Complet - Fini - Done

Cali and I walked every street in Corvallis in 90 walks. You can read more below.

The Numbers

In 90 walks, Cali and I completed our project to walk every street in Corvallis.

We walked about 262 total miles and covered about 189 miles of Corvallis streets.

Here's our summary data:

For most walks, we drove to a starting/ending point. That's why this project required almost 450 miles of driving. We tried to be as efficient as possible, but cul-de-sacs and other retracings forced us to walk quite a few (about 73) extra miles to cover everything.

Here are some other interesting numbers.

Zero

• The number of socks that either Cali or I wore on these walks

• The number of injuries on this project - great to stay healthy!

• Zero is also the number of rude or mean or difficult people we met during this project. Some of the people we met were indifferent, but most of them were friendly and welcoming and sometimes curious about why we were doing what we were doing.

One

• The number of pairs of footwear that I wore. Cudos to my favorite Clarks' sandals: 

• One is also the number of difficult dogs that we met. All in all, pet owners in Corvallis have dogs that behave very well. We only had one instance of an aggressive dog that bit Cali, and that resulted when an owner (near home) did not have their dog on a leash. In 90 walks, we probably met more than 200 well-manered dogs. This was not a problem.

Two

• The minimum number of goofy looks from Cali on any given walk. Cali loved this project and was an awesome companion.

Five

• The minimum number of things that Cali liked best about this project. They include smelling everything, cats, chickens, sticks, and people (especially Matt). Cali has a great sense about who is a "dog person" and whom to avoid.

17:01

• Average time per mile that we walked

47:54

• Average walk time

50

• Number of bird species we saw

74:14:41

• Total walk time - 74 hours, 14 minutes, 41 seconds
• That's more than three full 24 hour days.

297

• Average number of calories I burned on each walk (two beers)

570

• Average ascent/decent (feet) per walk

27,638

• Total calories that I burned (178 beers)

53,000

• Approximate total ascent/decent (feet) -  about 10 miles

496,300

• Approximate number of steps that I took on this project

1,590,000

• Approximate number of steps that Cali took on this project:

Three Views of Our Project

Here are three views of our "Walking Corvallis" project.

The first is a view of how Cali recovers from each walk after finishing my Yoplait.

The second view is a "movie" of all 90 walks. Click it if you need a seriously boring view of a little dot tracing our entire project.

All 90 Walks at EveryTrail


The third view is the final map of our walks. Green ones are just Cali and me. Martha joined us on the red ones. Matt walked with us on the blue ones. All four of us walked on the single purple one.

Walk #90

With a 5.55 mile walk in the fog, we completed our project to walk all of the streets of Corvallis!! This morning's walk was one of my favorites, and I had been saving it for the end. We walked on Campus Way west through OSU (pinned photos) then through the covered bridge (pinned photo), past the llamas (pinned photo), to the fairgrounds and then north on 53rd and home (another pinned photo).

Walk #90 at EveryTrail

Walks #88 & #89

We finished the SW section of Corvallis in the fog this morning. On the way home, we stopped and completed the western section of Harrison Blvd. that we hadn't yet walked.

Walk #88 at EveryTrail


In the midday sun (70F), we did "a walk" that was really three pieces of the Corvallis map that we hadn't yet done. That means we're almost done with this project!

Walk #89 at EveryTrail

Walk #87

We continued to walk in SW Corvallis this morning. With the morning dew, we're now seeing spider webs on the wires (pinned photo) rather than the shoes we saw near student housing.

Walk #87 at EveryTrail

Walk #86

Although it was foggy again this morning, the temperature was a bit warmer than it has been recently (47F). That made things look very interesting with dew highlighting spider webs. It was nice to be able to see them and avoid running into them as has usually happened during this project.

Walk #86 at EveryTrail

Walk #85

Things started out sunny this morning but quickly flipped to fogginess. We needed to be extra careful due to the fog and the busy streets we walked this morning.

Walk #85 at EveryTrail

Walk #84

It was 39F and foggy when we started our walk this morning, but the fog burned off. We finished in bright sunshine.

