Walking 360 Miles to Complete Erie Canalway Challenge: A Search for 7 Wonders, Bathrooms and Beer to Stop CMV

I am a “Canalway Challenge Ambassador” and finally finished walking  360 miles to complete the Erie Canalway Challenge between Buffalo and Albany on April 23, 2025 -- just in time for the Erie Canal's Bicentennial!

Please see the following press release and photographs for more information.

Lisa Saunders

Baldwinsville, New York

LisaSaunders42@gmail.com

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Baby Boomers Walk 360 Miles to Complete Erie Canalway Challenge

Searched for 7 Wonders, Bathrooms and Beer on Way to Stop CMV--the #1 Birth Defects Virus That Claimed Daughter

In search of 7 wonders, bathrooms and beer, a Baldwinsville, New York, couple walked 360 miles between Buffalo and Albany on the Erie Canalway Trail, finishing in Albany on April 23, 2025, to raise awareness of congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV), a viral cause of autism and hearing loss. They registered their Canalway Challenge with the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor as "Lisa & Jim Saunders to Stop CMV, #1 Birth Defects Virus." 

When the baby boomers commenced their journey, they assumed walking a mostly level path would be easy – but there were challenges! They've been chased by mosquitoes, biting flies, hissing geese and lightning. They endured torrential downpours, floods, ice, blinding snow, chafing underwear, and aching feet. Yet, they found ways to persevere, enjoying the beauty and engineering marvels along the way. Tackling different sections of the Trail about once a month, it took them five years to complete the Challenge. 

Lisa's updated book, "Walking the Erie Canalway Trail: A Search for 7 Wonders, Bathrooms and Beer to Stop CMV" includes her investigation into where and how her great Aunt Rebecca drove into the Canal over 80 years ago, supposedly to end her life, and how her ancestor Jacob Leach, a distiller of whiskey, helped plan the opening of the first Erie Canal by welcoming Governor Clinton and the Seneca Chief boat parade.  Lisa also discusses the issues faced by modern, sedentary folks who seek to become "end-to-enders" -- those who walk, bike or kayak the entire Erie Canal -- and how she overcame them. 

Congress established the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor in 2000 because the canal “facilitated the movement of ideas …like the abolition of slavery and…women's rights…across upstate New York to the rest of the country…” (106th Congress). Jim and Lisa were determined to become "end-to-enders" on the Erie Canalway Trail because they have a women's rights message to move from "upstate New York to the rest of the country" – that women have the right to know how to protect their pregnancies from congenital CMV. The couple left Stop CMV rocks, with prevention tips (CDC.gov/CMV), along the Trail to comply with Congress' recommendation that "more effort be taken to counsel women of childbearing age of the effect this virus can have on their children" (112th Congress, 2011). 

The day after Jim and Lisa reached the "East End" Erie Canal mile marker in Albany, Lisa visited the Legislative Office Building to ask the Assembly Health Committee members to pass two new CMV bills (A3956 and A3074) that would ensure every newborn be tested for congenital CMV and be referred to specialists within the first critical days of life (for possible early interventions such as antivirals). In 2022, the New York governor had signed "Elizabeth's Law," named in memory of their daughter, to ensure that child care providers and pregnant women received educational materials on how to protect their pregnancies from CMV (for example, not kissing toddlers around the mouth or sharing food/drinks with them).

Though now an “end-to-ender,” Lisa can still be seen on the Trail as a “Canalway Challenge Ambassador,” handing out materials to encourage other Trail users to take the 1st, 15, 90, 180, 200, or 360-mile Challenge. Lisa appreciates the accessibility of the Trail and pushed her mother in a wheelchair so Mom could complete the One-Mile Canalway Challenge. Lisa can be seen on the Trail in videos, "Erie Canal Trail: Stop Cytomegalovirus (CMV) Birth Defects. Pass "Elizabeth's Law" (2022) and “Hiking the Erie Canalway Trail, Vote on 7 Wonders, Stop CMV” (PAC-B TV, 2023). 

To reach Lisa Saunders about speaking to your group about her Erie Canalway Trail experiences and/or congenital CMV, email her at: LisaSaunders42@gmail.com. In addition to "Walking the Erie Canalway Trail," Lisa is the author of several books, such as  "Mystic Seafarer's Trail," which features her defeat as a sailor when she abandoned ship. 

For more information about the Canalway Challenge, visit: eriecanalway.org/explore/challenge and/or Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor :: FAQs.

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Lisa and Jim Saunders seen in their CMV T-shirts completing the 360-mile Canalway Challenge walk with their "Stop CMV" sign at the Erie Canal "East End" marker in Albany on April 23, 2025.

Lisa and Jim Saunders seen completing their 360-mile Canalway Challenge walk with their "end-to-ender" sign at the Erie Canal "East End" marker in Albany on April 23, 2025. (Two available photos included - one with and without the Canalway Challenge logo). 

Stop CMV rock and New York State Capitol on April 24, 2025.

Stop CMV rock and New York State Legislative Office Building on April 24, 2025.

Lisa Saunders with Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal, sponsor of two 2025 cytomegalovirus bills: A3956 ("Requires cytomegalovirus screening for every newborn") and A3074 ("Requires reporting of positive cytomegalovirus results") on April 24, 2025.

Lisa Saunders at the New York State Capitol on April 24, 2025.

Lisa and Jim Saunders seen at the Erie Canal "West End" marker at Canalside, Buffalo. 

Jim and Lisa Saunders pushing Lisa's mom, Mary Ann Avazian, on the Erie Canalway Trail in DeWitt, New York, for a photo shoot for Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. Photographs by Call of the Loon Productions.

All Photo Captions:

• Lisa and Jim Saunders seen in their CMV T-shirts completing the 360-mile Canalway Challenge walk with their "Stop CMV" sign at the Erie Canal "East End" marker in Albany on April 23, 2025.
• Lisa and Jim Saunders seen completing their 360-mile Canalway Challenge walk with their "end-to-ender" sign at the Erie Canal "East End" marker in Albany on April 23, 2025. (Two available photos included - one with and without the Canalway Challenge logo). 
• Stop CMV rock and New York State Capitol on April 24, 2025.
• Stop CMV rock and New York State Legislative Office Building on April 24, 2025.
• Lisa Saunders with Assemblymember Linda B. Rosenthal, sponsor of two 2025 cytomegalovirus bills: A3956 ("Requires cytomegalovirus screening for every newborn") and A3074 ("Requires reporting of positive cytomegalovirus results") on April 24, 2025.
• Lisa Saunders at the New York State Capitol on April 24, 2025.
• Lisa and Jim Saunders seen at the Erie Canal "West End" marker at Canalside, Buffalo. 
• Jim and Lisa Saunders pushing Lisa's mom, Mary Ann Avazian, on the Erie Canalway Trail in DeWitt, New York, for a photo shoot for Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. Photographs by Call of the Loon Productions.

Link to slide show, Walking the Erie Canalway Trail: A Search for 7 Wonders, Bathrooms and Beer to Stop CMV

FYI, I fed some comments about our walk to ChatGBT. Although I forgot to mention the walk took five years, it did a remarkable job coming up with the following:

Lisa and Jim Saunders set out from Buffalo with backpacks, walking sticks, and a quiet promise to their daughter, Elizabeth. The Erie Canalway Trail stretched 350 miles ahead—toward Albany, toward healing, and toward anyone who might notice the “Stop CMV” rocks they planned to leave behind like breadcrumbs of hope.

Their legs hurt by mile twenty. By mile fifty, their feet were blistered mosaics. But every time one of them faltered, the other would point to the canal beside them—still, determined, purposeful—and they kept going.

They learned history from the trail itself: old lock walls etched with stubborn moss, weathered signs telling stories of barges and dreamers, and towns that had grown up around the waterway like loyal friends. Jim would read every plaque; Lisa would pretend to be impatient but secretly loved his enthusiasm.

Not every day was peaceful. A goose once came honking after them with the fury of a tiny feathered dragon. A dog chased them for half a mile, and they sprinted like teenagers who suddenly remembered their knees. Lightning cracked overhead more than once, and they were pelted with sleet so sideways and sharp it felt personal.

But at the end of each day, they placed another “Stop CMV” rock along the trail—bright, hand-painted, and full of Elizabeth’s memory. Sometimes they imagined hikers finding them weeks later, pausing long enough to read, to wonder, to care.

By the time they reached Albany, they were sore, weather-beaten, and absolutely exhausted. Yet they stood side by side at the trail’s end, hands clasped, laughing at how triumphant and ridiculous they looked.

They had walked across an entire state. But more importantly, they had walked together—carrying love, grief, history, and hope the whole way—leaving a trail of small stones that said, Elizabeth was here. And she still matters.