HikaNation was a 14-month cross-country backpacking trip starting at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, California on April 12, 1980, and ending at Cape Henlopen, Delaware on May 27, 1981 after traversing over 4,286 miles and passing through 14 states and Washington, D.C.

Purposes for the hike included highlighting the need for more hiking trails across America and promoting hiking as a low energy consumption form of recreation.

HikaNation   was   organized   by
Jim Kern, William Kemsley, Jr., Paul Pritchard, Glenn Seaborg, and others, and was sponsored by the American Hiking Society, the United States Department of the Interior Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service, and Postum, along with various other suppliers & supporters, including Backpacker  magazine.

The Progression of HikaNation details the journey with various organizational memos, letters, newspaper and magazine articles.

While each state had a HikaNation coordinator who planned the route and some activities through the state, Monty Montgomery (Lt. Col., USAF, Retired) was the HikaNation "on-site" Hike Coordinator. Monty drove his van and Airstream trailer parallel to the HikaNation route and provided numerous functions, including, but not limited to: coordinating with state planners, advance scouting/altering of planned route, meeting with locals & dignitaries & media, providing water/food/aid in desolate areas, transporting hikers to and from the hike, providing resupply trips to nearby towns, etc.  Without Monty, Jim Kern and the state coordinators, HikaNation would not have succeeded.

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42nd Anniversary HikaNation Reunion - March 2022

HikaNation BBQ & Mini-Reunion- July 2024

The American Discovery Trail (ADT) is a new breed of national trail - part city, part small town, part forest, part mountains, part desert - all in one trail. Opened in 2000, its 6,800+ miles of continuous, multi-use trail stretches from Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware, to Pt. Reyes National Seashore, California. It reaches across America, linking community to community in the first coast to coast, non-motorized trail. The ADT provides trail users the opportunity to journey into the heart of all that is uniquely American - its culture, heritage, landscape and spirit. (November 9, 2014)

• More Recent Additions to HikaNation
  
  
• The HikaNation Guitar -- Bruce Ohlson and Scott recall the guitar's demise
  
  
• Mirkwood HikaNation Chili Party -- backstory from Terry Ernst
  
  
• 42nd Anniversary HikaNation Reunion Photos & Videos - March 2022
  
  
• Linda Hull & Keith Wright's HikaNation Scrapbooks
  
  
• Artwork by Ryan Don Bozis - additional art added
  
  
• HikaNation Retrospective - San Francisco Chronicle - April 12, 2022
  
  
• September 2023 HikaNation Mini-Reunion Hike
  
  
• The National Trails System - An Illustrated History - by Steve Elkinton
  
  
• July 2024 HikaNation BBQ & Mini-Reunion- Doug Marshall's House in Michigan
  
  
• 2025 Additional Material added to Reese Lukei, Jr.'s Index of Scans
  
  
• Marce Guerrein's HikaNation Photos - Provided by Paula Guerrein-Klice in 2025
  
  
• Dave Backus' HikaNation Photos - Miscellaneous Assortment  &  California
  
  
• Added Bonnie Burke to The Hikers