Premera member Lloyd Gossman is a lot like most of us. “You always say you're going to do something, and then you never do it. So I just did it.”
What Gossman “just did” probably exceeds most people's wildest ambitions. He walked 2,200 miles of the Oregon Trail in 3½ months, averaging 23 miles a day. And he was just a few months short of his 70th birthday.
Gossman started his walk April 27, 2015, near Independence, MO, and finished August 9 in Oregon City, OR - “the best day of the trip,” he joked. That's 105 days total, 95 of them walking.
His only regular companion was his jogging stroller (nicknamed “Wilson” after Tom Hanks' volleyball friend in the movie Cast Away), in which he pushed his food, water and camping equipment.
Gossman's trip was way more than just an exercise in determination and follow-through. Three years ago, his wife Lois was diagnosed with breast cancer. Over the course of her treatment, the Gossmans were given $4,000 from the First City Council on Cancer in their hometown of Ketchikan, AK, to help cover expenses not covered by health insurance.
Gossman told them he would try to find a way to repay them. Friends, relatives and others pledged money for each mile he walked in his “Oregon Trail Trek Against Cancer.” He hoped to bring in $5,000 to $10,000, but instead he raised $41,000. “It was good knowing that every step I took I was bringing in money,” he said. “I am amazed at the generosity of people.”
A Premera member for 22 years, Gossman credits having good healthcare, including two knee replacements, for allowing him to do the trip at age 69. “I was in pretty good shape, but I'd never done anything like this.” To prepare, he walked three to six miles a day for a month or two before he left. The most he'd walked prior to the trip was 12 miles in one day.
The trip wasn't easy. Much of the Oregon Trail is now covered by interstate freeways, but he stuck to smaller highways, county roads and trails as much as he could. He'd planned to camp most of the time, but because of extreme weather, he ended up staying in motels about half the time.
The first month was dominated by driving wind, rain, hail - even tornadoes. At one point, the 2- to 3-foot ruts of the trail were filled with water and mud. In the last month, the temperature climbed to as high as 112 degrees. During the hottest 12 days, he slept while the sun was out and walked during the night.
He was expending about 4,000 calories a day and taking in only about 2,000. He lost 30 pounds. Finally, his son helped him with a nutrition regimen that included adding protein and energy powder to everything he drank. He went through three pairs of shoes - “duct tape became my friend.” His feet are still recovering from all the callouses.
You'd think that all that time alone would give one a chance for deep philosophical reflection, but “after the first month, all I thought about was food, water, where I was going to sleep, go to bathroom, basic stuff, all the things that could go wrong.”
The biggest thing he learned about himself? “When things got tough or the more I suffered, it gave me more strength from within to face whatever challenge arose.”
For a long while after the trip was over, Gossman could hardly believe what he'd done. “Now I've begun to recognize I've done something of real significance and all the good that will come of my efforts. Many of my friends and others will be helped like we were when my wife was undergoing cancer treatment.”
And the biggest thing that went right with his trip? As of December 31, 2015, his wife Lois has now been cancer-free for two years.
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033543 (01-2016)