Imagine, if you will, walking 30 miles in one day to just 1get to your next destination.
Imagine again, if you will, doing that over and over again, day after day, month after month until you reach your goal of hiking across America for over 2,800 miles while traversing through twelve of the continental United States in an effort to raise money and promote awareness for different charitable causes.
That is the plan of 26-year-old Ranger Kielak who started out his journey in Myrtle Beach South Carolina on March 10 and will end his walk across America at Pismo Beach California at the end of August.
"In the last few days I've had personal records of 36 and 38 miles," said Kielak. "With rest days I have been averaging about 22-25 miles per day and I'm trying to build up my endurance so I can keep going across the country at a decent pace."
Kielak, who is a native of California, says that he has essentially been following Interstates 40 and 20 on peripheral roads during his journey.
"I wish I could walk the interstate because it would obviously be a lot straighter and a lot faster," said Kielak. "But it's against the law to walk the interstate and to be honest with you I like taking the side roads and getting the opportunity to see things I would never get to see otherwise. Plus, I think people are more likely to stop and talk to you and learn more about your story if you're not on the interstate."
Kielak says the inspiration for his journey was really a musical artist that he enjoyed who made a similar cross-country trek on foot.
"there's an a singer-songwriter named Mike Posner wo did a few songs like
'Cooler Than Me' and 'Took a Pill in Ibiza' and he did a walk across the country in 2018," said Kielak. "He started in Asbury Park New, Jersey. "When I heard about it I thought that it sounded cool and like something that I would like to do, but I didn't have a team of people around me or the finances to make it work at the time."
"I wanted to do but it got put on the back burner for a few years," said Kielak. "In 2021 and 2022 I found out that there's a couple guys that have walked across the country separately without a lot of backing They both had just basically graduated from college. just normal dudes, and seeing them do that I just decided to go for it."
Kielak said he decided that all of the reasons he was using to keep from making his cross-country walk were just excuses, and he went back and reviewed Posner's journey and relistened to his podcast
"Once I listened to more than just the 30 second snippets on social media and got into the hour-long-plus interviews, he was saying it was something he had wanted to do for six or seven years before he actually did it," said Kielak. "In 2017 his father passed away from brain cancer and he realized that all the reasons he was coming up with for not doing it was getting in the way of him living his life and the people closest to him getting to experience that life."
"My grandfather had passed away in 2018 and the similarities got me to thinking," said Kielak. "People that I was close to are passing away and I'm making these excuses why I couldn't do what I wanted to do so maybe Mike (Posner) and I weren't so much different after all."
Kiebak, who comes from a town in California where there are "more cows than people" got a degree in Agriculturial Econmics fro UC-Davis in 2019 right before Covid hit. He worked at a few farms, and even worked at a retail reptile business for awhile, managed a bar and a vineyard and just did "a whole bunch of things". For a few years before he started his walk was on the board of a non-proft reptile rescue in his home state. He also worked in the county agricultural commissioner's office in the county he lived in.
He says he knew if he didn't have a solid mission in place the walk would be a struggle and says the highlight of the walk is to try and inspire others to make a difference in their communities.
Kiebak is also a professional life coach and he wants to talk and work with as many people as he can in order to try and inspire them to meet their own goals.
"These experience along the way have really helped to show me people and their situations are all different and as a life coach that is something that I can use down the road," said Kielak. "Just put everything into funnel so iot all comes together in the end".
Kiebak said he started the journey with $10,000 and he has spent about $4000 to this point. He said there have been a few donations along the way but the focus of the trip has been about the non-profits he is trying to support.
He lists Future Farmers of America, Bigger Than The Trail and the Tulsa chapter of the Hospice Hope Foundation as his non-profits.
"FFA for the kids, Bigger Than The Trail for adults with mental health issues and Hospice Hope to help people meet end of life non-medical expenses," said Kielak. "It's just all about bringing awareness to key issues."
Kielak say his next leg of the journey will take him west to Keota then onwards to Oklahoma City and eventually Amarillo before he starts to hit the states with desert-like conditions. He carries his supplies in a hiking backpack and uses a jogger stroller.
"I'm on my second one," Kielak said. "They're rated for about 125 pounds and I think I have about 150 pounds in mine."
Kielak said his biggest obstacles is walking through “nothing” for days, and the New Mexico and Arizona stretches in the hottest time of the year. He plans to overcome the heat by leaning on his connections and support network.
“People I’ve never even met are messaging me and offering to help,” Kielak said.
You can keep up with Ranger Kielak and his walk across America by clicking Ranger's Walk Across America - Within Range Coaching.
