Walking for a cause

Debbie Schachner had thought about walking the American Discovery Trail ever since she read an article about it in Backpacker magazine. But the O'Fallon, Ill., resident wanted to do it when she had a reason. She went to Kenya, where she worked as a teacher. When she returned, she says, "I had a reason."

Schachner decided she should build a library in Kenya, so she set out to hike the ADT, collecting donations from individuals and groups along the way.
She's in Colorado this week - she leaves from Mueller State Park Tuesday morning, bound for Canon City and then Pueblo. She decided to hike the trail from west to east, the opposite of most ADT hikers.

She says her time on the trail has "shown me the goodness of people." Her worst experience: in Utah, when she walked two days in the wrong direction and fell in a stream and got stuck in quicksand. Her best experience: "The number of good and kind people I've met."
For more on Debbie, her cause and her walk, go to www.walkingwithfaith.com