Walk #84 at EveryTrail

Walk #83

While yesterday was clear and crisp, this morning was crisp (42F) but dense with fog. We finished one of the sections of SW Corvallis. The leaves have started to fall, so we're needing extra care to avoid sliding.

Walk #83 at EveryTrail

Walk #82

Cali and I got started on walking the streets in SW Corvallis today with a walk of more than four miles. SW Corvallis is quite spread out with smaller pockets of homes connected by longer stretches of bigger roads. This will be an interesting challenge.

Walk #82 at EveryTrail

Walks #80 & #81

With two walks today, we completed the very spread out NE section of Corvallis. It was crisp and clear again this morning. At midday, we again enjoyed sunshine with a little breeze. We'll now concentrate on the SW section of Corvallis as we complete our big project.

Walk #80 at EveryTrail


Walk #81 at EveryTrail

Walk #79

This morning's walk was crisp and sunny (44F). We took a break yesterday (Sunday) after walking about 35 miles in the previous seven days. Cali was ready to go again today.

Walk #79 at EveryTrail

Walk #78

On a cool and cloudy morning, we got started walking in the NE section of Corvallis.

Walk #78 at EveryTrail

Walk #77

With a four mile walk this morning, Cali and I completed the streets in South Corvallis! That feels good.

Walk #77 at EveryTrail

Walk #76

Cali had a lot of fun seeing ducks and chickens AND cats this morning (pinned photos on the map). We extended our walk further than planned to try to make it possible to complete this section of town tomorrow.

Walk #76 at EveryTrail

Walks #74 & #75

Skies cleared overnight, and the wind picked up. Although the temperature was about 43F, it felt more like 36F with the wind. I wore sweats for the first time on this project. But I still wore sandals!

Walk #74 at EveryTrail


On our warm and sunny walk in south Corvallis this afternoon, Cali found some ducks (pinned photo). We're more than halfway through the SE Corvallis section of town.

Walk #75 at EveryTrail

Walk #73

The way the streets are laid out in SE Corvallis is requiring a different mapping strategy than for much of central and northwest Corvallis. It also requires repeated crossing of busy South 3rd St. Fortunately, there are enough new pedestrian crossing signals to make it manageable.

Walk #73 at EveryTrail

Walks #71 and #72

Overnight rain kept things warmer (55F) and without fog for our walk this morning. We finished downtown Corvallis and got started on SE Corvallis. The pinned photo shows a "free poem of the month" box in front of someone's house.

Walk #71 at EveryTrail


We went out again this afternoon in mostly sunshine but breezy. We covered the section that is at the far southern end of Corvallis. It's mostly a new development with a lot of little stub streets.

Walk #72 at EveryTrail

Progress After 70 Walks

Cali and I have now completed 70 walks on this project.

Here is how the map looked after 40 walks:

Here is how it looks now after 70 walks:

We have covered a total of 189.25 miles for an average of 2.70 miles per walk. Our average walk has taken just over 46 minutes. I've burned more than 20,000 calories. Our average pace has been 17:10 per mile. Our total elevation change has been about 40,500 feet ascending and the same descending.

We've completed essentially everything in Corvallis that has a NW address. We still have the NE section and SE section to cover as well as some scattered areas in SW Corvallis. I now estimate that we'll finish this project in about 20 more walks.

Walk #70

Matt walked with us late this morning (Sunday). We finished the area near Corvallis Country Club on a beautiful, clear day.

Walk #70 at EveryTrail

Walk #69

We're in a pattern now of dry but foggy mornings. It was especially foggy for our walk this morning near the Willamette River in downtown Corvallis.

Walk #69 at EveryTrail

Walk #68

It was another foggy morning for a walk on the main east-west streets in Corvallis. We found a nice welcome!

Walk #68 at EveryTrail

Walk #67

On a very foggy and chilly (39F) morning, we found some shoes on a wire (pinned photo).

