The Great Wander of 2026 - Stats and Rankings

 Miles - 154.9

Elevation Gain - 11350

States - 17

Mountains - 7

Miles hiked in each state

PA - 30.2

ME - 19.4

WI - 17.9

VT - 16.6

MD - 15.8

MN - 13.8

RI - 5.8

NY - 5.6

CT - 5.3

OH - 4.8

VA - 4.8

MA - 4.4

NH - 3.0

IN - 2.2

IA - 1.8

MI - 1.8

WV - 1.7

Elevation gain per state

VT - 3763

PA - 1616

WI - 1559

MD - 1214

ME - 890

MN - 522

NH - 407

IA - 348

NY - 277

RI - 236

VA - 233

OH - 72

WV - 69

CT - 62

IN - 59

MA - 49

MI - 43

Verified completed trails

Annapolis Rock via Appalachian Trail - MD

Appalachian Trail: Boiling Springs to White Rocks - PA

Bicentennial, Hickory, and Birch Loop - WI

Big Rivers Regional Trail - MN

Burlington Bike Path - VT

Burnt Mountain via Westline Trail - NH

Burrows Trail - VT

Camel’s Hump via Forest City, Long, and Burrows Trails - VT

Confederate Flank Trail - VA

Cornfield Trail - MD

Crown Point Trail - NY

Fish Farm Mounds State Preserve - IA

Forest City Trail - VT

Fort Adams Bay Walk - RI

Fort Preble and Spring Point - ME

Fort Williams Park Loop - ME

Green Point via Quoddy Head Light - ME

Inland Trail - ME

Kent’s Ledge Trail - VT

Loon Lake Nature Preserve Trail - IN

Marshall Point Lighthouse Nature Trail - ME

Methuen Rail Trail from Hampshire Road - MA

Middlesex Township Park Trail - PA

Oak Trail to Hickory Trail to Bicentennial Trail Loop - WI

Owls Head Lighthouse - ME

Plym Park to Riverfront Park via River Valley Trail - MI

Quoddy Coast Guard Trail - ME

Snavely Ford Antietam National Battlefield Trail - MD

Stone Bridges Trail - CT

Third Winchester Battlefield Park - Red Bud Run Trail - VA

Two Lights State Park Loop - ME

Wainwright Recreation and Greenbelt Walkway - ME

West Quoddy Head Lighthouse Trail - ME

States ranked

#1 - Vermont

#2 - Maine

#3 - Pennsylvania

#4 - Maryland

#5 - Minnesota

#6 - Wisconsin

#7 - New York

#8 - Virginia

#9 - New Hampshire

#10 - Rhode Island

#11 - Connecticut

#12 - Massachusetts

#13 - Ohio

#14 - Indiana

#15 - Michigan

#16 - West Virginia

#17 - Iowa

Mountains/Bluffs

Camel’s Hump - 2536 ft. elev. gain - VT

Hixon Woods Bluff - 1152 ft. elev. gain - WI

Kent’s Ledge - 1040 ft. elev. gain - VT

Annapolis Rock - 837 ft. elev. gain - MD

Center Point Knob - 771 ft. elev. gain - PA

Burnt Mountain - 356 ft. elev. gain - NH

Fish Farm Mounds State Preserve - 348 ft. elev. gain - IA

The Great Wander of 2026 - Day 22

 

The Great Wander of 2026

Day 22: June 16th, 2026

States Hiked: Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota (17 total)

Trails Hiked: Riverside Park, Jim Asfoor Trail: Copeland Section, Fish Farm Mounds State Preserve, Neighborhood Loop

Distance Hiked: 2.5 miles, 1.8 miles, 2.2 miles

Elevation Gain: 43 ft., 348 ft., 23 ft.

