Great trip so far.
June 3, Florence to Eugene, Oregon. We biked from our campsite down to the beach for the ceremonial "tire-dip" in the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, there was no easy access to the beach in that area (a wall of giant sand-dunes shielded the beach from the roadway). We found an inlet which had to suffice. We were joined by cousins, Butch and Claire Ridlon, who had driven six hours from Washington to see us off.
We headed toward Eugene with Larry driving the truck. Stopped about 20 miles later at a small cafe. Breakfast time was already over (we got a late start), but there were no other patrons so the owner said he would fix us breakfast anyway. Butch and Claire joined us, then they headed north to do sightseeing along the coast on their way back home, as we continued east.
After about 70 miles, we stopped in Eugene, loaded the bikes in the truck, and drove about 8 miles north to a campground in Coburg for the night.
June 4, Eugene to McKenzie Bridge, Oregon. We returned by truck to where we had ended our ride the night before, bought groceries and struck out for McKenzie Bridge, about 60 miles away and a gentle thousand feet higher. The route followed the McKenzie River, so lush greenery accompanied us the entire way. We set up the tents at Yale Campground before heading over for a dip in the McKenzie Hot Springs. Expected to find rustic hot springs, but turned out to be a swimming pool heated entirely from the hot springs. Still, very relaxing. Back to camp where we cooked hamburgers and hot dogs, and hit the sack early.
June 5, McKenzie Bridge to Sisters, Oregon. We found out what we were made of today. To get to Sisters, we had to bike over McKenzie Pass, a roughly 3,600 foot climb over the first 18 miles or so. The way up was through beautiful forests. We took a break about 10 miles up and hiked just over a mile to visit majestic Proxie Falls. Well worth the side trip! Look it up online. Shortly thereafter, the road was closed to automobiles. The next 20 miles up to and over the top was open only for bicycles or hikers. The road was ours!
As we continued the climb, the strain on the legs and the heat tried to stop us, but everyone persevered. At one point, when we reached snow, Terri and Mike laid in the snow to cool down. At the summit, the trees disappeared and were replaced by a stark 65 square-mile black lava flow. In the middle of that, at the very top, sets the Dee Wright Observatory, a very rough lava rock structure built in the 1930's, from which you get great views of the surrounding Cascade Mountain peaks.
Then a fast ride down the mountain into the city of Sisters. I had originally hoped we would make it on to Redmond, another 20 miles to the east, but the climb up McKenzie convinced us that we needed rest. Found a nice campground and called it a night.
June 6, Sisters to Prineville, Oregon. The heat from yesterday convinced us that we needed to start earlier than 8 or 9 o'clock. So today we started at 7. We road about 20 miles to Redmond before stopping for breakfast and re-fueling the truck. We planned to continue on Hwy 126 to Prineville, but the attendant at the gas station told us about an alternate route, a few miles longer but off the main highway through farms and prettier scenery. He was right. I have a photo here somewhere to post. Very little traffic except for courteous big rig drivers who gave us plenty of leeway while passing. Oregon drivers in general have been among the most bike-friendly drivers I've ever run across.
We arrived at the Crook County (wonder where that came from?) RV and Campground around 1 p.m. and set up the tents. Margie and Terri drove into town to buy groceries and do laundry. I'm sure Mike, Larry and I did something productive, but I can only recall a lot of lounging around. When the girls returned, we used the camps barbecue equipment to cook up steaks, asparagus and garlic bread. We are really rouging it. After dinner, the girls wanted to just rest, while the three guys went for ice cream. Tried to find a liquor store for essential supplies, but the only such store, known to the ice cream parlor attendant, closed early. Apparently, Oregon is a liquor control state; alcohol other than beer or wine must be purchased at certain authorized establishments, which at least in Prineville, are few and far between. Maybe that's why the drivers are so courteous.
