American Wesley Tils, 33, is one week into an ambitious 12,800km walk across the United States, travelling from east to west. He set out on May 25 from West Quoddy Head State Park in Maine, the easternmost point of the contiguous United States (the 48 connected mainland states, excluding Alaska and Hawaii), and aims to finish at Cape Alava in Washington, its westernmost point.
Tils is attempting to become the first person to walk between the easternmost and westernmost points, a journey he expects to take around 500 days. He hopes to complete the traverse by November 2027.
The route across America
The route, which Tils calls “Walk for the Wild,” covers roughly 11,300km of established trails and about 1,600km of off-trail hiking. Key sections include 800km of the Appalachian Trail from Katahdin to its junction with the Long Trail, the full 7,700km North Country Trail, and the entire 1,900km Pacific Northwest Trail. The route crosses 13 states.
Map: Wesley Tils
Among the main challenges are a winter traverse of the Upper Great Lakes region, including Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, all via the North Country Trail, as well as 1,600km through grizzly bear country. Tils has a lasting fear of grizzlies following a 2018 encounter in which a bear attacked him while he was hiking without bear spray.
The journey will be mostly self-supported. Tils will be camping along the route in typical backpacking style. He plans to make occasional stops at motels to resupply food and has also been offered places to stay by friends along the way, which he intends to take advantage of as needed.
A trail veteran
Tils, who goes by the trail name ‘Megaman,’ brings a decade of long-distance hiking experience, having completed 20 thru-hikes totalling about 24,000km. This includes travelling through every major physiographic region in the lower 48, meaning the country’s distinct landscape zones such as mountain ranges, plains, deserts, and coastal areas.
He has also completed the “Triple Crown” of long-distance hiking: the Appalachian Trail, Pacific Crest Trail, and Continental Divide Trail. Together, these trails span 12,674km with roughly 300,000m of vertical elevation gain.
Wesley Tils a few years ago Photo: Wesley Tils
Walking for the wild
Tils is fundraising to support both the expedition and the protection of public lands in the United States. He will document his journey for a film, with any profits donated to conservation organisations.
Tils in the mountains. Photo: Wesley Tils
“The wild is our home, and we have been removed from it and tricked into destroying it. We have to do our part in restoring our connection with nature. This hike is to bring all people together. It is my way of doing what I can to make an impact,” Tils wrote of his expedition on social media.
Past transcontinental walks
Walking the United States coast-to-coast has a long but loosely documented history, with dozens of hikers known to have completed transcontinental journeys on foot since the early 20th century. However, there is no central registry or governing body to keep records.
Routes vary, with most walkers choosing practical start and end points such as New York, California, or other accessible coastal cities, rather than geographic extremes such as Tils.
Gary Cantrell in 2018. Photo: 13abc.com
One example is Gary “Laz” Cantrell, best known as the creator of the Barkley Marathons. In 2018, he walked roughly 5,415km from Newport, Rhode Island, to Newport, Oregon.