Final Wander Total: 155.4 miles

Duration: 54m, 42m, 47m

Day 21

Day 20

Day 19

Day 18

Day 17

Day 16

Day 15

Day 14

Day 13

Day 12

Day 11

Day 10

Day 9

Day 8

Day 7

Day 6, Part 2

Day 6, Part 1

Day 5

Day 4

Day 3

Day 2

Day 1

I've been to Riverside Park more times than I could count, and it's usually a good place to go for an easy walk along the river (so it's not just a clever name) with a lovely bridge and a generally relaxing atmosphere (and at Christmas you can visit with reindeer, so that's fun). On this walk I wasn't alone, do with that information what you will. It was the last day of the wander, I was less than three hours from home, but that nagging "you set out to hike in 17 states/provinces but you didn't bother with the provinces part (again), you're one state away from meeting your goal, and you're within close proximity of a border to pop over, get that arbitrary, self-imposed goal, and go home without an unnecessary feeling of failure despite that being demonstrably untrue" thing. You know how it is. 

Upon parting Riverside Park, I had that choice: go home, or visit Iowa on purpose, and never in a million years did I think the latter would be the tempting option. But, since I noped in Illinois twice rather than, I don't know, visiting Kankakee River State Park and walking with a pair of Clown Shoes (again, that old cliche), I couldn't help myself. I just had to go to Iowa (gods that feels strange to say even after I explained it.) 

Right over the border into eastern Iowa, there was a trail that looked like one of the bluff gains from the previous day's log, but the AllTrails review number was incredibly low. Now, I'm not saying those ratings always mean the trail is dogshit, so it's important to read said reviews to figure out why. Sometimes the reasons are legit, like "the trail is overgrown and poorly maintained." But other times, it's like "it's March in Minnesota and there was mud, no stars" or "it was really windy and obviously that's the trail's fault" or "I've never been hiking before and I tried the hardest trail in the park and I couldn't do that immediately with no preparation, how dare you be hard, trail?" so it's important to gauge why the numbers are low, is what I'm saying. 

"Overgrown, barely a trail, poorly marked," were the reviews, so I opted for the next one, which was Fish Farm Mounds State Preserve. It had a higher rating than the one just north of it, listed as a short out-and-back with solid elevation gains, and fewer complaints of poor conditions. 

You fuckers lied to me.

I can't be too mad, because after all, it is Iowa and I did that to myself. But also, if you're going to have a trail, maybe have a trail and not a vague path through a tick garden buffet and then completely stop bothering before the short trek is done and it's time to turn back? Totally weird concept, I know. 

Then I walked around my neighborhood because my wander wasn't going out like that. 

Thanks, Iowa. 

The Great Wander of 2026 - Day 21

The Great Wander of 2026

Day 21: June 15th, 2026

States Hiked: Wisconsin (16 total so far)

Trails Hiked: Oak Trail to Hickory Trail to Bicentennial Loop, Bicentennial, Hickory, and Birch Loop, Ice Cream Midnight

Distance Hiked: 8.4 miles, .5 miles

Elevation Gain: 1,152 ft., 10 ft.

Cumulative Wander: 148.9 miles

Duration: 2h 

Day 20

Day 19

Day 18

Day 17

Day 16

Day 15

Day 14

Day 13

Day 12

Day 11

Day 10

Day 9

Day 8

Day 7

Day 6, Part 2

Day 6, Part 1

Day 5

Day 4

Day 3

Day 2

Day 1

This hike wasn't deliberately about being Petty Mayonnaise toward someone who had recently walked with me in this same park, but it didn't hurt the matter either. Not what this blog is about though, otherwise many more veiled references (because it's 'shade' you see) would be made. 

I finally felt like I was doing a real hike again, which is an absurd thing to say when 16 states and several mountains have been on this journey, but also, being under two miles and doing rest stops just to get steps on the ground is not my style. Days 19 and 20 were particularly underwhelming for me, and with the trip almost over, I wanted to push myself hard at least one more time. 