Walk #67 at EveryTrail

Walk #66

This morning was foggy and chilly (48F) but dry. We did another longer walk (4.2 miles) and covered some mostly quiet streets in the southernmost part of SW Corvallis.

Walk #66 at EveryTrail

Walks #64 and #65

Our walk this morning was longer than most have been - about 4.75 miles. It was pouring rain for the first mile or so and rained again during our last half mile. But the rest of the walk was mostly dry. There are still quite a few branches on sidewalks (pinned photo) following the weekend storms. We also found another "hotbed" of shoes on wires (three pinned photos in the same housing area near Reser Stadium).

We're starting to walk the streets of SW Corvallis and will probably alternate between those and downtown and SE Corvallis now.

Walk #64 at EveryTrail


With sunshine this afternoon, Cali and I did another walk. Our total today was eight miles!

Walk #65 at EveryTrail

Walk #63

After two days of MBA orientation and then two weekend days of strong storms (and record rainfall), Cali and I dodged squalls today and got back to work on our project. Cali enjoyed the puddles but didn't like all of the chestnuts that had blown down in the storms (pinned photos). She DID enjoy the chickens and bunnies (another pinned photo)!

Walk #63 at EveryTrail

Walks #61 and #62

On a brisk morning (48F), we completed the last of the walks we'll do that involve a lot of hills. Today's walk had 1500 ft of elevation changes in 2.8 miles.

We also saw our 8th Free Little Library (pinned photo on the map). After yesterday's front page feature story in the Corvallis Gazette Times, there will be more of these soon.

Walk #61 at EveryTrail


It was sunny and 58F at the beginning and end of this afternoon's walk. But we got drenched during the middle two-thirds of the walk. Cali loved it!

Walk #62 at EveryTrail

Walks #59 and #60

After a night of heavy rain, this morning's walk was full of puddles for Cali to enjoy. We had a good walk in Skyline West with about 975 ft. of total elevation change in 3.2 miles.

Walk #59 at EveryTrail


With a break between rain showers, we walked again this afternoon and just got a bit wet at the end. We're trying to complete the NW area of Corvallis this week. This afternoon's walk was hilly again - about 1500 ft. of elevation change over 2.9 miles. This was another six mile day!

Walk #60 at EveryTrail

Walk #58

Fall officially arrived this weekend, and we had quite a bit of rain. Streets were wet this morning, and it was only about 55F, but we stayed dry.

Walk #58 at EveryTrail

Walk #57

Between rain showers, Matt and Cali and I walked in an area that we really didn't know much about. It was interesting.

Walk #57 at EveryTrail

Walks #55 and #56

The rain held off this morning and early afternoon, so we walked twice!

Walk #55 at EveryTrail


Walk #56 at EveryTrail

Walks #53 and #54

On a clear and crisp morning, we walked through the neighborhood where we lived when Matt was born. A photo of our house is under one of the map pins. The other pin has a photo of a rooster that could be heard almost everywhere on our 3+ mile walk.

Walk #53 at EveryTrail


With rain predicted for the next few days, and with Cali wanting to get out again, we did another walk this afternoon. It was about 75F and sunny - perfect!

Walk #54 at EveryTrail

Walk #52

This morning's walk was crisp - sunny and about 56F. We covered "necessary" streets today. There was quite a bit of traffic, and the neighborhoods weren't the most fun to be walking through. But Cali did like seeing kids queued up waiting for the school bus.

Walk #52 at EveryTrail

Walk #51

This walk was only about two miles, but we had about 475 total feet of total elevation change with all of the ups and downs and cul de sacs. We went in the afternoon today because of morning meetings. Fortunately, it had rained a bit earlier and was only about 68F.

Walk #51 at EveryTrail

Walk #50

Cali and I walked after church today. It is overcast and cool but still dry. We saw our 7th Free Little Library (photo under the map pin).

Walk #50 at EveryTrail

Walk #49

There was mist in the air this morning. It's quite cool and overcast. Today is supposed to be warm again, but then the weather will change - much cooler and possible rain the next few days.

