Deaf man walks across USA for mental health awareness
Renca Dunn, Daily Moth Reporter: Christopher Morton aka “Salt” is aiming to be the first Deaf person to walk across the USA.
He started on August 4th in California and hopes to complete his trip in June in New Jersey. He is currently in Indiana. His journey also has a cause. He is walking to raise awareness about mental health. We reached out to him about his experience so far.
Christopher “Salt” Morton: This decision made to walk across was decided in a short time. I think I gave myself about two months to prepare. And keep in mind that I had no previous experience with this. I had never gone camping before, for example. I wanted to, but I couldn’t on account of a lot of medical issues inside my body. I had never assembled a tent before, I had never cooked outdoors. I was really new to all of these experiences that I had to discipline myself to learn. My life at home was feeling monotonous and I had to do something about it. I had seen a movie called “Into the Wild,” which was based on a true story about a hearing man who walked and hitchhiked his way to Alaska. So after watching the movie and reading the book, there was just something in there that I connected with. I did some research to see if any other Deaf people had done this before, and there were some who had walked a certain distance. But when it came to the full coast-to-coast experience, there was nobody. That’s when I thought, why not me?
The purpose of this journey is mental health. That’s the mission, to encourage people to not just be aware of mental health but to take action and do something for themselves. To reflect and allow themselves to heal from their trauma. To give themselves permission to let go of the things that have been bothering them under the surface. I left my home in California, which is a busy and bustling state. There’s always so much going on. I had to disconnect from that, and now my surroundings are just forest and solitude, there are very few people around me. This has given me time to really dive deep into my past rather than brush it off, you know? And that’s helped a whole lot. I’ve noticed a big shift in my perspective on the world today.
Renca: How long did it take you to get used to it? I know you mentioned not taking a lot of time to prepare, you just went for it. So how long was that acclimation process?
Salt: When I originally started walking, things were fine. But it was the constancy of the journey that was causing pain. There would be one day I’d walk 18 miles and then the next day I would take a rest day. Sometimes my feet would swell with blisters, and that was really bad. But at this point, I’m walking 15-20 miles every day on average.
Renca: 15-20 miles, got it.
Salt: That’s my goal, and I try to hit 18 miles. But sometimes my leg gives me trouble as I keep walking and I find myself limping and trying to tolerate that. It also depends on the weather. I’ve trekked through all seasons, the hottest day being 115 degrees, and the coldest day being 15 degrees. So there are temperature fluctuations, rain, snow, and so on. I’ve trekked through tornado warnings, and hail, I’ve been through it all!
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Renca: And we just went through that big ice storm that hit a huge part of the country.
Salt: Back in December, yeah.
Renca: Right, in December. Where were you when that happened?
Salt: That was unexpected. I happened to be in Kansas City, Missouri at the time. And at that point, I had already planned to take a flight back home for the purpose of visiting my girlfriend for the holidays, Christmas, New Year's, and all that. I love her and I didn’t want her to be alone during the holidays so I took that opportunity to be with her. It so happened that people started reaching out to me asking if I was safe, and at first I wondered, what was going on? The temperature had plummeted in Kansas City, and wow. I was in the right place at the right time by being in California for three weeks. Then I flew back exactly where I flew out from in Kansas City to keep going. When I first started this, I didn’t want help from anybody. I wanted to do it all on my own. But I discovered that was my ego talking. As I started to open up more, I started to ask people, and ask Deaf people for help and support too. Nowadays I do accept some rides because when I’m walking alone I can get lost in thought. When I’m with a person I can interact and socialize, and learn some new experiences and skills. I actually just learned that if you have a blister, you can put mustard on it and it will heal. I thought there was no way, but it works! There’s so much that I’m learning, like how to create a fire with friction.
Renca: Oh, wow!
Salt: I’m learning a lot of old-school skills. I met one person who went to Iraq during the war, he made that trip nine times. Really, in the end, it’s all about our memories, not our possessions.
Renca: Thank you Salt for your time. Salt said that there are several ways you can support him. You can follow his journey on his social media accounts and check out his website for ways to support him. Links are provided in the transcript.
Website: https://www.walkwithsalt.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christoherm
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/officiallysalt_/
Article: https://liberatedjournalist.com/f/meet-chris-salt-morton-the-first-deaf-man-walking-america