A Walk Across Texas

Researching places they wanted to see in advance, the trio selected a route that crossed as many creeks and rivers as possible and offered amenable campsites. Not young men, McConal, Lane, and Snyder conquered the harsh environment of West Texas, dealing with blisters and backaches, severe weather and low blood sugar while still remaining friends. Along the way they met unique local characters and visited out-of-the-ordinary sites. With his seasoned journalist's eye, McConal blends personal interviews and keen descriptions of the countryside they trekked. As he spins the narrative of their journey, local legends, histories, flora, and fauna unfold.

Part travelogue, part natural history, and part documentary, A Walk Across Texas is the record of three friends' journey from the Panhandle to Granbury—a 450-mile walk across West Texas. Jon McConal and his two friends, Eddie Lane and Norm Snyder, hiked for twenty-eight days through the less traveled byways of the Texas outlands, and in the process they encountered a world that is now as foreign to most Americans as the Taj Mahal.

Researching places they wanted to see in advance, the trio selected a route that crossed as many creeks and rivers as possible and offered amenable campsites. Not young men, McConal, Lane, and Snyder conquered the harsh environment of West Texas, dealing with blisters and backaches, severe weather and low blood sugar while still remaining friends. Along the way they met unique local characters and visited out-of-the-ordinary sites. With his seasoned journalist's eye, McConal blends personal interviews and keen descriptions of the countryside they trekked. As he spins the narrative of their journey, local legends, histories, flora, and fauna unfold.

A native of West Texas, Jon McConal was on the staff of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram for forty years, twenty as a contributing editor and twenty as a columnist, writing most often about rural and old-time Texas. Now retired, he and his wife make their home in Granbury. McConal is the author of Jon McConal's Texas, My Years with Bob Wills, and Bridges over the Brazos.