June 7, Prineville to Mitchell, Oregon. Changed our start time to 6:30 o'clock in a continuing effort to beat the heat. We had to climb over Ochoco Pass at about 4,700 foot elevation, but the very long, steep downhill afterwards made it worthwhile. Terri described the downhill as "an E-Ticket Ride" (for those of you old enough to remember Disneyland's original ride classifications). Margie said it was the most exhilarating thing she had done in her entire life. At the start of the trip, Margie was cautious with downhill speeds, wanting to use the brakes when approaching upper 20 mph. She went over 38 mph on today's downhill, hooting and laughing all the way down!
The town of Mitchell turned out to be about a block and a half long with a population of 167 people. No formal campground, but we were allowed to pitch the tents ($5 per tent) in the small "city" park, which consisted of a grassy area, a couple of picnic tables, some playground equipment and restrooms (located across the street with no showers).
We spent about 5 minutes to tour the town, finding the Lone Pine Cafe/Bar where we stopped to have drinks. At one point, the waitress (the only worker at the time) asked if we (the only patrons at the time) could watch the place while she went next door to the market. And off she went! Then, after we returned to the park, the waitress walked down to us with Margie's purse, which Margie had left at the cafe. Nice people here. We returned to the cafe later for dinner. During our first visit, I discovered that the place had tequila, but no margarita mix, so I stopped at the town market on our way back for dinner and picked up a bottle of mix which I donated to the cafe/bar's supply. Nice people should be treated nicely in return.
June 8, Mitchell to John Day, Oregon. We started at 6 this morning, knowing that we faced a hard climb right out of Mitchell to about 4400 elevation. It started out at about a 4-5% grade for about 4 miles, then shifted to about 6% grade the last 2-3 miles. The girls made it up the earlier grade, but opted for the truck for the final grade. Tough climb, but long downhill almost all the way to Dayville, 38 miles from Mitchell, where we stopped at the community center and cooked french toast (along with left over pizza from Mitchell) for breakfast.
The rest of the day was up and down for the roughly 70 miles to John Day. About 8 miles before John Day, we passed Clyde Holliday park/campground. Beautiful, but we continued on into John Day to check out their accommodations. One look was enough to decide to pile the bikes into the truck and ride back to the Holliday site. Green grass, tons of trees, great restrooms and showers. Upon entering, I spoke with an RV'er who agreed that the site was the best around, but he said "Don't put on just one coat of mosquito spray, put on two coats!" He was right. We were attacked as soon as we pulled up to our campsite. Fortunately, we were well equipped with spray.
June 9, John Day to Baker City, Oregon. Another 6 o'clock start. Margie wanted McDonalds for breakfast, so the rest of us relented. We then biked 15 miles to Prairie City, where we stopped at a nice, small cafe for pie/cinnamon rolls/carrot cake. Then back to the hills. There was a 10 mile climb out of Prairie City up to Dixie Summit, starting out gently, but getting quite steep at the end, at 5,277 foot elevation. Then a nice long downhill. Bad news about long downhills, they seem to be followed by new long uphills. That was the pattern today, as we next faced the Tipton Mountain summit (5,124') and after the fun downhill, the Sumpter Summit (over 5,000'). Margie set a new personal best coming down from Sumpter - 40 mph. Have to keep an eye on her for the rest of the trip. She appears to be on some type of mission.
We reached Phillips Lake, where we originally planned to spend the night, but decided to continue on for another 20 miles to Baker City. When we hit some more climbs after Phillips Lake, the ladies decided that was enough for them, so they piled in the truck with Larry and went ahead to get us some rooms at a Best Western in Baker City, while Mike and I finished the 20 mile ride. Turned out to be about 84 miles for the day.
So we are here in Baker City, where we are staying an extra day before heading toward Oxbow Dam, Oregon, then into Idaho the following day.
Sorry for the verbiage, but wanted to bring everyone up to date. The others said they were going to post more interesting, and shorter, stories.
Picture canyon
Coffee Latte Break
Ray going up Sumpter Summitt
McKenzie Pass Out Look
Perfect Ray!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Marg, that was perfect Ray. Donny & I enjoyed reading how things are going. My husband is here green with envy. Maybe when he's a senior like you guys he can do this too. Keep the posts coming.
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