My dad has offered to help me speed up the walk by being my chase car driver. This will allow me to walk relatively unencumbered and to save money on hotels by giving me a chance to collapse in the minivan. I'll be able to rack up 25-30 miles per day with little trouble, and might even make it through the Rockies before the snow descends too low (though that's something of a gamble this late in the game).
I'll be putting my head together with Dad and Alan Cook about a possible route through the Rockies; as always, readers are invited to click on the "How Can I Help?" link on the sidebar to see how they can contribute time, effort, and/or finances to this walk. Route ideas should go to Kevin's Walk Central:
kevinswalkcentral [at] gmail [dot] com
Thanks, Dad!
And, hey, if you'd like to be a chase car driver for a day or a week or longer, please tell us!
PS: Note to Becky: this turn of events may change things re: my stay in Walla Walla. Please don't try too hard to find me a place to work/stay; whoever I end up with will have to be patient and rather flexible. Much depends on whatever route is planned through the Rockies, and the timetable for that route.
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Marathon
11 years ago
3 comments:
I'm very curious about the hundreds of circular farm fields you're aprroaching near Boardman. Why are they circular?
I'll answer that for you!
The fields are circular (which you're probably seeing in satellite photos) because that's how they're irrigated.
The irrigation systems have a central post and then a single long arm that extends out from the center, like a second hand on a watch. And, just like that, the arm sweeps around the field- only a lot slower than one revolution per minute.
It's called "center pivot irrigation" and there's a pretty good article about it here on Wikipedia.
And that's why fields are circular.
The reason that this type of irrigation is used is that you don't have to have perfectly flat terrain. It still needs to be pretty smooth, but not super-flat.
And Kevin, for you- on your walk, as much as you might be tempted, you should probably not drink the irrigation water. It's not filtered and usually/often runs in separate systems than municipal water systems. While it usually won't be any more or less unhealthy than typical surface water, better to play it safe.
For that matter, you shouldn't drink the water straight from the Columbia or other rivers, either; you should filter it with a good filter or purifier. A single case of giardia will illustrate why, may you never ever ever get that nasty little bug.
It's funny, the more I think about the logistics of walking across America, the more I think it's like a backpacking or hiking trip into the woods.
Hey, thanks for the note. I've been away from Bloglines for a few days and just read your PS to me.
Keep me posted...whenever you do manage to get into Walla Walla, let me know because I've got someone who'd love to talk to you. Several someones, actually, it's just a matter of them being in town.
We can work on a place to stay once the time arrives. Keep me posted.
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