Jan 8, 2004

Almaden woman embarks on “The Great American Journey”

By Kymberli W. Brady
Staff Writer

For 66-year-old Almaden resident Joan Balog, simply praying during Sunday services at Los Gatos Christian Church wasn’t good enough. She wanted to pray for a nation—and walk it at the same time.

The dream began 50 years ago when Balog’s lifelong friend Lyn Hanush expressed a desire to walk the United States. The two had backpacked and climbed mountains together for the past 20 years and three years ago, they made the decision to walk it together.

Walking is a passion

“I love walking,” says Balog, who hikes the Quicksilver hills nearly every day. “It’s healthy. It’s relaxing. You can get all your frustrations out or you can sit and think, meditate and pray for San Jose. Every day, I pray for the women, children and animals.”No stranger to the open road, Balog’s travels have taken her to Europe, the Middle East and Australia, where she met her husband Karl. They moved to Almaden and raised two children before he passed away nearly six years ago.

Her love for hiking and backpacking has enabled her to scale the peaks of Half Dome and El Capitan, and hike the many miles of Yosemite, Yellowstone, Crazy Horse, Cluster Park and the Grand Tetons—all in preparation for what she now considers the hike of a lifetime.

Preparing for the walk of a lifetime

After two years of saving, preparations and mapping the corner-to-corner route through the country, the journey was set to begin at the Peach Arch in Blaine Wash. near the Canadian border, the precise point where Hanush’s previous walk from Mexico to Canada had left off. Letters were sent to mayors and chambers of commerce along the way, notifying towns of their impending visit.

Sporting patriotic hats and T-shirts emblazoned with American flags, the team set off on May 12, along with Hanush’s 16-year-old granddaughter Samantha for a yearlong walk that will encompass over 4,200 miles and take them through 15 states before ending in Key West, Fla. around May 26, 2004. They call it “The Great American Journey,” a walk of remembrance, hope, unity and prayer for a nation.

The events of 9-11 inspired Balog and Hanush to turn it into a prayer walk. Now they stop in each town to pray for its people, churches and industry, and leave behind an inscribed memorial rock as a testament of their visit.

“People are always asking us to pray for somebody,” Balog admits. “They’re very friendly and we’ve never had any negative comments.”

Accompanying them on their journey is Cassie, Balog’s 4-year-old German shepherd and constant companion. “I take her hiking everywhere I go,” admits Balog. “She doesn’t leave my side. I couldn’t do this without her.”

Thanks to the donation of a 1977 motor home (AKA ‘the castle’) and a rundown van, the three have devised a routine that enables them to cut down on costs by staying at RV camps for 10 days to two weeks at a time. While the Hanush’s walk, Balog drives the van ahead three miles, parks it and hikes back to meet her friends. The three walk back together and repeat the process, logging an average of 20 miles per day before the van shuttles them back to the RV for the night.

Weather, animals and highway patrolmen

The journey has so far proved to be a time of adjustment, learning and obedience to their calling as the three weather tight living conditions, personal friction, triple-digit heat, weariness, a plague of grasshoppers and changes in scheduling. But they march on.

Although advised against it for safety reasons, the women proceeded through the Crow Indian Reservation in Montana and discovered what Balog considers some of the friendliest people she’s met, all desperately in need of prayer. While passing through the reservation, they found an abandoned dog tightly tied to a fence and quickly adopted him. The Crow helped name him Owashta Bishke Waliluke (traveling dog walking). Waliluke has since become a member of the team and will return home with Samantha at the end of their journey.

Highway patrolmen and passersby often stop to see what they are doing or if they need assistance, but usually leave with a prayer instead. On one occasion however, a sheriff’s deputy, fearing possible terrorism, arrived to check out a report of a “suspicious” van that had been abandoned near a group of propane tanks by someone with a dog—only to find the women walking back toward it.

It took the group exactly one month to walk the 416-mile state of Nebraska and by Nov. 8, they had reached Lebanon, Kan., considered the geographical center of the conterminous United States. “We stood on that spot and prayed for all of America,” Balog stated proudly.

Balog explained one of the more memorable highlights of her journey, where she met a wheelchair-bound woman and her husband in Heron, Mont. Their home was filled—inside and out—with rescued wild animals, including a full-grown brown bear, two lions, a declawed, overweight mountain lion, a llama, a deer, and a goat named Moses. “Their whole house was filled with these huge animals,” she said. “And they would follow her around everywhere. It was just amazing.”

Balog, Hanush and Samantha do not walk on Sundays. Instead, they attend a different church every week and tell their story. “When people ask why we’re doing this,” adds Balog, “we tell them it’s not our journey, it’s God’s.”

“We’re very proud of her,” says Balog’s daughter Beth, who lives in the Santa Teresa area of San Jose. “She’s living her dream and we should all hope that we have the courage and strength at 66 to take on our dreams. Most people can’t fathom walking 20 miles a day, let alone five days a week.”

It costs $8.81 per mile to walk across America

The women continue to track every step and every penny along the way. As of Nov. 23, they had reached the halfway point, averaging 15.539 miles per day or 72.87 miles per week at a cost of $.097 per step or $8.81 per mile. Funding comes from Seek Him First Ministries, a nonprofit organization they established two years ago in an effort to raise money through personal savings, church offerings, outside donations and aluminum can collections. The trip is estimated to cost $30,000 by the time they arrive in Florida, all in the name of prayer.

Digital photos document the landscapes, sunsets and milestones of their incredible excursion and each keeps a journal chronicling the daily events as well as the names of the people they meet and pray for along the way. The women hope to someday write a book about their roles in blessing America one step at a time. “It’s very rewarding,” Balog observes. “People are relying on me to pray for them.”

For updates on Balog and the Great American Journey, log on to www.greatamericajourney.com. The team can always use added financial support. Tax deductible contributions can be sent to: Seek Him First Ministries, 2307 Mesa Vista Court, Paso Robles, CA 93446-6315