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Outside Traveler 2004
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Bicentennial Blowouts

Millions of Americans are expected to hit the Lewis and Clark Trail from Missouri to Oregon in the next two years. The National Council of the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial (www.lewisandclark200.org) is coordinating events, and each state has its own array of festivities. Here are some of the best events and activities to help you reblaze the trail.

Anytime: Take a copy of Lewis and Clark's journals and a map and go in search of the collapsible canoe they buried, and allegedly never retrieved, somewhere near the city of Great Falls, Montana. Or grab your GPS unit, log on to www.geocaching.com, and treasure-hunt along their trail with the aid of 21st-century technology. At last visit, the Web site listed a cache at Fort Mandan, North Dakota, containing a copy of the journals and Lewis and Clark souvenirs.

June 19–23: Catch first sight of the Pacific from the same perspective Lewis and Clark had on Paddle Columbia: The Lewis and Clark Voyage, a 90-mile trip on Oregon's Willamette and lower Columbia rivers. River Discovery (503-890-1683, www.riverdiscovery.org), a nonprofit dedicated to hands-on education about river history and ecology, will organize some 100 canoes and kayaks to re-create the last stretch of Lewis and Clark's journey west. The five-day trip costs $595 per person, including interpretive speakers, history lessons, all meals, and shuttles for your luggage. Rent a canoe or kayak for $125.

June 26–28 and July 4–5: In 1804, Lewis and Clark celebrated their first Independence Day west of the Mississippi with an extra ration of whiskey, a corn dinner, and celebratory gunfire. Kansas City will bump the party up a notch: Festivities planned by the Convention and Visitor's Bureau of Greater Kansas City (800-264-1563, www.journey4th.org) include an air show, Native American dance, historical reenactments, and fireworks over the Missouri.

June 12–July 30: For hardcore fans who think doing only segments of the trail is for wimps, there's Timberline Adventures' (303-368-4418, www.timbertours.com) Lewis and Clark Odyssey, a 3,300-mile bike trip from Wood River, Illinois, to Astoria, Oregon. For 48 days (and $9,000) you'll be part of a bike posse drafting inn-to-inn behind Airstreams across America.

August–October: Immerse yourself in Sioux cultures and traditions at the Oceti-Sakowin Experience, throughout South Dakota. The nine tribes of the South Dakota Sioux (605-245-2265, www.attatribal.com), descendants of some of the people who saved Lewis's and Clark's skins countless times (and on occasion challenged them), will hold historic reenactments, storytelling sessions, musical performances, and an art auction.

September 14–19: Hike the Bitterroot Mountains, on the Idaho-Montana state line, described in September 1805 by a member of the Corps of Discovery as those "most terrible mountains." Led by Lewis and Clark Trail Adventures (800-366-6246, www.trailadventures.com), you'll use topo maps and compasses to navigate a path near the old Lolo Trail through pine forests and huckleberry bushes. The Corps was forced to eat candles and melt snow for water. For $1,125, you'll undoubtedly fare better, but keep some extra candles on hand just in case.
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