Circle the Wagons!

While Jay and Ryan both packed it up and headed home, the rest of us pushed on up the Kaner Flats trail and eventually made our way back to the highway without incident. On October 8th, 1853, James Longmire’s train made it to what passed for civilization in the Puget Sound at the time, having left Missouri on May 10th of the same year. Some of the men of the Longmire party journeyed to Olympia, the city that was to become the capitol of Washington when it became a state in 1889, where many had heard about his groundbreaking effort. After months on the trail, their appearance was in stark contrast to their hosts. Of this meeting, Longmire says:

“But our new friends were equal to the emergency and our embarrassment was soon dispelled by copious draughts of “good old bourbon,” to which we did full justice, while answering questions amidst introductions and hearty handshaking.”

To stand in the same spots, face some of the same challenges, and even camp within sight of where people like the Longmires made history, is the only way to really get a grasp for how amazing their accomplishment was. I know I was continually thinking about the ways our trip was laughably easy in comparison, and what it would have been like 154 years ago, or even 54 years ago when the trail was reopened to Jeeps. I highly recommend seeking out these kinds of experiences whenever and wherever possible.

The fact that a lot of it can be done driving a Jeep is just icing on the cake.

Related – Overlanding the French Alps

* Published by JPFreek Adventure Magazine – The leader in Jeep and adventure enthusiast publications.