Monday, July 5, 2010

Why?

Why?  Why am I doing this?  Why walk from Corvallis to Portland?

• Because I like to walk.  Because when I walk I see things that I don’t see if I go faster.  Because it was a puzzle to solve:  How do I get to Portland by foot?   Where can I stay en route?   Is it possible? 
• Because we have so constructed our lives and the world that a simple walk seems impossible.  We have forgotten that foot travel is our natural mode of transport.  As a nation, we drive everywhere.  I wanted to explore what it would be like to walk.
• Because I am deeply disturbed by the oil spill and I want to explore spending time car free, tire free, petroleum free.  I know we will still be dependent upon petroleum in many ways.  But in one very profound way we are going to cut ourselves free, for 9 days, we are going to walk.  
• And because Lily and I were sitting in one of our favorite coffee shops talking about what Body Habitat was going to do this summer and one of us said "we should walk from Corvallis to Portland" and the other one said yes.

Here’s the route:
Corvallis to Adair Village (9.7 miles)
Adair Village to Monmouth (13.4 miles)
Monmouth to Salem (17 miles)
Salem to E.Z. Orchard (5.4 miles)
E.Z. Orchard to Mt. Angel (10.7 miles)
Mt. Angel to St Josef Winery (11.6 miles)
St Josef Winery to Canby (5.9 miles)
Canby to Lake Oswego (12.5 miles)
Lake Oswego to SE Portland (10 miles)

Total mileage 94.5 miles in 9 days