Decatur marchers make their way to D.C. protest

January 21, 2017 Washington D.C. - A group from Decatur, from left, Kay Hinton and Lynn Adams, and Katie Adams, 18, walk toward the U.S. Capitol for the Women’€™s March on Washington on Saturday, January 21, 2017. They rode a bus overnight to participate this event. The Women’€™s March on Washington is a grassroots effort comprised of dozens of independent coordinators at the state level. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

January 21, 2017 Washington D.C. - A group from Decatur, from left, Kay Hinton and Lynn Adams, and Katie Adams, 18, walk toward the U.S. Capitol for the Women’€™s March on Washington on Saturday, January 21, 2017. They rode a bus overnight to participate this event. The Women’€™s March on Washington is a grassroots effort comprised of dozens of independent coordinators at the state level. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

To get to the Women’s March on Washington, many first had to march on the city’s sidewalks.

Pink knitted hats marked many in the lines of women and men who stretched for blocks Saturday morning, walking toward the National Mall to participate in the demonstration to raise concerns about the effect the new Trump administration could have on issues such as health care, education and LGBTQ rights.

Many of the marchers arrived on about 1,200 buses that were parked at Washington’s RFK Stadium.

They included a group of 52 who left Decatur on Friday evening and got to Washington sometime after 6 a.m., delayed by heavy traffic on the way into the nation’s capital. The group included women and men, as well as high school students. Some drove up from Columbus earlier Friday to catch the ride for the protest, which was expected to draw a crowd of 200,000 to the nation’s capital.

January 21, 2017 Washington D.C. - Katie Adams (left), 18, and Emmie Poth-Nebel, 17, of Decatur, walk toward the U.S. Capitol for the Women’s March on Washington on Saturday, January 21, 2017. They rode a bus overnight to participate this event. The Women’s March on Washington is a grassroots effort comprised of dozens of independent coordinators at the state level. HYOSUB SHIN / HSHIN@AJC.COM

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

icon to expand image

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

As they walked toward the National Mall, many of the marchers carried signs such as “Ethics matter! says this CPA,” “Winter is coming” and “Georgia’s nasty grandmas Donald warned you about.”

Concerns about safety required that marchers’ backpacks be clear, and cameras had to be held by hand and not attached to poles.