This is a story about a girl,

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A Long Walk Home
by Arlene Anderson
arander_at_shaw.ca
Library 500 Foundations of Information Technology
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This is a story about a girl,
a trail

• And a mother, trying to understand

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About the Girl
About the Girl
What can I do next, Mom?

• Shes 25
• a UBC grad
• a runner
• and a traveller

Ah, take a hike!
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And thats just what she did.
She packed her runners, a bunch of dried
food, and a crazy tarp, and took a plane to
San Diego.
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From there she hitched a ride to the trailhead.
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Washington
Oregon
The trail is 2,627 miles long.
It crosses the Mojave Desert And the high
Sierras
California
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a
And continues north through the Cascades to
Manning Park.
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Before she left, I tried to understand by what
power she was drawn to the trail.
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The season is short.
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T H E
L O N G
D A Y S
A R E
25 miles
Most days
Really Long!
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And there are risks!
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Letters Home

• Nothing so far has trumped waking up outside at
  two in the morning with desert sand cushioning
  me, a warm breeze blowing and the stars above

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On one side of the river, a large rock rises
twenty feet from the water and there are clumps
of delicate yellow flowers growing wherever they
can find purchase.
Letters home
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And now I understand.
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Jessie began the trail April 28, 2006. She is
expected to arrive at Manning Park On
Thanksgiving day.
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Aside from the images of Jessie as a girl, all of
the photographs are from her hike.