It is interesting no one has suggested River Horse by William Least Heat-Moon. (it felt like 2,000,000 pgs. ) And I agree, it is not worth the read. It felt like I was dragging that C-Dory up the Missouri right along with him. Overall, the tone and outlook was very negative, his second divorce bearing too much influence on the tone throughout.
Though I admire him for carrying out a transcontinental crossing in boats and enjoyed his description here and there of events (the loose barges at night on the Missouri, the sounds of the lock doors opening on the Columbia), I've spent a lot of time on the Snake and Columbia rivers, during the time he traveled them and since, and his experience has not been even close to mine. He complained overall of a lack of wildlife on his entire trip except for on the Salmon River. How he missed the mountain sheep, the chukar partridge, the multitude of yodeling coyotes, the mule deer, herons and the turns all along the Snake and eastern Columbia is baffling. I'd suggest next time he spend more time on the river and less time searching out the pubs. He complained bitterly about jet boats, but grudgingly admitted, he couldn't have made large portions of the trip without them. (Like the rafters I met on the Snake, all whining until one of them broke her ribs in the white water.... so who did they turn to to get her down to the hospital in Lewiston, ID ? Our jetboat. ) He derided cattle ranching, logging and energy production.... and repeated several times how energy could be created through other means.... but conveniently didn't actually spell out any alternatives. He mentioned some sign about Washington being the "clearcut State" instead of The Evergreen State ... but really, very few forests anywhere near the Columbia or Snake are clearcut, and it is solid trees from Longview to the Pacific, some 80+ miles.
And yes, of all of the little towns he described, he hated where I live the most saying Kalama was a "gritty little town" and the food so bad they'd rather hang themselves by the neck than spend one more day here....(pg. 492) ouch! Again, maybe he never got out of the bar in the restaurant (which has since changed owners & menus), but there are some great people and places he could not or was not willing to appreciate. Knowing his description of the Eerie Canal and Ohio River were also incredibly negatively slanted I bet they are likewise inaccurate.
Overall, way too long, too negative, not enough about the boating aspect of the trip (more emphasis on odd back country waitresses) and way too tiresome. That's my review and I'm sticking to it. C.W.
