line across each state. It would just be a nice symbol of goodwill from those who participate in lending their land to the line.
posted by oneboiledfrog at 8:13 AM on December 19, 2020 [4 favorites]


I love ridiculous challenges like this. I'm only halfway through but have to pause it for now, to go on my own walk with a lighthearted goal.

I'd wear a dayglo vest if I were doing a walk like his, both for safety from hunters and because clearly if I were wearing dayglo I would be someone who was supposed to be there. As a geocacher I often find myself doing things like this, but on a much smaller scale, and I've only once had someone ask me what I was doing in a particular spot -- an advantage of being a middle-aged white woman.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:52 AM on December 19, 2020 [5 favorites]


“That over there is actually a police airport... that’s a combination of the two worst things that could be in the path.”

And yeah, I’m with the library corpse above: I’m a large oafish guy, about as stealthy as a moose. But being a fiftyish white man, I can use a hard hat, a hi-vis vest, a clipboard and a single brisk nod to go pretty much anywhere.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 9:18 AM on December 19, 2020 [7 favorites]


This set me off on a tangent to see if there was a shorter walk "across" a state that wasn't just clipping off a corner, and it looks like there's part of the skinniest section of Maryland between Pennsylvania and West Virginia that's basically just the town of Hancock, maybe a couple of miles or so across. Anyone else have any other candidates?
posted by Halloween Jack at 10:40 AM on December 19, 2020 [4 favorites]


What are the rules for walking across a state? Is it from, say, the easternmost to the westernmost bit?
posted by The corpse in the library at 10:53 AM on December 19, 2020 [1 favorite]


I think that north-south should be ruled cromulent as well.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:01 AM on December 19, 2020 [5 favorites]


to see if there was a shorter walk "across" a state that wasn't just clipping off a corner,

It looks like where he’s doing it is arguably clipping off a corner of Delaware. Eyeballing it suggests about 96% of the state lies south of his route, but it’s no less impressive for that.

The District of Columbia, though not a state, looks tempting. Nearly a straight shot down M Street, then across the Gallaudet campus. Annoyingly, the street grid is canted a bit off true for a few blocks on the east side of the campus, and then there is the Anacostia River to deal with, but I think doing most of the trip on a perfect 90 degree heading must count for something.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:02 AM on December 19, 2020 [1 favorite]


The inspiration for this, noted at the beginning of the video (and linked by zamboni above), is the straight-line mission videos by Geowizard. He's done two treks across Wales and one across Norway, and if you liked this video (or even just liked the idea), you'll probably enjoy those a lot.

I am kind of shocked that the Delaware adventurer did not wear boots. But then, Geowizard has an unfortunate tendency not to bring gloves, so perhaps it's an inadvertent homage.
posted by Clandestine Outlawry at 12:11 PM on December 19, 2020 [4 favorites]


it looks like there's part of the skinniest section of Maryland between Pennsylvania and West Virginia that's basically just the town of Hancock, maybe a couple of miles or so across.

If I were on the city council in Hancock, I would make myself a rail trail/bbike path from border to border and totally tourist the crap out of that.

Who wouldn't want to say they rode a bike across an entire state?
posted by madajb at 12:21 PM on December 19, 2020 [6 favorites]


skinniest section of Maryland between Pennsylvania and West Virginia that's basically just the town of Hancock

The problem there is, getting across I68 or I70 safely.

There's a state park in WV, Tomlison Run State Park, that could get you a nice straight line from Ohio to Pennsylvania.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 12:23 PM on December 19, 2020 [1 favorite]


The narrowest part of Chile is about 90km from Pacific Ocean to Argentina.
But that includes two mountain ranges, one of which is the Andes, so good luck walking it in a straight line.
posted by signal at 1:11 PM on December 19, 2020 [4 favorites]


Back in my more active geocaching days a friend and I searched for a multi-stage cache. The first container contained a projection to a second point.

We misread the projection.

We thought it said something like 150 yards. It said 150 feet.

We were deep in a heavily wooded area that was interrupted by sloughs of the Wolf River. It was one of the more alien landscapes I have ever encountered: dense trees, crescent shaped hills, and dead zones where the water would pool.

We spent 2 hours crossing that 150 yards. At one point the easiest way to make progress was to walk along a fallen tree. When I realized we were walking 20+ feet over a ditch, I told my friend that if he slipped, he would break his leg, and I wasn't sure I could carry him out of there.

We finally made it to a tree in the middle of a small clearing and searching in vain. We gave up and decided to try again from the 1st stage. That is when we realized our mistake.

This looks like fun.
posted by grimjeer at 1:19 PM on December 19, 2020 [3 favorites]


A very nice homage to Geowizard.

Thanks for linking to it because I'd never would have found this on my own and I really love this kind of content.
posted by Kosmob0t at 3:33 PM on December 19, 2020 [2 favorites]


Who wouldn't want to say they rode a bike across an entire state?

There are maps for that.
posted by aniola at 5:04 PM on December 19, 2020 [1 favorite]


Wikipedia: "[Tomlinson Run State Park] is the only state park in West Virginia that offers overnight accommodations in a yurt."

Sold.
posted by Halloween Jack at 5:16 PM on December 19, 2020


I wonder, distance and issues of private property aside, which state would offer the least geographic challenge, as far as swamps, mountains, that sort of thing.
posted by maxwelton at 5:17 PM on December 19, 2020 [1 favorite]


My three wild guesses. Delaware, Rhode Island, Hawaii.
posted by 922257033c4a0f3cecdbd819a46d626999d1af4a at 5:25 PM on December 19, 2020


In case you were wondering, the Oklahoma panhandle is about 30 miles across, but I didn’t see any of the section line roads running continuously all the way top to bottom. There is a river, and at the western end there are some mountains.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 5:35 PM on December 19, 2020


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