SANTA FE, N.M. – It took more than eight years – in bits and pieces, five or 10 miles at a time – but Inez Ross has finally walked the Santa Fe Trail.
The retired English teacher from Los Alamos trekked 875 miles across five states, from tony downtown Santa Fe at the trail’s end to tiny New Franklin, Mo., at its beginning.
She trudged across rangeland and farm fields, along dirt roads and highways, following the wagon ruts of the old trading route whenever she could.
For much of the way, the 73-year-old Ross had the company of four friends – Jennifer Reglien and Carolyn Robinson, both of Santa Fe; Phyllis Morgan of Albuquerque; and Reglien’s sister, Judith Janay of Fort Collins, Colo.
The other women, though, still have varying distances on the trail to go. Robinson has about 180 miles left to hike, and Janay is close to finishing with just 20 miles left.
It was Reglien who proposed the hike to Ross in 1996. For the first few years, the women got together whenever they happened to have a free weekend. Then they got serious, planning the trips months in advance and confining their hikes to the weather-friendly spring and fall months.
Typically, the group would take two cars, leaving one at the start of each hike and one at the destination. They’d spend a few days, walk about 10 miles each day, and stay in motels or bed-and-breakfasts.
Residents of little towns along the way helped them locate the trail, invited them in for tea, and included them in community events.
Most of the trail is on private land, requiring the hikers to get permission to cross. When they couldn’t, they’d take the nearest county road.
Robinson recalls the hikes as “very peaceful” – except for the occasional rattlesnake, the hot day they got lost and ran out of water, and the time they had to jog five miles to stay warm.
It took 97 days of hiking over the years for Ross to complete the trip through New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas and Missouri. On June 26, she reached her destination.
Ross’ reasons for retracing the trail evoke that simpler time of pioneer spirit.
“Love of history,” Ross said. “Joy of exercise. The challenge of … a challenge.”
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