the march to Umatilla

I spent $60 (Oregon has no sales tax, by the way-- just like Delaware!) on three book-sized state atlases because I'm sick of not knowing what lies ahead. If I had a laptop with Google Earth installed, this wouldn't be much of an issue, but because all I have is a BlackBerry, it's fiendishly hard to do anything map-related. Scrolling across a map's surface takes forever on the handheld, which draws and redraws the changing map imagery at a snail's pace, making simple tasks-- ones that should last only seconds-- take many long minutes. What do you do when you want instant random access to a wide-angle, bird's-eye view of the land, but don't want to shell out for a (heavy) laptop and WiFi? Gotta buy the big maps, mofo.

Since the beginning of this walk, I've balked at buying these atlases, but have finally come to realize that they represent an important investment. Staring at the relevant section of the map of Oregon has been a relief; I almost feel as if something has come unblocked. I know I'll be hurting tomorrow when I wrestle these heavy monsters into my backpack, but what choice do I really have? (By the way, the three atlases together occupy about the same volume as a laptop. Good thing they don't come with a padded carrying case.)

So, armed with atlases and Google Maps for BlackBerry, I've found it much easier to plot my upcoming route. Here's how it's going to look for the march to Umatilla:

8/13: 8-mile walk to a public campground just east of the town of Rufus, just before the John Day Dam.

8/14: Approx. 26-mile walk to a campground in Arlington. I predict I'll be tired and achy enough to need to stay there for two nights. So...

8/16: Approx. 20-mile walk (Exit 137 to Mile 157) to a campground in Castle.

8/17: Approx. 13-mile walk to Clarke, a walk that finally takes me off I-84 and onto Route 730 (which I hope will be walkable; my speed drops drastically when I'm wasting time dodging traffic).

8/18: Approx. 12-mile walk to Umatilla, where I'll be Couchsurfing (thanks, Amanda!).

I'll be heading toward Walla Walla and then Lewiston not long after that, and at some point after Lewiston I hope to have my dad's assistance as a chase car driver as we strive to get me through the Rockies at a far faster pace than I've managed thus far. I'm looking forward to September and the resurrection of college campuses; I fervently hope to stop at many such places to talk with students, profs, and interested locals. I've got this romantic picture in my head of engaging in animated nighttime exchanges about religion while sitting at an enormous trestle table in some pub, a tankard of mead in my hand, candles on the windowsills... and then I remember that I don't drink alcohol. Ah, well.


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