Faith, Footsteps, and 6.3 Million Treads

FALLS CHURCH, VA: After 149 days and roughly 6.3 million steps, the cross-country “Liberty Walks” pilgrimage crossed the U.S. Walkers spent the end of November in Northern Virginia before taking their final 13-mile stretch along the Washington & Old Dominion Trail to the Lincoln Memorial.

Reflecting on the nearing conclusion from the home of hosts Mary and Dave Hale, just blocks from the trail. Organizer Esther Tishman noted, “The end of the trail is almost literally in sight,” she said. “But the pilgrimage has been all those things that cannot, that should not, end – the things that shape us.”

The walk began July 4 in Eugene, where participants launched the 2,800-mile trek with an overnight stay at the Walterville Presbyterian Church. The pilgrimage was created around the idea that “walking together is better than splitting apart,” Tishman said.

She’s the daughter of German-Jewish refugees and a former professor turned health-care chaplain, who said she wanted to create a national experience rooted not in politics, but in shared humanity and faith in the country’s founding ideals. “I want to meet my neighbors, love my country, and the land,” she said. “The idea came into my head and wouldn’t leave.”

Although she has run marathons, Tishman described herself as a novice distance walker. Before departing, a podiatrist advised her to rotate between three pairs of shoes – counsel she admitted she hadn’t fully tested before hitting the road.

Over nearly five months, walkers have been hosted by 146 different communities, often staying in churches and private homes. Tishman said the journey has brought a steady stream of encounters: people sharing stories of illness, sudden loss, sold family farms, and moments of humor and hope.

There were memorable landscapes too – hailstorms at Wyoming’s Togwotee Pass, rolling gravel roads in Iowa during harvest season, and quiet moments watching a pileated woodpecker from a hot tub on Thanksgiving morning.

Thanksgiving week itself was marked by three consecutive community stays, including a visit to a lively Northern Virginia Presbyterian congregation that offered food, routing help, and “extraordinary stories,” Tishman said.

As the group entered Northern Virginia, the Hales welcomed them “with almost no notice” and introduced them to a local restaurant they insist serves “the world’s best fajitas.” The holiday was spent with in-law hosts Deb and Neal Tishman, joined by Tishman’s husband, stepson, and fellow core walkers Bob and Elijah – a trio she described as “true trail family.”

“Family is everything,” she reflected. “This trek has confirmed for me that the world is much smaller, and our families are much larger, than we ever knew.”

The last leg followed the Washington & Old Dominion Trail – a popular rails-to-trails route threading through the wooded back hills of Northern Virginia. While the scenery offered moments of beauty, Tishman said the real highlights at this stage have been the human connections made along the way.

Two walkers had committed to the full distance, with others joining for individual days or segments. “I like to think of this as sort of Forrest Gump energy,” Tishman joked early in the trek.

The Lincoln Memorial marked the end point of the group’s long-planned symbolic arrival on November 30.

To view their trek, or learn more about the project, visit libertywalks.org