Northwest can do it in seven hours

Over the weekend I read "The Essential Lewis and Clark," a book-length compilation of excerpts from that duo's journals. Incredible. If it were fiction it would be unbelievable because the determination of every member of this thirty-odd man expedition was superhuman. If the grizzly bear was still charging with five lead balls in its lungs, they shot a sixth! If there was no food, they hung on till there was! If the wind wasn't strong enough to move the boats up the Missouri, they got out and bloody well pushed! These guys contended with more hardship every day than I'll face for my entire life. And yet it's notable that no one in the expedition died of starvation, exposure, trauma, Indian attacks, or being eaten by wildlife. One guy randomly died of disease practically before St. Louis was past the horizon. That's it. Everyone else lived. They vomited up their stomachs because of unfamiliar roots the Nez Perce gave them, they came within a hairsbreadth of drowning when an unexpected rain poured torrentially into the gully where they took shelter, they spent a winter practically unprotected from the elements on the north Pacific coast -- but they lived. They lived, they all worked together for over two years under the worst possible conditions, they did it largely without sacrificing their integrity -- and they found a water route through North America, not that it ever got much use afterwards. Strongly recommended for anyone who wants to know what a journey across the country used to be like two hundred years ago, or for that matter anyone who likes whopping good adventure yarns.

After reading the story of their journey, it's hard not to regard myself as pretty damn lucky in the resources I have on the journey I'm about to undertake. I won't have to push my boat; there are railroad tracks and an interstate system that connect the coasts. I won't have to eat my horse or dog; there are grocery stores every few miles, and trains have a dining car. And if I think talking to strangers is scary, at least they speak my language and I can be pretty sure they're not going to rob or scalp me. Lewis and Clark set an impossible example for a weak modern human like me to follow, but I can look to them for inspiration anyway and take a few lessons. Come prepared. Treat those you meet kindly. And if a grizzly bear attacks you, run into the nearest river.