Funnily enough, even the return trip hike in Wisconsin was both on the border with Minnesota and somewhere very familiar to me, so I guess once I got this close to home, it was inevitable. A trip to Devil's Lake would've been more fitting for the theme of this wander, but the only time I went there was with a hiking buddy in February, not to mention someone who had the state parks pass for the appropriate state. And after paying 20 dollars to flirt with heatstroke in Antietam (and without the wool uniforms in the summer to boot), I wasn't eager to give more money for the privilege of walking somewhere. 

When anyone asks me where the best places are in Minnesota to hike, the easy answer is "along the eastern crescent." Northern Minnesota on the Iron Range and along Superior, Southern Minnesota along the river bluffs, which of course extends to the other side in Wisconsin because that's how glacial valleys with bluffs work I guess. I'm not a geologist but it made sense in my head for someone who took the geology credit senior year, second semester "rocks for Jocks" and netted the only C on the transcript (working harder for that C than any other grade, for the record, I do not science). What was I talking about? Oh right, bluffs and hiking. Hey, it was three weeks in, don't judge me. 

Hixon Forest was lovely when starting from the top at the aforementioned Petty Mayonnaise junction, but hitting up the trailhead on Bliss Road before the climb was even better. Having a hiking companion is lovely, but even after three weeks of pushing myself on various levels, getting that elevation gain and working for that Verified Complete badge when the miles and elevation are higher and harder? Always gonna be the way I do it; it's one of the few cases where "they have to learn everything the hard way" is actually a compliment rather than an annoyance muttered by someone frustrated with my need to trek the more difficult path, literally or metaphorically. 

Decent gains, actual views at the top, and increasing the miles, all good things. But after the top of Camel's Hump, it couldn't help but be comparatively underwhelming.

The Great Wander of 2026 - Day 20

 

The Great Wander of 2026

Day 20: June 13th, 2026

States Hiked: Indiana, Wisconsin (16 total so far)

Trails Hiked: Indiana Welcome Center, Wisconsin Welcome Center, Wisconsin Lake Delton Rest Stop

Distance Hiked: 1.2 miles, .3 miles, .3 miles

Elevation Gain: Not Much Worth Noting

Cumulative Wander: 140 miles

Duration: Barely

Day 19

Day 18

Day 17

Day 16

Day 15

Day 14

Day 13

Day 12

Day 11

Day 10

Day 9

Day 8

Day 7

Day 6, Part 2

Day 6, Part 1

Day 5

Day 4

Day 3

Day 2

Day 1

Thank the Hiking gods that I got some real miles done in La Crosse, otherwise I would've ended this blog on Day 18. 

Look, there was a tornado the previous night, and I got to my hotel shortly before midnight. Slightly before that, the billboards instructing those who were affected by the tornadoes dotted the landscape, and I read more about how at least three hit the area. I'm not defending my decision to keep driving, especially as I'd seen enough YouTube documentaries about the Joplin rain shadow tornado and others to know that just because I couldn't see it didn't mean it wasn't there. And even though I'd learned plenty from Swegle Studios about how rare night tornadoes are, as well as how comforting a voice can be despite talking about godslike natural disasters causing mass destruction, I'm not sitting here claiming it was an intelligent decision, only that I wasn't sure where to go, what to do, or how close I truly was to danger. 

Also I knew I'd have to drive in Wisconsin later, and given that Driver's Ed in the state teaches highway driving as "get on highway, get in left lane whether going 40 or 80, never move or you'll be struck by cheese lightning," I wasn't expecting a ton of time, energy, or patience to be directed toward actual hiking. 

I paced in the Indiana Welcome Center parking lot, which is probably the only place in Hammond, Indiana that I would've anticipated going hiking, and once I unlocked all the Adventure Labs there, my stops were limited to rest areas. I learned something else new at the Wisconsin Welcome Center: apparently giant groups of people stop there to just convene and have a little road trip block party, or at least that's what it seems. Groups, tents, camp chairs, grills, just having a grand old time at the spot a few feet from South Beloit, Illinois, which technically would've provided me my 17th and final state necessary to meet my goal, but alas, I skipped Illinois twice. Damn arbitrary goals taunting me with their incompleteness. 

