The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
A TREK FOR CHANGE
Conn. woman who lost her job during pandemic walks across the country to raise awareness for climate change
Hannah Bacon dipped her feet into the Pacific Ocean at San Clemente State Beach around 5 a.m. on Nov. 21. She turned and headed east. It had been too cold to dive in, besides there’ll be ample time for that 2,800 miles away on the other side of the country.
The 27-year University of Connecticut graduate from New Milford had worked in the environmental field for a few years, but she lost her job during the pandemic. So Bacon took a flight out to California in October to visit friends, and as she turned the pages of “The Uninhabitable Earth” by David Wallace-Wells on the plane, Bacon began to think.
“I’ve always been a naturalist, environment lover and now I had a lot of extra time,” she said. “I’m reading the book and it’s like, whatever we think is going to happen with the climate, it’s going to be so much worse. My crosscountry travels of the past five years, flying, driving. I basically decided it was totally non-essential and there was a way I could reduce my carbon footprint.
“So a few days after landing in California I decided …”
She wouldn’t fly home. She wouldn’t drive home. She’d walk – to Virginia Beach to be exact. Yes, there is a purpose in every step. She is raising awareness of climate change and to fund raise for the Sunrise Movement, a youth-led grassroots organization pushing for a nationwide policy on renewable energy, green jobs and environmental justice.
“I’m naturally a morning person, so I get up pretty early, like 5:30,” Bacon said. “By 6-6:30, I’m walking. I like to have some meditation time where I think about the day, nice quiet time to watch the sunrise. I really love that. If it’s a mellow day walking where it’s not too busy, I’ll call some friends, listen to an audio book, listen to music. Days when the road winds or it’s more dangerous I have to be focused, watching traffic and where I’m going.”
Bacon averages about 25 miles a day. When she hits 30, like she did one day last week, it gets a little rough. From California, Bacon headed through Arizona and into New Mexico. In the coming months, she’ll head through the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina, into Virginia. And maybe more.
Approximately 2,000 steps a mile times 2,800 miles, that’s 5.6 million steps. Whoa. I walked 26 miles from the state capitol to Gampel Pavilion in 2014 to make good on words that UConn would not win a national championship season and I acted as if I was Magellan. Bacon is clearly serious about the health of our planet.
As she walked and talked from outside Las Cruces, N.M., late last week, Bacon was optimistic about the possibilities the inauguration of Joe Biden as president would mean.
“I’m over the moon excited with rejoining the Paris Agreement and stopping the Keystone Pipeline and really hopeful for the next four years,” she said. “We’ll see what other changes he makes. I am a huge supporter of the Green New Deal and I’m hoping it passes (Congress).
“We’re really facing a climate emergency and it’s projected to affect our food supply because of droughts. There’s coastal flooding that affects our cities. And more wildfires. It’s going to take all of us, from individuals to the federal level.”
Greta Thunberg?
“A hero,” Bacon said. “She inspires young people, all people around the world. I am hopeful.”
And resourceful. In planning her route, she decided a southern passage made more sense in the cold weather months. Bacon didn’t encounter any rain until nearly two months into her walk.
“It does get pretty cold at night,” Bacon said. “I had one night when it was 17 degrees. I’m fine sleeping because I have a zero-degree sleeping bag. In the morning when I’m packing up my tent, it’s still pretty cold.
“Every day things come up, good and bad. Every day has its challenges.”
When we talked, it was a good day. Bacon got in contact with a friend of a friend and she would sleep inside that night. A bad day?
“Having to reroute for rabies shots after I got bit by a dog, a pit bull in a tiny town in Arizona,” Bacon said. “They couldn’t confirm its vaccine history. The bite wasn’t so bad, but because they were so unsure, I had to go to the hospital and then get a series of shots. You have to get them on specific days, like three days after the bite, seven days after, two weeks. I had to be near a place I could get a shot at all those intervals, but I kept walking.”
How bad was the bite on your leg?
“No,” Bacon said, with a chuckle. “It was on the butt. It was more of an inconvenience.”
So, too, are the blisters. “They were really bad for the first few weeks,” she said. “I started in a pair of hiking boots that just did not do well. That lasted about five days. I switched to a pair of sneakers that lasted about 500 miles. I’m on a second pair of sneakers. I still get blisters. I know how to handle them better now.”
She hasn’t weighed her backpack. She says she’ll start thinking too much about it if she does. Depending on how much water she’s carrying, it’s probably 20 to 30 pounds. Her own weight is more of a concern.
“The first couple of weeks I wasn’t eating enough at all,” Bacon said. “I wasn’t paying enough attention to it. Week 3, I was ravenously hungry. I’m like my body is dwindling. Since then, I’ve been eating more calories, but it can be a challenge.”
After a Power Bar or Clif Bar for breakfast, throughout the day she’ll have a scoop of peanut butter or a tuna packet. For dinner, instant potatoes, a rice packet, a dehydrated meal if there is access to it. Sometimes, she’ll resupply at gas stations or a dollar store. Those days mean granola bars and trail mix.
Bacon, who ran cross country and track at New Milford High, is no stranger
to hiking. She once hiked the John Muir Trail in California with a friend from her hometown, 200 miles through the Sierras. This past summer, she did some of the 14ers in Colorado. A Spanish major who minored in human rights at UConn, Bacon studied a semester in Chile. She has the adventurous gene. Still, nothing nearly as ambitious as a cross-county hike.
“Almost every day I find something that really strikes me,” Bacon said. “Every sunrise through Arizona was breathtaking, just a big open sky. Seeing the stars in New Mexico has been amazing. My favorite place so far is the Chiricahua National Monument in Arizona (the Wonderland
of Rocks). It’s incredible.”
Do you get lonely out there?
“I don’t get lonely too often, honestly,” she said. “I’ll miss specific people, my family, friends, but for the most part I get pretty occupied with what’s happening. I’ll call them. My parents are nervous about it, but they are incredibly supportive. They’re onboard. Like if I can’t get internet service, I’ll call my mom or stepdad (Jackie Eaton and Jim Dugan of New Milford) and ask them to do some research on a place to camp. They’re pretty involved.”
Bacon set a goal of raising $10,000 in her “Miles For
Climate” campaign on her GoFundMe page. At last check, she has raised more than $13,000 and raised the goal to $20,000.
There is no specific target date to finish. At first, she thought the walk would take six months. Now she’s figuring seven.
“I’m OK with that,” she said. “I’m allowing myself more off days.”
And when she reaches Virginia Beach?
“I’m jumping into the Atlantic Ocean, definitely,” Hannah Bacon said. “I’m sure my family will come to meet me. Then I’ll decide if I’ll take a ride back to Connecticut or walk there. We’ll see.”