A man gets his hair in Temecula, California, in late May 2020. | Francine Orr/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

What the 1968 feminist protest against Miss America and quarantine-breaking haircuts have in common.

Humans traversing great distances to accomplish something is an activity that fascinates other humans, and Americans especially.

People run 26.2 miles in races all around the world because of an ancient Greek legend of a runner who ran from Marathon to Athens. Many American adults of a certain age get nostalgic for a childhood video game that simulates the 2,100-mile trek from the Midwest to glorious Oregon. We sing along to a legendary song about a man walking 500 miles and, if need be, 500 more. And there are countless novels and memoirs about traversing the country — on the road or along the wild Pacific Coast Trail — and