Walk #49 at EveryTrail

Walk #48

Nice. Cool. Overcast. 62F. Perfect for walking.

In case you're ever lost, check this place under the pin on today's EveryTrail map.

Walk #48 at EveryTrail

Walk #47

Today is overcast and cooler. Cali appreciated that. Our walk wasn't very efficient today, since the area we covered was complicated and included a long "out and back" section of Harrison Blvd. stretching to the edge of the city limits.

We saw another Free Little Library (photo under the pin) - our sixth one!

Walk #47 at EveryTrail

Walk #46

Cali found chickens (photo under the pin) again. We also passed some on yesterday's walk, but Cali didn't see them.

Today will be hot again, so we walked earlier and finished when the temperature was still below 65F.

Walk #46 at EveryTrail

Walk #45

It was definitely warmer for our hilly walk this morning - almost 75F. Today's high temperature in Corvallis will be in the low 90Fs.

Walk #45 at EveryTrail

Walk #44

Warmer weather is returning to Corvallis. It was 68F when we finished our 3+ mile walk in a hilly section of Corvallis today.

Highlights included the fifth Free Little Library we've noticed (check the pins), several deer, two cats, and three wild turkeys (photo under a pin).

Walk #44 at EveryTrail

Walk #43

It was chilly and overcast but dry for this morning's walk. There's a photo of another blue bottle garden sculpture under the pin on the map - this time with orange flamingos!

Walk #43 at EveryTrail

Walk #42

After our walk yesterday, an unusually strong storm hit Corvallis. Cali was terrified by the booming thunder. We repeatedly lost power at home. There were hundreds of lightning strikes. It was spectacular! Almost 3 inches of rain fell on Corvallis. The result was a very wet walk this morning - no rain, but lots of wet plants and plenty of puddles for Cali (see the photo under one of the pins).

Today's path was through neighborhoods with a lot of sunflower gardens (another photo under a pin). The chickadees, nuthatches, and finches are loving those right now.

Today's neighborhoods also have a lot of cats. I've learned to try to cross to the other side of the street when I see one before Cali sees it so that we don't have a typical "cat episode" where I end up dragging Cali along to keep moving. But that didn't work today for Jack the Cat. Jack ran across the street to meet us. Cali actually loved it. Jack and Cali did the little circling dance that dogs do when they meet. Cali wasn't aggressive, and Jack wasn't afraid. So Cali has a new friend.

Finally, we passed the fourth Free Little Library (another pinned photo) that we've noticed in Corvallis.

Walk #42 at EveryTrail

Walk #41

As we move into late summer, the weather for walking keeps getting better. Today was overcast and about 64F with storms forecast later in the day.

Walk #41 at EveryTrail

Progress After 40 Walks

Cali and I have completed 40 walks on this project to walk every street in Corvallis. Here is how the map looked after 16 walks:

Here is how it looks after 40 walks:

And here is the EveryTrail animation version:

40th Walk Progress at EveryTrail


We've now completely filled in a few sections of town. We focussed on the area around the OSU campus in the past month, since that area is about to get very busy with students returning for the new academic year.

During our first 40 walks, we've covered 98.8 miles for an average walk of about 2.5 miles. I've burned almost 11,000 calories. On the parts of our walks that covered new streets (as opposed to walking on previously covered streets to reach the new ones), we've walked 86.5 miles. Of course, some of those miles also retrace some parts of some streets. It's impossible to be completely efficient - especially with all of the cul de sacs in Corvallis.

At this point, my guess is that we're about a third of the way toward our goal.

Walk #40

We finished another section of Corvallis this morning on yet another perfect day for walking. We also found another Corvallis Free Little Library (the third one we've noticed) - check the pin for the photo.

Walk #40 at EveryTrail

Walk #39

This was another longer walk from home to complete a few remaining streets within walking reach of our house. Still, we walked almost three miles to cover 1.4 miles of new streets (many of which were cul de sacs or re-tracings). Some parts of Corvallis just aren't easy to complete efficiently.

We did see a family of wild turkeys in the meadow near home, and we found another Little Free Library. The photos are under the pins on the map.

