Pennsic Pilgrimage: By MiniGoal

For Kingdom... for Canton... for fun. I take up my sword, my bow, my coin and my shoes and walk into the springtime northward. I seek the greatest war of our land: Pennsic. It is 499 miles, and I have 6 months to get there...

A lady in my SCA Sparkers Team on Sparkpeople.com came up with the Walk to Pennsic thing as a way to get herself going. Never one to turn my nose up at a great idea I decided to do the same. I used Google Maps to determine the "walking" route from my Canton to Pennsic War in Pennsylvania. It's is 499 miles, 1,317,360 steps by pedometer. These miles can be made up by running, more walking, elliptical, or cardio bike. Along the path to Pennsic are all the Baronies, Shires, Cantons in between. For each one I pass through I will award myself a small digital device for the group I trek through.

Later: I meant to keep short blogs about my progress, since it was really all about PT. At some point, only 100 miles from the end, I gave up. I kept the log but seemed to stop filling out my PT log, and thus the mileage was never filled in. I've taken the liberty, two years later, to finish filling it in from the PT log. I'm sure the length of time it was taking me discouraged me (it was a year before I gave up, 75% way done). I filled in the last few legs as journal entries for my persona, who lives in the 14th century. I did make it... just, not in time for Pennsic 39 (2010)...

Starting in Canton Attilium, Barony Windmaster's Hill, Kindgom Atlantia
6mi to Canton Nimenfeld, Barony Windmaster's Hill, Kindgom Atlantia
14.2 to Canton Elvegast, Barony Windmaster's Hill, Kindgom Atlantia
27.6 to Canton Kappellenburg, Barony Windmaster's Hill, Kindgom Atlantia
32.3 to Barony Windmaster's Hill (Proper), Kindgom Atlantia
24.6 to Crown lands, Kindgom Atlantia
61.6 to Barony of Black Diamond, Kindgom Atlantia
39.1 to Shire of Isenfir, Kindgom Atlantia
86.4 to Shire of Sylvan Glen, Kingdom Aethelmearc
51.7 to Barony of Highland Foorde, Kindgom Atlantia
28.9 to Barony of St. Swithin's Bog, Kingdom Aethelmearc
17.7 to Shire of Gryffyns Keep, Kingdom Aethelmearc
34.2 to Barony-Marche of the Debatable Lands, Kingdom Aethelmearc
27.3 to Shire of Sunderoak, Kingdom Aethelmearc
29.1 to Shire of Hunter's Home, Kingdom Aethelmearc
18.3 to Pennsic

499 Miles to Pennsic.


Thank you's to These Sites:

http://chatelaine.aethelmearc.org/php/newcomer/map.php
http://www.aeheralds.net/rolls/Groups.php?id=1
http://embroidery.galtham.com/assets/images/isenfir.jpg

