Tyler Coulson is a 34-year-old lawyer in Chicago who specialized in corporate reorganization, also wrote his own book By Men or By The Earth. A special companion followed Coulson on his journey: Mabel the dog proved to be man’s happiest best friend.

“On a day-to-day basis, Mabel slowed me down quite a bit and was a tremendous responsibility, but she was also the greatest friend, buddy, and teammate that I could hope for,” says Coulson. “She made each day a bit more joyful.”

They started their journey on the American Discovery trail hoping to go from Delaware to San Francisco. The weather that holds back so many walkers forced Coulson and Mabel to pick the straightest roads possible to make up time. Thus they spent an enormous amount of time on highway 50 and US 6.

Upon arriving at the Rockies in Utah, Coulson had to make the decision to go left toward San Diego or right toward San Francisco. They were too close to winter to head over the Sierra Nevada range so they turned left toward the southwest. Though, the desert would prove too inhospitable to travel without a support vehicle. Mabel spent most of her time in the car while traversing Nevada.

For food Coulson relied mostly on gas stations for support. Water was the resource he used the most, but limited food selection made pop tarts and snickers bars a staple of his on road diet. Carrying Mabel’s food along with his own supply proved to be a treacherous necessity. While camping in Maryland a black bear came to their tent. Coulson believed he had met his end until the bear lost interest and wandered away. Though the four to five hours of terror wouldn’t deter him from continuing the journey.

Coulson found the trip incredibly humbling due to the everyday pain on his trip.

“My feet hurt a great deal on a cross-country hike, no matter what. As did my shoulders, especially while carrying a backpack,” explains Coulson. “Basically, though, if it can hurt, it will hurt at some point during a cross-country hike.”

Walking across the country and spending so many nights under rocky mountain starry skies created a sharp contrast for Coulson regarding how immense the universe is in comparisons to each individual.

Humor also seemed to go a long way. He often noticed how poorly he took care of himself as a walker, but bad weather takes a share of the blame. For example, Iowa was experiencing a wretched heat wave when they were passing through. To add insult to injury, raccoons got into their food supply. The result was Coulson slapping his sandals outside his tent with no clothes on.

Daily entertainment was at a minimum for the first long leg of the trip. He didn’t have an iPod with him until the Mississippi River. To stay alert he ran through all the things he had memorized like state capitals, counting footsteps, or thinking of songs he memorized over the years. A few original songs even made it into the mix. He began carrying an iPod after staying at his parent’s house in Illinois. At some point the mental gymnastics had to come to an end.

Coulson always wanted to make a trip like this a reality. Taking off work came down to a now or never decision. Like all of our walkers each trip was deeply personal, and the courage to make something grand a reality was highly motivational. For a dedicated team of man and dog, there was no shortage of daily inspiration.

Just like inspirational journeys of history, people sometimes need a great challenge to see how great life can be.

By Alex Thurnher for PeterGreenberg.com