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Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Just in Case You Ever Wanted To
Google will be quite happy to give you walking directions from Anchorage, Alaska to Key West, Florida. But be sure you have at least 70 days free.
It appears that Google's walking directions are (naturally) intended more for city commute-type walking, and don't therefore take into account breaks. That's 68 SOLID days of walking. They also seem to be somewhat generous with pace. An average 3.16 miles per hour is fine on sidewalks and generally level terrain, but paces slow considerably across elevation, which you are certainly going to encounter on your way to Alaska. :-)
To make a long trek like that, a person should only walk between 6 and 8 hours each day. That's 230 days of walking assuming a steady 3.16 mph pace. More likely, across terrain, the average pace would be more like 2 or 2 and a half miles an hour - meaning the walk would probably take closer to a year.
Taking a year off to walk from Miami to Anchorage would certainly be interesting. You'd have to leave Miami in the summer though, or you'd be arriving in Canada and Alaska just in time for winter. Not a good idea. I bet a book about the experience would be one of the easiest sales of all time, though.
1 comment:
It appears that Google's walking directions are (naturally) intended more for city commute-type walking, and don't therefore take into account breaks. That's 68 SOLID days of walking. They also seem to be somewhat generous with pace. An average 3.16 miles per hour is fine on sidewalks and generally level terrain, but paces slow considerably across elevation, which you are certainly going to encounter on your way to Alaska. :-)
To make a long trek like that, a person should only walk between 6 and 8 hours each day. That's 230 days of walking assuming a steady 3.16 mph pace. More likely, across terrain, the average pace would be more like 2 or 2 and a half miles an hour - meaning the walk would probably take closer to a year.
Taking a year off to walk from Miami to Anchorage would certainly be interesting. You'd have to leave Miami in the summer though, or you'd be arriving in Canada and Alaska just in time for winter. Not a good idea. I bet a book about the experience would be one of the easiest sales of all time, though.
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