End of the Trail

We travelled close to 4,000 miles from St. Louis to Astoria, OR following the trail set by Lewis & Clark in 1805. We managed the trek in 47 days as opposed to their 18 months of travel. However, we didn't need to build a fort to spend a winter. We didn't have to cordelle boats against the current of the river. We only needed to hunt for restaurants or grocery stores to feed our group. We didn't need to find Shoshone Indians to barter for horses, and we didn't need to traverse the Bitterroot mountains by foot, stepping over downed trees, around boulders and wading through snow. Even though our trip was far shorter than that they experienced, we had similar feelings of joy as we reached the end of the trail.

When we visited the Anheuser-Busch facility in St. Louis we were all given a bottle of beer at the end of the tour. As a group we decided to carry that bottle across the country and enjoy it at the "end of the road". One of the members of our tour suggested drinking the beer at Cape Disappointment as we were disappointed that the beer we received was only a Bud Light...so, that's what we did! My bottle of beer is perched on the monument at the Cape Disappointment Visitor's Center.

Before the Corps of Discovery reached the end of the trail, they had to stop at a "dismal nitch" where they were trapped by the weather on a rock outcropping above the waves. They were soaked to the skin. A storm raged, and they had no food. Once the storm broke they continued on their way. 

The expedition hoped a ship would be in the area that could take them back to the eastern, US, but any that were there had left the area. Winter was once again approaching, so the group built another fort, Fort Clatsop. It was similar in construction and design to Fort Mandan. 

Winter was bleak at Ft. Clatsop. From November to March there were only 12 days without rain!

Lewis & Clark traveled to what is now "Seaside, OR" while looking for whales. A bronze statue now commemorates the team.