Hiking the Glenn Highway through Alaska. Published in Asphalt Pilgrims.
Paul Salopek
Every hundred miles Salopek pauses to record the landscape and a person he meets, assembling a global snapshot of humankind. Milestones reflect straight-line distances, but his walked distances are generally much longer. More on these waypoints here.
Every hundred miles Salopek pauses to record the landscape and a person he meets, assembling a global snapshot of humankind. Milestones reflect straight-line distances, but his walked distances are generally much longer. More on these waypoints here.
Japan was coming to an end. We’d been walking inland on the main island of Honshu for weeks, humping over the forested alps, breathing dust and pollen, and now suddenly we were back in the flats, where we began noticing hints of the sea: rusty metal, roadside stacks of shipping containers, boats drydocked in weedy village lots. Soon I would be leaving Asia—Africa, Eurasia, all of it—after 12 years of walking. Soon a massive cargo vessel would carry me across the Pacific to a continent once called “new.” Soon I would be pivoting from east to south. How did it feel, standing there at an anonymous street corner in an industrial suburb of Yokohama? At the end of 27,000 kilometers of trail? I can’t really say. I can’t even tell you that my boots actually touched the ground. I was just waiting for the light to turn green.
With Soichiro Koriyama, Arima Ichimari, Hisako (Toby) Iizuka, Ana Jegnaradze, Marita Tevzadze, and John Stanmeyer.
A wraparound soundscape at this Milestone
This Milestone’s location on a map
Photos of the ground under Paul’s feet and the sky above at this Milestone
A brief question and answer with the first person Paul meets at this Milestone
Kioko Yoshida
30s, convenience store clerk
Who are you?
I work at a Mini-Stop nearby.
Where are you going?
I’m going on shift soon. But first I’m taking the dog for a walk. I’m going wherever it leads. Its name is Maron (Sweet Chestnut.) It’s three years old.
Where do you come from?
I’m coming from home.
A video showing the landscape around this Milestone
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