I’m printing this entire thread off - thanks so much. I knew the FReepers would know. I have Ambrose’s L/C but it’s teeny/ on my phone. I bet the real diaries are amazing. With dates when they were there. I love our history.
We were in the UK once, in the Lake District. At breakfast. Our son ordered ‘eggs over easy’ and the Brits at the next table asked what that was. We started talking. The woman said, “Oh, California! Your history is ‘wagon ruts.’” She was so snotty. We still laugh about her. “Yeh, you guys chopped people in quarters bc they were Catholic.” haha. The retorts make themselves.
I started with Ambrose and then read the diaries, which are fascinating. I want to do your trip but following their path from east to west. I wouldn’t want to miss Floyd’s Bluff, to honor the (incredibly) single fatality of the expedition. For me it will be about history, not sightseeing.