Given this was the same trip where rest stops in New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine felt more like stopping in time before the Langoliers got to it, it was an odd contrast with my discomfort at mob scene rest stops. My transcontinental journey aforementioned the ere year, the rest stops seemed like a quiet community of people sleeping in the middle of the night, this left me with little energy to do any real hiking. 

Loathe to admit that I may have been tired after driving halfway across the country and back while hiking in more than a dozen states, it's easier to blame interstate motorists having pee stop shindigs. They're perfectly fine to celebrate overpriced potato chips and collective urine-splashing all they want, I was just over it all.

Then I got to La Crosse and got distracted by other things. Day 20: unofficial rest day. 

The Great Wander of 2026 - Day 19

 

The Great Wander of 2026

Day 19: June 12th, 2026

States Hiked: Pennsylvania (16 total so far)

Trails Hiked: Hershey Medical Center Blue Loop, Northwest Ohio Storybook Trail

Distance Hiked: 2.8 miles, .5 miles

Elevation Gain: 72 ft. elev. gain, 3 ft. elev. gain

Cumulative Wander: 138.2 miles

Duration: 55m, 13m

Day 18

Day 17

Day 16

Day 15

Day 14

Day 13

Day 12

Day 11

Day 10

Day 9

Day 8

Day 7

Day 6, Part 2

Day 6, Part 1

Day 5

Day 4

Day 3

Day 2

Day 1

I'm not going to remember this day for the hikes, and I barely consider them to be so in the first place.

This was a day filled with obligation, delay, and terror. Everything that held me up from getting to my next destination ended up providing me with interesting timing for the evening's main event. 

The last time I'd traveled east, under much more duress mind you, the loop trail at Hershey Medical Center had been my reprieve from visiting a family member dealing with continuing medical difficulties. Though at one point, I was released and told to go hike a mountain to calm down because I was making everybody nervous, most of those few days were spent outside the facility, trying to calm my nerves, and getting Feeld pings from 20-year-olds who must've seen me turning 40 and decided the cougar signal was in the sky. I never took them up on it, because I didn't want to tuck them in and pack them a lunch for the next day, but it was flattering, I suppose. Then I went to hike Peter's Mountain, met a thru-hiker showing me pictures of rattlesnakes, and barely knew I was about to get my heart broken. 

This time, I just had to drop someone's bag off, and I wandered around HMC for a half hour before finally locating them. One obligation down.

Then, I had to pick up a care package sent to my parents' address with registration tags and a meds refill I otherwise wouldn't have in time, and nothing says "gonna have a bad time" like the end of a three-week wander in meds withdrawal. 

I didn't make great road decisions for heading west either, and that likely held me up even more. My legs were angry at me for only doing a tiny hike, but with my end goal being a hotel in Merrillville, Indiana, I at least wanted to get some sleep at the halfway point before I got to La Crosse, Wisconsin, which would be my final stop before heading home. 

I refuse to give the Pennsylvania Turnpike any toll money for their exorbitant prices, and on the way east, I'm pretty sure 96.8 percent of the Ohio Turnpike was under construction, so the Lincoln Highway it was. 

I did a tiny Adventure Lab at a rest stop in Ohio, but as I entered the Fort Wayne area, the sky was illuminated with so much lightning that it looked like fireworks. The tornado sirens were blaring. I scanned the AM stations searching for more information, but everything was listed by county, and that didn't help. The instruction was "vehicles on road take shelter," but in an unfamiliar area like this, I wasn't even sure what that meant. 

Then I arrived at my hotel shortly before midnight and found out that a tornado touched down one highway exit away. Perhaps the delays in my journey were an unexpected advantage in this regard.

Also, I'm a hiker, I guess.