West Michigan sisters plan to walk to Colorado

UNION CITY, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – Two West Michigan sisters are setting out on a mission to prove their skeptics wrong, and they're doing it one step at a time.

The sisters have set themselves a lofty goal; they plan to walk from Union City in Branch County, all the way to Colorado. A trek of 1,200 miles.

Before the pair even get started, they're putting in some training miles around their home in Branch County.

This adventure isn't something the sisters have been planning for a lifetime, instead, it's been more of an awakening. One sister is suffering from an illness, and the other is overweight and unhappy. They both wanted to get off the couch and experience the world around them.

“We've always walked everywhere we went,” said Tawny Shepard. “Life got in the way.”

For Shepard, life's obstacles included getting sick. She's been diagnosed with cancer, and dubbed herself terminally alive.

“When I got really sick, I decided I needed something more, to say I've done something great.”

Her sister, Tam Dow, was in need of inspiration as well.

For about a month now, the two sisters have been taking step after step. The two have become an everyday sight along the roads of Branch County.

Once they started telling people about their grand plan to hike to Colorado, they found plenty of naysayers. Indeed, those who pass them on the street have good reason to be skeptical, the pair aren't decked out in hi-tech hiking gear, or costly clothes. In fact, Dow wears Crocs with simple inserts, and Shepard has to put band-aids on before every trip.

“I've got five blisters on my left foot,” said Shepard.

The sisters have two simple rules to walk by; no whining, and no short-cuts.

The pair plans to cover twenty miles each day once they start heading west. Right now they walk anywhere from ten to fifteen miles a day.

Dow has already lost more than seven pounds, and Shepard says she's feeling stronger. They still have a number of logistics to work out before making the trek, but they remain determined to keep moving, and to find positive things in life with each and every step they take.

The sisters have given themselves 90 days to walk to Colorado, they plan to start in early June.