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March 29, 2024 8:43 am
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Coast-To-Coast Hiker Finds A ‘Sunnier Disposition’

By VERNON ROBISON

Moapa Valley Progress

Thru-hiker C.J. Richards of Derry, NH stopped for a couple of days in Moapa Valley before continuing his nine month, 3700 mile walking journey across the country. PHOTO BY VERNON ROBISON/Moapa Valley Progress.

When he first set out on his journey, extreme thru-hiker C.J. Richards thought he was going out to see the amazing landscapes of America. What he wasn’t banking on was that the journey would change his whole outlook on life.

Closing in on his last few weeks of a roughly 3,750 mile journey from coast to coast, Richards, 25, stopped in Moapa Valley for two days on December 20-21, just before the Christmas holiday.

Richards, who hails from Derry, New Hampshire, started his journey on May 7. He set off on foot from Cape Henlopen State Park in the coastal community of Lewes, Delaware. That is the starting point of the American Discovery Trail, a well known 5,000-mile adventure trek across the country. All Richards had with him then was a 35 lb. backpack, a one-man tent, an all-weather sleeping bag and his own two feet.
“To tell the truth, I’d rather not have done this trip solo,” Richards said in an interview during his Moapa Valley stop. “I tried to get some of my friends to come along. But it is a pretty big commitment to take such a long trip. So it ended up being just me.”

Richards quickly found out, however, that he was far from alone on his trip. In fact, it wasn’t long before the people he encountered along the way would catch his interest far more than the landscapes he was passing through.

All along the way, Richards has met people who have been eager and willing to lend him a helping hand. Folks in a hundred little towns along his trail have met him, heard his story and offered their kindness and hospitality. They have given him places to stay the night, hot meals and even new shoes to replace the trail-worn footware he started with.
“The highlight of my trip has definitely been the people I have met,” Richards said. “My faith in humanity has just skyrocketed. Everyone I have met has shown me kindness. I’ve learned that people are not out to get you. More often, they just want to help you.”

Richards started planning and saving for his epic journey way back in August of 2016. But the real seed for the trip was planted long before that. Back in 3rd grade, Richards wrote a report about the Appalachian Trail. Ever since that time, he had dreamed of a taking long hike like that one.
“I actually considered hiking the Appalachian trail this time,” Richards said. “But I heard that it gets really crowded during the summer months when I would be travelling. So I started looking for other ideas.”

The American Discovery Trail, which he finally chose to follow, has offered Richards a dizzying variety of American landscapes. It cuts through the center of the country keeping mainly to smaller rural roads and country byways.

From Delaware, Richards’ trail led through Maryland, West Virginia, a corner of Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and then the long expanse of Kansas.
“I was amazed by how flat the landscape was in Kansas,” Richards said. “It just goes on and on forever.”
The flat plains provided another benefit, Richards said. It made for much faster walking speeds. Where he was working towards making 20 miles per day, in Kansas and eastern Colorado Richards was able to break his personal records, hitting some 30 mile days.

Richards reached the Rockies in late October and crossed them in early November. The beauty of the mountains was stunning, he said. Richards was used to hiking the mountains of his home state in New Hampshire. But those experiences were nothing compared to life at more than 10,000 feet in elevation.
“I have to admit that the high elevation scared me a little bit,” Richards said. “Especially when you are travelling alone and in the dark. But it is so silent and beautiful up there. It is just untouched nature.”

By late November, Richards had gotten into Utah and realized that he may not have the time and money to strictly follow the American Discovery Trail in its entirety. He was equipped with a solar charger atop his backpack to keep his smart phone in operation. So he began to chart his travel day by day on Google Maps.
“I never promised myself that I would follow the whole trail all the way across, just that I would make it from coast to coast,” Richards said. “So I am sticking to that.”

His new course took him through the Utah towns of Panguitch, Cedar City, Gunlock and then cut south into Beaver Dam, Arizonal and finally Mesquite.
From Mesquite he followed the Virgin River downstream, then climbed up and across the Mormon Mesa into Overton. That took two days of walking.

As he approached Overton Richards made contact with local resident Wally Gates through an online application called “Couch Surfer” that lists people willing to offer lodging to travellers. Gates took him in and spent a couple of days showing Richards around the Moapa Valley area.
“I have enjoyed travelling through the desert,” Richards said. “It has its own challenges but at least it is warmer than the mountains. And you don’t have to worry about large wildlife brushing by your tent in the middle of the night like happens in the mountains.”

After leaving the Moapa Valley, Richards walked to Las Vegas where he spent some time walking the Strip and enjoying the nightlife of the entertainment capital of the world.
His goal is to make it to his final destination of Point Reyes, California (near San Francisco) by roughly the end of January.

According to Richards the trip has given him a new outlook on life. “In some ways it has been the hardest thing I have ever done,” he said. “But I think that I have become a much stronger person because of it. I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on who I want to be and what I want to do.”

When he gets finished, Richards said that he will return to his job as a machine operator in New Hampshire. He also plans to resume going to college at Manchester Community College. Before he left he was working towards an associates degree there with the idea of majoring in an Environmental Science field. But his journey has opened his eyes to many other options.
“It has been a life changing experience,” Richards said of his trip. “I have a whole range of new possibilities that I’ve learned about just from talking to people along the way. Some of them are pretty interesting. So I have a lot of thinking to do about the future. But I am a lot more adventurous now that I have this more sunny disposition about the people around me.”

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3 thoughts on “Coast-To-Coast Hiker Finds A ‘Sunnier Disposition’”

  1. Congratulations CJ. You make the effort to develop the American Discovery Trail well worth it.

    Reese Lukei, Jr
    Former ADT National Coordinator and Founder

  2. Linda Clark-O'Brien

    It’s just refreshing to see your personal references to your inward journey. You created and came through your personal crucible of learning about yourself, others, & life. I think that every young adult should experience this journey as they enter young adulthood. My parents’ generation (WWII) walked through the the Great Depression (lasted 12 years) and WWII. My generation walked through the Vietnam War. My children’s generation ??? Probably when they learned to stand on their own 2 feet. (Hard to believe my oldest “child” is 40 now.). You have my personal good wishes on your journey through life forward from here.

  3. I can imagine Eddie Vedder with that wonderful smooth and narrative voice of his serenading you in your head throughout your entire adventure..

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