Walk of Solidarity takes off along C&O Canal towpath

Tracy Danzey, on right, talks with Jim Surkamp at her Send-Off Celebration at Town Run Tap House and Community Pub on Saturday night. Tabitha Johnston
SHEPHERDSTOWN — On Saturday, walkers and runners will join together on the C&O Canal to participate in the first stretch of the Walk of Solidarity, in conjunction with Shepherdstown resident Tracy Danzey’s Walk Across Denmark for Climate Justice.
Danzey’s walk will be used to spread information about Rockwool’s plants in Ranson and around the world, and to ask the people of Denmark to publicly oppose the company’s heavy industry practices. The Walk of Solidarity will also endeavor to spread a similar message, according to walk organizer Pat Phillips.
“It’s going to be 13 or 14 days along the C&O Canal until we reach Georgetown,” Phillips said, mentioning the length of the trail the group is hiking is comparable with the length of Danzey’s hike.
On each day of the Walk of Solidarity, the group will walk or run anywhere between three to seven miles each day. After the group reaches the walk’s destination at the end of the canal in Georgetown, Md., the group will trek to the Denmark Embassy in Washington, D.C.
“Tracy’s organizing a small group that will represent our solidarity to the Danish embassy. It will be an effective group and won’t be disruptive,” said Charles Town resident and Walk of Solidarity member Anne Young.

Charles Town resident and Walk of Solidarity member Anne Young, far left, helps community members make solidarity pins with Summit Point wool dyed with pokeberries. Tabitha Johnston
At about the same time, Danzey and her three fellow members in Walk Across Denmark for Climate Change–Stewart Acuff, Emiri Vaughn and Mary Reed–will also be reaching the Copenhagen, the capitol city of Denmark.
“They plan to speak at the Danish embassy, hopefully on the same day as I end at Parliament in Copenhagen,” Danzey said of the Walk of Solidarity emissaries. “I feel very comforted by the Walk of Solidarity. It’s a great reassurance, to know that we have community members who are not only with us in spirit, but also in action, in bringing our message to the Danish people.
“The idea for the walk developed at the announcement we made about my walk at the Jefferson County Courthouse on September 18,” Danzey said. “Anne Young, Pat Phillips and Bobbie Bloc, they sort of, while I was announcing, had this idea, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we walk with her?’ By the time we ended the announcement, they realized they could do the walk on the C&O Canal.”
Although the 47.90 mile towpath isn’t as long as Danzey’s 70-mile hike across the country of Denmark, even with the extra two miles to the Denmark Embassy added in, the towpath walk will be spaced out, to ensure the group is walking for about the same number of days as Danzey’s group. Danzey’s group flew out to Denmark on Tuesday, and was scheduled to begin the walk within the next couple of days, according to Danzey, during her Send-Off Celebration at Town Run Tap House and Community Pub last Saturday night.
Follow Danzey’s walk at on Facebook at Tracy’s Walk, on Twitter @TracysWalk and on Instagram at tracyswalk. Make a tax deductible donation to the walk on the Tracy’s Walk GoFundMe page. Join the Walk of Solidarity by emailing Pat Phillips at paphillips321@gmail.com.
- Charles Town resident and Walk of Solidarity member Anne Young, far left, helps community members make solidarity pins with Summit Point wool dyed with pokeberries. Tabitha Johnston