Evening star., 1942-07-05
Many Pleasant Hours
Await Discovery in
Lost Art Of Walking
Proper Shoes Essential
To Fun on Puths in
And Around Washington

used so much for pleasure, the time
has arrived to buy a pair of thick
soled boots and learn that walking
is the finest sort of recreation.
Shifting over to the footpath
offers no great problems. Wear
clothes to taste. Ones oldest suit will
do Shoes are the one important
item of equipment They must fit
exactly right That means snug at
the heels, loose across the ball OF the
foot and plenty of room for the toes
to wiggle in.
When buying pair, the expert
enced hiker warns, don't ride to the
store-walk Remember that feet
swell as much as half an inch during
exercise. Hence, shoes that seemed
a perfect fit when purchased may
start to squeeze somewhere about
the sixth or seventh mile along a
trail Half boots are better than
oxfords, and leather is standard for
all except the heels. Recently, how
ever, composition soles have gained
favor among servicemen and other
strenuous walkers because of their
endurance.
Once he is properly fitted with
shoes. the question for the hiker is
still where to go. The mOtorlst,
afoot, will miss the stacks of maps at
every gas station, the numbered high
ways, the luXuriance of road signs
to which he is accustomed. But the
walker has other guides than these,
and finding suitable paths is really
quite a simple matter if half a
dozen easy rules are followed.
Follow Streams.
For example, wherever a stream
flows there will be a path worn by
fishermen along each shore. The
Patuxent, the Potomac and its trib-
utaries and the old c. & 0. Canal
offer excellent territory for wander
ing in this area, while the Shenan-
doah with its many feeder streams
is but one of the interesting water
systems in nearby territory In the
Blue Ridge Mountains, the White
Oak River, South River, the head
waters of the Rappahannock, the
Thornton and the Robinson Rivers
are but a few of the interesting
water courses that are available by
walking trails. In general, then, the
presence of stream guarantees a
trail unexcelled for scenic value, and
the trout season is the time for
hunting out these paths, not only
because it comedies with the finest
season of the year for hiking, but
because streams are made interest
ing by dry-fy fishermen practicing
q picturesque art.
In addition, as Vachel Lindsay
noted, a slender trail clings to the
embankment of every railroad in the
United States, and that means about
240,000 miles of footpath. Naturally,
main lines are hardly to be recon-
mended for strolhng, but there re-
mains a vast extent of abandoned
track and scarcely used spurs on
which walking is somewhat safer
than along a public road. Thoreau,
prince of walkers, regarded the rail-
road as the pleasantest and widest
path, Never crowded with travellers
and always dry in wet weather, it.
sang on windy days with his favorlte
music, the aeolian strains OF the
telegraph harp"
Another pair of hardy ramblers,
the Wordsworths, brother and sis
ter, discovered that there is good
walking in the direction of the sea-"
Most walkers agree that this is so.
Famous Trail in Mountains.
If. instead, you want to stride
along the ridgepole of the East, look
up the Appalachian Trail. 1t rims
the mountains all the way from
Maine to Georgia. With gasoline
and rubber restrictions affecting
motor travel to the mountains, the
best way to reach this footWay Is by
bus line to any of the intersectlng
cans within range of Washington
These are Rockfsh, Route 5; Swift
run, Route 4; Thornton, Route I'll,
and Smokers Gap. Route 7-all
reachable by bus lines in Virginia
and Turner's Gap in Maryland. In
addition the trail can be reached
by railroad at Harpers Ferry, w. Va,
and Wevereton, Md. Pennsylvania
points are easily contacted both by
rail and bus.
Washington is likewise fortunate
In being situated in rural area
of great lovelineSs and varied ter
rain, easily accessible by short auto
or bus ride. The view of Great
Falls from the heights on the Mary
land side is possibly one of the most
striking in the entire East.
A network of back country roads,
charming and surprising, lies in
nearby Maryland adjoining the
Cabin John Creek country and the
Patuxent area. And there are many
others. Being of clay, they are
wonderfully easy on the walkers
feet, especially one or two days after
a storm. For they are then dried
on the surface, yet remain elastic
to the tread. Where they lead
doesn't matter, for the real pedes-
trian, as Lamb noted, is some one
who walks about, not TO and from.
Walk With Wind.
Nevertheless. it is not a matter OF
Indifference which way we walk.
On windy days the experienced
pedestrian drifts along with wind
borne leaves and flying plumose
seeds. Only the tyro walks into the
wind. For dust fills his eyes, the
wind makes them water and be-
tween these two he walks half blind
Tending toward the sun also marks
the amateur. Birds are lost in the
dazzle. He sees only the shadoWec
sides Of trees. He misses the fine
effect Of light on framework.
On the other hand. nothing proves