[5] The Coliseum still served as the starting point of the march on that date, but the send-off ceremonies were moved a few miles down the road to City Hall, where Mayor Tom Bradley and numerous Hollywood actors wished the marchers well and Melissa Manchester, Holly Near, and Mr. Mister performed on a temporary stage.
[9] With logistical problems cropping up and uncertainty as to whether they would even be allowed to cross the Cajon Pass out of San Bernardino, over 200 participants dropped out of the march in the first two days, before it had even left the Los Angeles suburbs.
However, the college refused to host the rally without liability insurance, while cold and heavy rains incapacitated several marchers[12] and made further progress impossible.
[17][18] The roughly 500 participants that remained then walked 10 miles to a BMX track on the north side of Barstow, which already had its own liability insurance, ensuring that the marchers would not have to pay that cost themselves.
[27] The arrival in Las Vegas Valley coincided with a $25,000 donation to the march from Paul Newman, a substantial boost for an organization that was spending $3,000 a day.
[26] Marchers walked down the Las Vegas Strip on April 12,[28] then spent the night staying at people's homes on the northeast side of the city before resuming their journey across the desert.
[34] The Utah Department of Transportation warned marchers against trying to cross the unpopulated San Rafael Desert on foot, due to the lack of facilities, the absence of shoulders along the road, and the potential risks of contracting hoof-and-mouth disease and giardia.
[46] Along the way into Denver, marchers met with Colorado lieutenant governor Nancy E. Dick and congresswoman Pat Schroeder, and stayed at Red Rocks Amphitheatre with folk singer Pete Seeger, who performed for the group.
[48] A rally at the Colorado State Capitol was joined by thousands of local residents, with another performance by Holly Near, and mayor Federico Peña praised the undertaking.
[51] In Nebraska, marchers were met with a severe heatwave, and some suffered sunburns and risked heat stroke, unused to the humid conditions after three months in the arid West.
[27] Having caught back up with their planned itinerary, the marchers were able to honor their previous commitment to spend the Independence Day holiday in the Omaha area working with local peace groups.
Having lost their Omaha campsite, the marchers crossed into Iowa two days early and spent the holiday at Lake Manawa State Park in Council Bluffs.
[57] Pete Seeger joined the marchers again at nearby Lake Anita State Park, marking the march's 2,000th mile traveled from Los Angeles.
[58] A rally at the Iowa Statehouse in Des Moines was joined by gubernatorial candidate Lowell Junkins and secretary of state Mary Jane Odell.
[61] Marchers commemorated the 41st anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima on August 6 by freezing in place in Dixon, Illinois, the hometown of then-president Ronald Reagan.
[71]: 126 Roughly half of the marchers detoured from the official route in Aurora to visit Kent State University, site of the infamous 1970 fatal shootings of peace protesters.
[74] Marchers met with Mitch Snyder and Philip Berrigan in Fort Loudon, and attended a Ralph Nader rally for Bob Edgar in Shippensburg.
[77] The march visited Philadelphia on November 2 and 3, on the eve of the midterm elections, and were met by mayor Wilson Goode, Maggie Kuhn, and Graham Nash.
The march culminated with rallies in the capital on November 15, in Lafayette Square across from the White House (although President Reagan was at Camp David at the time) and finishing at the Lincoln Memorial.
[78] Harkin offered the marchers a letter of congratulations signed by 13 other senators, including Ted Kennedy and future presidential candidate John Kerry.
[79] A final unofficial protest action was held that same day, with participants blocking doors to the James V. Forrestal Building, headquarters of the United States Department of Energy overseeing the nation's nuclear weapons program.
Wherever the bulk of the marchers were unable to continue the journey on foot due to safety concerns, a smaller group of "Spirit Walkers" stayed behind to walk along an alternative route and complete the symbolic link, eventually catching back up with the larger march.
Writer Connie Fledderjohann, who had participated in the march, retraced its route and interviewed supporters and local residents throughout 1987 to assess the impact it had on the communities through which it passed.
[180] While the march's central objective of total worldwide nuclear disarmament has not been achieved, some of its smaller protest targets have disappeared or have been significantly reduced in the decades since.
[181] The Great Peace March was followed shortly after by the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, removing the impetus for the nuclear arms race.
[184] The Great Peace March has been the subject of several books written by marchers and supporters (see the "Resources" section below), as well as a documentary film, Just One Step, directed by Cathy Zheutlin.