As the trails dwindle, the road goes ever on ...

Iowa is all about corn.  It's everywhere.  Bumper crop, so to speak.

Colorado or Bust, days 65 through 69:

Among the last trails that I'll hike in Iowa are the Raccoon River Valley Trail, about a dozen miles worth, and three miles of Riverside Trail and Whiterock Conservancy trail in Coon Rapids  The rest of this report is about what I saw along the roads between and beyond.

Here's the Raccoon River itself, as seen from said trail:

The Riverside Trail actually follows said river much more closely:

But otherwise I was on my own, entertaining myself with paint cracks and puff balls, country churches, rutted 'class B' (limited maintenance) roads, and just plain old litter:

Sometimes Iowa vistas can be boring.  But not always.  Grass can be fascinating, as can corn (as shown up top), and soybeans and sunflowers:

Beyond Coon Rapids I've chosen to diverge from the American Discovery Trail and the Great American Rail Trail, both of which make a big sweeping, arc SW to Omaha and Lincoln and then back north.  I'm choosing the more direct route.  I'm not much of a fan of cities.

Here are the GPS Tracks for the five days covered in this report: