Mike Hansen, 67, spent Tuesday walking from Wallace to Coeur d'Alene along Interstate 90.

It was dangerous, hot, loud, grasshopper-infested and far from easy.

"Every once in a while someone (racing by) will beep because they heard about it on one of the radio stations," he said at Milepost 26.

"Hey, there's a penny," he said, getting distracted for a moment. "There's another one."

He had found about $1.75 at that point in his trek. He had also seen plenty of wildlife, including a moose, coyote, snake and turtle.

Still, "I really, really don't like walking along the freeway, but it's the only way to get from point A to point B," he said.

He left Wallace around 1 a.m.

"This morning I woke up and it was an absolute full moon," he said. "It was absolutely phenomenal, all the way from Wallace over to about Pinehurst."

He was due in Coeur d'Alene at the Clock Tower just outside City Park before 7 p.m. He hoped to average about 3 mph.

He made his walk in jeans, a dark-colored Hawaiian-style shirt, some Brooks running shoes, and a sun hat. He carried lots of water and an orange flag.

"After I walk for a while I can barely sit, let alone get up again," he said. So he just keeps moving.

"My daughter emailed and asked, 'How's your lamborfeeties?'" he said. Staying with the car theme, they also throw around the term "Shoe-barus."

"I said, 'I think I got a flat going over the pass,'" he said.

He has made long walks before, such as a walk from Coeur d'Alene to Newport, Ore., last year over multiple days.

Hansen, who calls both Coeur d'Alene and Wallace home, said he's a big fan of history.

So it was no coincidence that his 50-mile walk Tuesday comes 50 years after President John F. Kennedy's JFK 50 Mile Walk, which was conducted for the first time in the spring of 1963. It was one of numerous such 50-mile events around the country as part of Kennedy's push to bring the country back to physical fitness.

Hansen also graduated from high school in 1963. Also 50 years.

His walk was done to raise money for the local nonprofit organization Help Every Little Paw, which is dedicated to the health and happiness of pets. It rescues abandoned, stray and neglected pets, providing medical attention, food, social rehabilitation, and has a spay and neuter program.

Donation information: Helpeverylittlepaw.org.