A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf
by John Muir 1870
A Thousand Mile Walk to the Gulf – Kentucky Forests and Caves– I had long been looking from the wildwoods and gardens of the Northern States to those of the warm South, and at last, all draw-backs overcome, I set forth [from Indianapolis on the first day of September 1867, joyful and free, on a thousand-mile walk to the Gulf of Mexico. [The trip to Jeffersonville, on the banks of the Ohio, was made by rail.]
Crossing the Ohio at Louisville [September 2], I steered through the big city by compass without speaking a word to anyone. Beyond the city I found a road running southward, and after passing a settlement of suburban cabins and cottages I reached the green woods and spread out my pocket map to rough-hew a plan for my journey.