Walk #39 at EveryTrail

Walk #38

We took a longer walk today and covered about 2.5 miles of new streets as part of a 3.5 mile walk from home and back.

Walk #38 at EveryTrail

Walk #37

Today's dog walk with Cali, Matt & Magic included a bit less than a quarter mile of streets for this project, so I'm calling it Walk #37. The whole walk was almost two miles.

Walk #37 at EveryTrail

Walk #36

Walk #36 at EveryTrail

Walk #35

We've now completed all of the walks we need to do around OSU before students return.

Walk #35 at EveryTrail

Walk #34

Perfect walking weather this morning - 65F and clearing.

Walk #34 at EveryTrail

Walk #33

There's a photo of an interesting garden under the pin in today's walk map.

Walk #33 at EveryTrail

Walk #32

Someone in Corvallis has decided to share books. Check out the pins on the map of today's walk. One of them is a Corvallis Little Library. The other photo is yet another view of shoes hung on wires near campus. Oh, and ignore the ending point on the map. My Walkmeter app had a hiccup this morning.

Walk #32 at EveryTrail

Walk #31

As part of a longer walk with Magic and Matt, Cali and I filled in two remaining little cul de sacs near home.

Walk #31 at EveryTrail

Walks #29 & #30

Plugging away early this morning with Cali ...

Walk #29 at EveryTrail


... then later in the morning with Cali and Magic. This second one was hilly!

Walk #30 at EveryTrail

Walk #28

Another cool but pleasant morning walk - check under the pin below to see Corvallis pandas in their native environment!

Walk #28 at EveryTrail

Walk #27

We took a break yesterday to walk in the hills with Matt. Then we were greeted by a change in the weather for this morning's walk. We just missed a brief rain shower before we started, and it is cooler and cloudy today. We're working to fill in all of the streets around OSU before the students return.

Walk #27 at EveryTrail

Walk #26

After two and a half weeks away from Corvallis in LA, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland and Wales, Cali and I re-started our project this morning. It wasn't a very efficient walk, but it was a beautiful morning, and we covered some streets near home that we hadn't done on this project.

Walk #26 at EveryTrail

Walk #25

On an overcast an cool morning, we walked through the OSU campus at about 8am - a perfect time for Cali to meet and greet a lot of people! We also found a barber shop (check the pins on the map) that had dog treats and invited Cali in to meet everyone. Nice walk!

Walk #25 at EveryTrail

Walk #24

Another very fine morning! We started and ended at St. Mary's and walked under clear skies with refreshing 60F air.

Walk #24 at EveryTrail

Walk #23

Cooler morning walk with Matt - almost finished with the OSU campus.

Walk #23 at EveryTrail

Walk #22

On a beautiful Sunday, Matt walked with us on the west side of the OSU campus.

Walk #22 at EveryTrail

Walks #20 & #21

On another beautiful morning, we walked through the OSU campus. It was almost completely quiet on this Saturday in July. Check the map pins for photos - including Martha's upcoming new Beaver Store location.

Walk #20 at EveryTrail


With a cooling trend starting, we did a second walk this evening and picked up three cul de sacs near home that we hadn't yet walked in this project. It wasn't efficient at all, but it was nice to walk in our own neighborhoods again.

Walk #21 at EveryTrail

Walk #19

We continued our plan to walk in areas around the OSU campus while things are calm. It was another beautiful morning (70F) that will turn into another very hot day.

Walk #19 at EveryTrail

Walk #18

I decided that it would be a good idea to start walking the streets around the OSU campus before students return and parking gets difficult. It was fun to walk streets that I walk almost every day during the academic year. We saw quite a bit of construction and quite a few shoes hanging from wires (check the photos under the pins on the map). Cali liked the fact that there were more people to meet and greet.

Walk #18 at EveryTrail

Walk #17

We started early this morning to beat the heat - should reach upper 90Fs today in Corvallis. Check the photos under the pins. Cali heard chickens again! The community garden beside Calvin Presbyterian Church is looking great.

