The Ultimate Walk

October 4, 2009

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Profile America — Sunday, October 4th. On this date in 1974, Dave Kunst was just a day’s walk from his hometown of Waseca, Minnesota, to complete the first trek around the earth’s land mass on foot. The story began in June 1970, as Dave and his brother John set off on the ambitious journey, leading a pack mule named Willie Makeit. Bandits in Afghanistan shot the brothers, killing John and wounding Dave. After four months healing, Dave picked up the journey once again at the exact spot of the shooting. The completed walk covered 14,450 miles and was the first verified trip of its kind. In the U.S., nearly 31 million people enjoy hiking each year but on much shorter trips than that of Dave Kunst. Profile America is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau, now preparing for the 2010 Census.

Sources: home.earthlink.net/~earthwalk1
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 1209
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html