/From the tattered pages of a hand-bound ledger/

	6mi to Canton Nimenfeld, Barony Windmaster's Hill, Kindgom Atlantia 2010 January 10: The first leg is a short one... I am 6.98 miles in and I arrived in Canton Nimenfeld, Barony Windmaster's Hill, Kindgom Atlantia. It is 14.2 miles to Canton Elvegast. 2010 Jan 23: Alas, I will not make Elvegast by the time I must camp. I am 8.7miles behind schedule... I wanted to already be on my way to Kappellenberg by now. But! I will not be too hard on myself. I must simple keep going! 3376 steps today... 484.79mi to Pennsic. 5.99mi to Elvegast.
	14.2 to Canton Elvegast, Barony Windmaster's Hill, Kindgom Atlantia Feb 03: I made it to Elvegast last week! (I went 12148 steps8897 of it aerobic and probably a large part that elliptical.)
	27.6 to Canton Kappellenburg, Barony Windmaster's Hill, Kindgom Atlantia 2012 Feb 06: I hit Kappellenberg in today, and am now roughly 27 miles from Windmaster's Hill Proper, and about 450 miles from Pennsic. :) HOORAY! My knees hurt and need iced.
	32.3 to Barony Windmaster's Hill (Proper), Kindgom Atlantia The pages have yellowed with time, and the ink has faded. The script is no longer legible.
	24.6 to Crown lands, Kindgom Atlantia The pages have yellowed with time, and the ink has faded. The script is no longer legible.
	61.6 to Barony of Black Diamond, Kindgom Atlantia 2010 June 21: Lost as I was those two mad months, I made no progress towards Pennsic. I feel I have trekked in maddening circles! That's what you get for following a "coastline" that turns out to be a lake. This is why I'm not the navigator. No matter. I've Finally made it the 61 miles to the Barony of Black Diamond. 318 miles to Pennsic! I'll rest only a day... the bugs are as big as gulls here in Atlantia. Onward north.. 37 miles to the Shire of Isenfir! Entry
	39.1 to Shire of Isenfir, Kindgom Atlantia 2010 July 04: Huzzah! I have made it to the Shire of Isenfir! The next stop on my way to Pennsic is 86.4 miles away: Shire of Sylvan Glen, in the Kingdom Aethelmearc! As of today I have 253.3 miles left until I reach Pennsic; this means I've traveled 245.7 miles! I halfway there! (Too bad there's only two weeks left to get there at 17.5 miles per day...) Even though I won't make my goal I've walked, run, stairclimbed, and biked almost 250 miles for this goal! I am pretty proud of myself. I see how the almost two months of being lost (not tracking my pedometer) really hurt the cause. It's hard to recover when you fall behind! The distance I DID complete makes this a Non-Failure. I didn't make it in time, but I haven't given up getting there! Entry
	86.4 to Shire of Sylvan Glen, Kingdom Aethelmearc 2010 July 31: I have made it... this leg of the journey has been the longest so far and yet I was able to complete it more quickly. "Sylvan", meaning pleasantly wooded or pastoral... perhaps the lovely surroundings (West Virginia) have quickened my blood and spirits as they have my feet. I must make as much ground as I can while the effect lasts.
	51.7 to Barony of Highland Foorde, Kindgom Atlantia 2010 October 28: A brief respite. Almost a month I traveled through the wood and into the rolling foothills. The air is colder and the leaves have turned all shades of gold. I wish to stay for the Samhain celebration. I could use the good food and warm fire, and doubt the grain of food I'll find in the Bog...
	28.9 to Barony of St. Swithin's Bog, Kingdom Aethelmearc 2011 January 10: It is exactly one year since I started my journey. I have traveled 373 miles. I have 126 to go. Is it being stuck in this bog that breaks my heart so, or the sense of impossibility I have for the goal I set for myself. I must escape this drear or I fear I may be trapped in this dark place forever. To Gryffyns Keep... I MUST make it!
	17.7 to Shire of Gryffyns Keep, Kingdom Aethelmearc 2011 January 21: Glad am I for the shortness of this last trek. To think I have been on the road over a year when my original goal was a mere six months... I'm not sure if it feels like it's going quickly or taken forever. I almost wonder if I should have given up back when I knew I wouldn't make in time. At this rate... I might be late for NEXT Pennsic.
	34.2 to Barony-Marche of the Debatable Lands, Kingdom Aethelmearc 2011 Feb 04: One year and one day since I arrived in Elvegast... The other great war approaches as armies gather in the far west. Estrella. As friend and family gather there to defend the borders once again I trek through one of the largest baronies in the Kingdom of Æthelmearc (PA). I just wish the rain would stop....
	27.3 to Shire of Sunderoak, Kingdom Aethelmearc 2011 Feb 17: The roads have been so empty that had I not made such good time in arriving in the Shire of Sunderoak I thought I would find no one to sell me cheese or eggs. The heavy rains have damaged much of the crops and people are clamoring that God is angry. Sheer idiocy... Who could believe in such myths NOW, in the modern 14th century? Bread is scarce however, and the poorer are dying of hunger. I must move on soon.
	29.1 to Shire of Hunter's Home, Kingdom Aethelmearc 2011 Mar 27: It's dreadful... So many dead... The price of bread has near doubled and people everywhere are starving. I hear news that people are eating each other... EACH OTHER! People are blaming Edward II, claiming his "unnatural appetite" is angering God. The people are clinging to insanities and myths to feed their anger since they have nothing to feed their bellies.
	18.3 to Pennsic... 2011 November 18: The famine nearly killed me. I hear even the King could not find bread on his journey. I survived, with the rest of the people, on wild edible roots, plants, grasses, nuts, and bark from the forests. Did well enough until the local people caught on. I plucked what I could and tried to keep moving.... PennsicWar dotOrg - The medallion is for Pennsic 39, the war I originally sought to "trek to" in 2010.

I never really finished the Pilgrimage. I completed the mileage but at some point gave up on tracking. I've filled in what I could with the PT logs I kept through 2011 March 31, but have nothing between then and 2011 November. I continued with the mileage on Nov 01 as if there had been no break and filled in the last few legs with an actual historical famine that took place in Northern Europe in 1315. I've linked a few things if you're interested in reading more.