Anyone ever hiked the American Discovery Trail? Or know anyone who has? Or has at least heard of the ADT?

I walk a section of the trail in Colorado nearly everyday and have never encountered a thru-hiker...

I've at least heard of it. It is one of several long-distance hiking trails that cross the country. The big four are the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, the Continental Divide Trail, and the North Country Trail. There are also long trails in Wisconsin (Ice Age Trail?), Vermont (Long Trail) and Arizona.

So much to do and see, so little time and money!

I walk a section of the trail in Colorado nearly everyday and have never encountered a thru-hiker...

There aren't very many of them. That ADT is so long, I'm not even sure that most people who complete it do it on foot or in a single year. If I remember correctly, it's also a bike route--which might make it more practical for bikers rather than hikers given its size. And people who are on foot and want to do the entire thing might have to break it into multiple years. And it's not considered "completed" and has very little press.

So... it might be awhile before you ever see a thru-hiker on that particular trail! It's been done, but I think mostly just by people trying to make a name for themselves.

-- Ryan

I've set foot on it a couple of times while hunting down the elusive LB in Ohio. It goes through a couple of state parks--Hueston Woods and Governer Bebb. I enjoyed the book Life on Foot by Nate Damm, an account of his thru hike. Much of the trail is on the side of a road/highway like US 50 thru Nevada, but mostly he meets a lot of interesting characters.