And to add... that was when they could find game. There were numerous extended periods where their hunters could not find anything. During their 118 days at Fort Clatsop during the winter of '05-'06 they shot out the deer and elk population near the fort and had to resort to traveling further and further afoot, often several days travel to find fresh meet. They were in the process of preserving as much as they could for the journey back too. Thus the continuous manning of the salt works on the coast their entire stay.
Side note: The Captains recorded only 11 days of sunshine during those 118 days.
Sorry but this has "triggered" all the built up nebulous facts that I stored away while doing well over 100 presentations in the three years of doing living history for USACE along the trail..
Belfountain, Missouri September 2006
Camp Du Bois, Illinois . Departure May 2004
4th of July Creek, Atchison, Kansas 2004. A confirmed campsite from July 4, 1804. This image hung in the main corridor of the Pentagon from 2004 to 2006.
Bismarck, North Dakota, October 2004