I am planning on walking to Eugene.
Over the years (and this took decades), I have walked everywhere between Vancouver, Washington, and Corvallis, Oregon. The other day, I realized that there was no reason I couldn't extend that range to Eugene, Oregon, 40 miles to the south of me. Well, there are lots of reasons I shouldn't, but all of them can be overcome.
Over the last two weekends, I accomplished 12 miles of that walk, by bicycling southwards and then walking (with my bicycle) northwards. This is pretty good progress...for December. I haven't figured out the logistics of the rest of the route. Obviously, certain things are also dependent on the state of the pandemic.
There are certain things that I only know when I see them on foot. Even a bicycle passes by things too quickly. There is a feel for the land that I get from long, sometimes boring treks along roadsides.
Also, at times, from a naturalist point of view, it is kind of boring. Especially in winter. A lot of invasive weeds and plants that grow on disturbed ground. Birds can still be interesting. Some of the walk might occur in the spring when things are waking up again.
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You amaze me. I would be tempted to post a journal article if I were contemplating a walk to the university (from within Corvallis).
It is really easy to get used to walking in some circumstances...with comfortable shoes, good temperature, good hydration, and most importantly, safe conditions. If I am on a walking path where I don't have to worry about cars, 12 miles is not that far. A couple of times I have finished 12 mile walks and realized that I took about as much time to do that as the time I could spend hitting "refresh" on 5 internet sites. It is odd I can have an epic adventure in the same time as I could sit at home being bored.
Impressive.
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