While the rest of campus was curled up recovering from the previous night’s escapades, one particularly ambitious group of Harvard students set out on foot, bright and early on Sunday, Nov. 17 with a clear destination in mind: New Hampshire.
For Asher Montgomery ’26 and Uzma Issa ’25, the idea for the adventure developed over a series of stages.
During a drive to the White Mountains in New Hampshire with the Harvard Outing Club last year, Montgomery realized that the border to New Hampshire is closer than one might expect, about 30 miles from Boston. A few months later, Montgomery and Issa were inspired by their studies on human evolution and bipedalism while studying abroad in Kenya and decided to turn Montgomery’s observation into a plan.
Upon returning to campus this fall, they picked out a weekend for the trip, recruited some friends to come along, and identified a finish line: Mike’s Express Pizza, just across the border in Pelham, NH. With the help of Google Maps and some advice from friends who had completed the walk from Cambridge to New Hampshire last year, Montgomery planned out the route, starting out on Massachusetts Avenue and traveling along the Minuteman Bikeway—a 10-mile railroad converted into a commuter trail that closely mirrors Paul Revere’s historic ride that started the American Revolution—before continuing north to the New Hampshire state line.
At 6 a.m., the group of nine students assembled to begin their journey. The Minuteman constituted the first major segment of the route for the walk. The group then traversed across the Narrow Gauge Rail Trail that stands on the path of the Billerica and Bedford Railroad that runs from the town of Bedford to North Billerica.
The first stop of the trip was Lexington, MA., where the group took their breakfast break, with some relying on food they had packed and others opting for Peet’s Coffee or a local cafe.
Considering the daunting task ahead of them, the group found creative ways to provide entertainment during their walk. Issa recounted, “At a point when we were on the shoulder of the road, and we had to walk in a single file line, we were doing ‘follow the leader’ [and] silly little games to keep us entertained. At a point, they were all singing Hamilton for ten minutes.”
After arriving in Billerica around 11 a.m., they made another stop at Liberty Bell Sandwich Shop to refuel, where Issa highly recommends the crispy chicken sandwich. Continuing past Billerica, the carefully maintained and peaceful rail trails quickly gave way to bustling main roads. Montgomery was particularly struck by the fact that there were no walkable routes at this point.
“Some people were nice, and they would get into the other lane and move around us, but it’s quite scary. You’re walking in a line one behind the other, and there’s no space for any walking to occur, and the only route for us to get to New Hampshire is on this road, and there are no sidewalks. There’s no way for you to get to this place [on foot] in a safe way,” Montgomery explained.
Nonetheless, the less-than-ideal conditions did not discourage her. “I don’t think that should stop anyone from walking. I think that it just means the government should be making more sidewalks, or at least, people should be realizing that we still need walkable routes in these places.”
Moving on, the trip proceeded without incident. They navigated the roads to reach Chelmsford Creamery in Chelmsford, MA, for a much-anticipated ice cream stop and their last break before passing through Lowell, MA, during the final stretch of the route.
Finally, seeing the Welcome-Bienvenue to New Hampshire sign in the distance, the group ran to cross the border into Pelham, New Hampshire, before marching up to the door of Mike’s Express to mark the official end of their walk. After 30 miles, 10 hours, and two states since their 6 a.m. start, it is safe to say that the trip was an undeniable success.
Looking back on the journey, Issa shared, “30 miles may seem scary, but I think a lot of it is your mental fortitude that gets you through it. And I think as long as people believe that they can do it, they can definitely do it. Just get a group together, get some water, a headlamp (in case), some snacks, and open your Google Maps.”
Already looking forward to the next adventure, Montgomery is thinking of walking to Rhode Island in the future.
“I love for people to realize walking is so powerful, and it’s so healing in many ways, and we were evolved to do it as humans—homo sapiens. That’s why we differ from all of our ancestors, and that’s an amazing thing to celebrate,” she said. “Anytime people want to celebrate that more, I will be happy to give them a route.”
Whitney Ford ’28 (wford@college.harvard.edu) is always up for a good walk.