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Maps and distances

Posted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 8:31 am
by East Side Hiker
This is just for interest, and I certainly don't recommend it for modern wilderness adventurers. I just finished reading a book about Robert Stuart, who led 6 people from Astoria (mouth of the Columbia River) to St. Louis in 1812-1813. Most of the journey was on foot, and without "much" knowledge of their route (no maps) and constantly evading Native Americans. Someone named Hunt, working for the same trading company, had actually done a different route east to west previously. This west to east route eventually became the Oregon Trail (Stuart's group were the first people to cross the Rockies over South Pass).

We frequently talk about the weight of our loads, maps, x-country traveling, and etc. on this Board. I'm not encouraging any one to be a "Robert Stuart", I'm just illustrating what people can do.

They carried beaver traps, dried food (whatever they killed the day or two before), guns, ammo, and powder, buffalo hides, etc., everything they needed to survive in the "unknown" wilderness.

Get this, these guys walked, carrying all this weird stuff, day by day, many months through snow, between 25 to 35 miles every day (historians have verified this). And they didn't have their heads looking at the ground. Stuart kept a journal, describing every creek and river (and its width) and mountain they passed. They hunted and kept their eyes out for danger. It's amazing what we can do.

Re: Maps and distances

Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 12:01 pm
by richlong8
I think the conditioning of our ancestors was truly amazing. On the downside, they tended to die a lot younger! If it was not for modern medicine and technology, our lifespans would probably be shorter due to our sedentary lifestyles. That is the great thing about backpacking the High Sierra. 20 nights a year backpacking sure helps me to stay in shape.

Re: Maps and distances

Posted: Tue Dec 11, 2012 4:07 pm
by balzaccom
Read the logs of the Lewis and Clark expedition. They not only traveled this same general route, they also dragged boats over the Rockies so that they could float down the undammed Snake and Columbia---which didn't work all that well, as you can imagine.

They ate between eight and sixteen pounds of buffalo meat per day per man, and lost lots of weight. Sometimes they covered only a single mile. And their experiences with mosquitoes and grizzlies make our adventures seem like a walk in the park.

Amazing reading.

Re: Maps and distances

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 9:57 am
by Scouter9
What's weird is that I have no idea how these primitives recharged their iPhones. Heck, did AT&T even have decent coverage? :whistle:

Re: Maps and distances

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 10:38 am
by SweetSierra
What Balzaccomm says. I've read Undaunted Courage (on the Lewis and Clark journey) a couple of times. They nearly starved crossing the Bitteroot range with an aged Indian guide (this after reaching the crest of the Rockies and facing the crossing of another mountain range they had not anticipated) The guide became disoriented and lost the route. It took them another two days or so to cross the range with virtually no food and in the bitter cold. They ate their shoe leather.

Re: Maps and distances

Posted: Wed Dec 12, 2012 3:37 pm
by FeetFirst
SweetSierra wrote:They ate their shoe leather.
Which is now called Mountain House beef stroganoff. :puke:

Re: Maps and distances

Posted: Thu Dec 13, 2012 10:53 am
by SweetSierra
FeetFirst wrote:
SweetSierra wrote:They ate their shoe leather.
Which is now called Mountain House beef stroganoff. :puke:
:lol: