Ed Talone of Portsmouth, Ohio, has hiked more than 60,000 miles of trails in the U.S. and Canada in the course of a long hiking career, and Tuesday he passed through Perry along the Raccoon River Valley Trail.
“Perry, Des Moines and Xenia, Ohio, have the best trail systems in the country,” he said.
He should know. Talone, 63, estimates he has hiked some 800 trails over 40 years in all parts of the U.S. and Canada.
“It wasn’t a continuous 40 years,” he said, “but done in between careers. I spent most of the ’90s hiking.”
He has hit the nation’s most scenic paths, through-hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, the Appalachian Trail, the John Muir Trail and many other. He said his longest hike was the 4,600-mile North Country Trail, stretching from Vermont to central North Dakota.
Talone’s most memorable hike was along the International Appalachian Trail, a journey he shared with Julie King in 2013, he said. He carries a big backpack but is not overburdened with high technology.
“I don’t use GPS but this instead,” Talone said, pointing to a 20-year-old atlas in his 40-year-old backpack.
He said he no longer does as much snow camping these days, and this season is drawing to a close.
“Nights lately have been about as cold as I like anymore,” he said, checking the sun and striking out southward along the bod of the old Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad.
Finally! Someone who would be deemed “homeless” by society who is making these pages with a nice, heartwarming story instead of our daily fare of domestic abuse charges by losers or a insanely pathetic tweaker crime. I hope that jacket cut down on that wind we have been having and his journey gets a little warmer.
i met ed talone in 2014ish i live on ice age trail in langlade co wi. my home is 50 yrds from kettlebowl seg ive met billy goat .they stayed at my home .billy goat was 3 yrsago ..im living the dream meeting best ppl in the wourld (hikers /treehuggers ).this yr we merged with national parks national scenic trail .thanx to pioneer founder joe jopek .who in late 70s still spends 7 days week .to hikers .n the cause of purchasing hundreds of acres for preservation yearly . silent hero. im also famous ive heard from a few of 507 hikers passing my door .staying over .free drinking free spring water .every state should wrk with land owners volunteers n form a trail .its saving planet 1mile 1acre at a time more money for towns villages from hikers than mining clearcutting ect ..ive had hundred thousand mile of hikers over last 15yrs .i give hand carved walking stixs and only ask hikers to donate charity of there choice .terry creekmore w5723 oak rd bryant wi.54418 kettlebowl. ice age backpackers site ice age langlade co site .inventor creekmore hatch .antigo times creekmore .antigo journal creekmore next mon showing 30 yrs of 1 man protecting preserving 1000acre ghost town of wich im only resident . great stories .start a trail in your area .ill help nps will too .n our 17000 volunteers will show its wanted by ppl .creekmore (running water )cherokee .peace n keep up great feel good articles /tc.
just a great read . thanxs stop by my place im 30 yrds from trail only homeowner for 5 miles dia. just do the good deed we all can and most do . .tolerence . brings peace .hikon .