Umatilla finally within my reach (and the way forward)

I'll be leaving Boardman tomorrow morning, armed with painkillers, and marching to the town of Irrigon, a distance of about 12 miles. From there, Umatilla is less than ten miles away, so I'm hoping to stay only a single night in Irrigon.

[Note to Amanda and family: this means I'll be arriving in Umatilla this coming Thursday, probably mid- to late afternoon. Is that OK? If you prefer another weekday, that's fine with me; there are several motel and camping options in the area, including Hermiston, so I can hang back if you need me to.]

After Umatilla, my next stop will be Hat Rock State Park, which will mark my final stop in the great state of Oregon; after Hat Rock, I follow Route 730 north back into Washington, then turn east to Route 12 at Wallula Junction, and follow 12 past Touchet to Walla Walla.

I'm not sure where my next stopping point will be immediately after Hat Rock; I see nothing on any of the maps I have that lies within a 20-mile range of the state park, so I may have to play it by ear. My manager tells me there's an RV park/campground about eight miles west of Touchet on Route 12 (somewhere close to the town of Reese, I imagine; the campground's not shown on my map); I won't be able to reach it immediately, but will definitely be there the second day.

So my itinerary looks this way:

1. Boardman to Irrigon (motel)
2. Irrigon to Umatilla (CouchSurfing)
3. Umatilla to Hat Rock State Park (camping)
4. Hat Rock to unknown point in Washington (Route 730; possibly illegal camping)
5. Unknown point to campground at or near Reese, WA (camping)
6. Campground to Touchet (likely a motel)
7. Touchet to Walla Walla (CouchSurfing)

After Walla Walla, it's a matter of following Route 12 to Lewiston, Idaho and beyond. Route 12 will, in fact, be my companion for the next 400 miles; it's about 125 miles along 12 from Walla Walla to Lewiston, and around 275 miles (give or take) from Lewiston to Missoula, where I hope to hit the University of Montana in full academic swing (I imagine the semester's already under way). My father will be my guardian angel during the Lewiston-Missoula leg of the trek; he'll be helping me get through the narrow part of the Rockies.

I hope that answers questions for those who've been wanting to know what my path ahead is going to be. Beyond Missoula, I'm not sure yet how things will go, but the path through the Rockies is essentially a 275-mile sprint, just to get me through that distance. With Dad in the chase car, I'll have supplies and a place to stash most of my gear so I can travel light and make better progress than I have thus far.

So by the time I hit Missoula, I'll have logged approximately 280 + 164 + 400 = 844 miles. Let's just round that down to "over 800 miles," pending more precise calculations. And that, in turn, would seem to put me almost a fourth of the way across the country, though I won't really know if that's true until I know exactly how far I'll have walked.


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