Walk #17 at EveryTrail

Progress Snapshot

Here's a look at where Cali and I have walked so far. Green paths are just Cali and me. Red includes Martha. Blue includes Matt. Purple includes Martha and Matt. We're starting to make progress filling in some sections on this map!

Walks #15 & #16

On another beautiful morning, Cali and I walked all of the streets east of 29th that we hadn't already walked on this project.

Walk #15 at EveryTrail


Then, after a break to get a haircut, we went out again and walked more streets to the west that are easily reached from home.

Walk #16 at EveryTrail

Walk #14

We had another perfect morning - 65F, sunny, and a light breeze.

Walk #14 at EveryTrail

Walk #13

By the time we started today, the temperature was already 76F, so we only walked 1.4 miles.

Walk #13 at EveryTrail

Brief Break

We're taking a couple of days off for last evening's Paul McCartney concert at Safeco Field in Seattle. It's a good time to recap progress so far.

We've completed 12 walks for a total of about 26.8 miles at an average pace of 17:43 per mile. (We've actually walked about 29.9 miles on those 12 walks, but some of it was retracing previous streets to get to the new ones before we started driving to new starting points.) If our friend's experience of walking about 250 miles holds for us, we're just over 10% complete. It's looking like this project will take about 100 walks.

Walk #12

This was another perfect morning for walking - sunny and 65F. It's nice to walk near campus when things are more calm.

Walk #12 at EveryTrail

Walk #11

Another cool and cloudy morning - check the photo under the pin on the map - don't even think of dumping your leaves here unless you're a Corvallis city employee!

Walk #11 at EveryTrail

Walk #10

Cooler weather today with scattered showers - good day to cover a boring section of town. It turns out that Cali loved it - one cat and plenty of interesting smells on garbage pickup day. Cali didn't notice or care that we walked through one of the poorer neighborhoods in Corvallis.

Walk #10 at EveryTrail

Walk #9

On a perfect morning for walking, we saw a chainsaw bear carving dressed like Uncle Sam. Click on the pin on the map to see it.

Walk #9 at EveryTrail

Walk #8

Today's late morning walk was perfect - sunny, 75F and slightly breezy. Martha and Matt joined Cali and me for this one. We walked through the interesting older homes west of the OSU campus.

Walk #8 at EveryTrail

Walk #7

Nice evening walk with Cali and Matt ... Cali found some backyard chickens and Matt found the first tasty and delicious and edible blackberries of this year's season.

Walk #7 at EveryTrail

Walk #6

It was a perfect morning to walk - sunny, breezy and cool (65F). Cali and I covered quite a few new streets with minimal overlap.

Walk #6 at EveryTrail

Walk #5

Nice cool morning for a sunny walk!

Walking Corvallis #5 at EveryTrail

Walks #3 & #4

This morning's walk with Matt covered more trails than streets, but it's some of our favorite terrain.

Walking Corvallis #3 at EveryTrail



This evening's walk was another warm one - 80F. Pictures are under the pins.

Walking Corvallis #4 at EveryTrail

Walk #2

Today was another warm (82F) afternoon walk. We squeezed it in while washing the throw rugs at the laundromat. It was pretty hot for Cali. We'll try to avoid that from now on.

Walking Corvallis #2 at EveryTrail

Getting Started - Walk #1

Cali and I are going to walk on every street in Corvallis. The idea came from hearing about people doing this in New York City and elsewhere. One of Martha's friends did it a few years ago in Corvallis. Here's her story.

If each walk is two or three miles, it should take about 65 walks to cover the 164 miles of streets in Corvallis. Doubling back in cul de sacs will add some miles. So 65 walks will probably grow to quite a few more. Friends who did this thought they walked about 250 total miles. We'll log all of the miles we walk on this project - including "doubling back" on cul de sacs. 

We started from home today. It was sunny and about 80F. We intended to go further but stopped when Cali overheated.

You can click on the "push pins" on the maps to see photos.

Starting our project to walk all of the streets in Corvallis at EveryTrail