Day 77 - August 19, 2013 - Prairie City, OR to Dayville, OR

Miles - 45

Total mileage - 2,077

One of those lovely camping phenomenons...one minute, you're wrapped comfortably in your sleeping bag as the sun rises, the next minute you can't unzip yourself from that thing quick enough to get out before you sweat to death.  That's how we awoke this morning, and quickly opened up the tent to let the cool morning breeze in as we packed up the sleeping bags and mats.

We stopped for breakfast at a local coffee shop, then headed on down the road.  Today's elevation profile showed a gradual downhill all the way to Dayville.  The scenery was more of the same - we were in a valley in the high desert - dry hills with sometimes lush farm or range nestled between them.

We had heard from several people weeks ago that the town of John Day had experienced a big wildfire recently - and we certainly saw the remnants of it as we approached the town.  Burned hillsides with the ring of red fire retardant dropped by helicopters marked both sides of the valley.  The fire came dangerously close to nearby homes.

We stopped in John Day for a bathroom and snack break at Dairy Queen, and there were many firefighters there grabbing lunch before heading to more hotspots in the area.  Summer sure keeps them busy around here.

We rolled through the town of Mount Vernon, eager to reach our destination.  And wouldn't you know it, about 10 miles out of Dayville, our pleasant day of riding is smashed with a strong headwind!  We took a lot of breaks, and powered on through, finally reaching Dayville and were greeted by this amusing sign

Dayville is close to the John Day Fossil Beds...haha.  We had a cold drink at the one gas station in town, had lunch at the one cafe, picked up a few drinks for the evening at the mercantile, and headed to the Dayville Presbyterian Church, which provides a hostel for cyclists, and has done so since the 70's.

We called Rose, as the sign in the church instructed us to do...she walked down from her house just next door to tell us about all the amenities they had for cyclists, all paid for by donations from cyclists (a shower, washer and dryer, fridge, full kitchen).  She welcomed us, had us put a pin in the map indicating our hometown, and told us we were welcome to sleep in the sanctuary.

Not too long after Rose left, a guy came in and let us know that he was teaching a hunter safety course in the sanctuary, but that they would clear out by 9.  Fine by us, we took showers, did laundry, made grilled cheese sandwiches from the leftovers in the fridge, and watched the first part of Ken Burns' documentary on The Dust Bowl.  The things history nuts do to wind down after a day of cycling...

Can you see the Shep silhouette in there?

I also had a tiny piece of what may have been the largest cake ever, leftover from a party for a local teacher who celebrated 30 years as an educator.  That's dedication!

The sanctuary was nice, but it took me forever to fall asleep - sleeping pads are much more comfortable on grass rather than a hard floor!

Day 76 - August 18, 2013 - Sumpter, OR to Prairie City, OR

Miles - 45

Total mileage - 2,032

We are ready for these mountain passes today!  Had a good breakfast at the cafe in town, and got on the road at a fairly decent time.

We hit the start of the climb to Sumpter Pass just out of town.  It wasnt all that steep to begin with, and wound through some beautiful pine forest.

Certainly not the worst way to start a morning.  It got steeper here and there, but we pedaled all the way up, with plenty of breaks, and made it to the top of number one - two to go!

The downhill was fun, but it's slightly depressing to lose all the altitude it took you a couple of hours to gain in a matter of minutes!  Someone needs to build a bridge from the first to the third do you only have to climb once!

We had a long flat valley to pedal through before the start of cling number two.  14 miles I think of rolling hills.  We kept anticipating the start to the climb at each little hill, but they let us down!

We passed a place offering rest and water for cyclists - I didn't go seek it out, but that person is awesome for doing that!

We finally found it, and the first part was steep!  We walked it, but were soon back in the saddle, pedaling away.  After the first part, the climb wasn't as steep as the first, and we made decent time to the top.  The bonus was that we knew there was a cafe in between this one and the start of the third!

We sailed down the hill, pedaled through a little more flatland before we found the cafe, and had a good lunch, including some ice cream for me!

Time for the final pass...this one was not nearly as steep as the first two, and we managed to pedal most of it, even though we were pretty darn exhausted by this point.

Now, nothing but downhill to Prairie City! It was a fast one, 6% or so grade, and beautiful views of the valley below.

There was a giant wagon thing halfway down the hill that we paused to take a photo on, then continued down.  We were going to go the extra 13 miles to John Day, but they had no camping options, it was getting late, and the dreaded headwind had found us again.

We grabbed drinks and rode to the local RV park to camp.  We couldn't find a camp host, so we didn't end up having to pay...they had really low cyclist rates anyway.  I pedaled back to town and visited the good old convenience store again for dinner snacks.  If I never eat another convenience store dinner, it'll be too soon!  We used the pay showers at the place, enjoyed our convenience store snack dinner, I made a cow friend in the field next door, watched some episodes of Friends, and drifted off to sleep.

She licked my hand, and probably loved it because I was still covered in salt at that point!  I've been whistling at and talking to cows in fields all across the country...they are all very curious, but this is the only one who wanted to actually come over and chat!

Day 75 - August 17, 2013 - Baker City, OR to Sumpter, OR

Miles - 30

Total mileage - 1,987

It was a beautiful morning for biking - we actually got a good night of sleep, the temps were mild, and we had plenty of time off the bikes to rest our legs.  The terrain is still hanging in the "high desert" theme - lots of brown, craggy rock formations, and some ranching or farming thrown in for good measure.  We spotted three male antelope hanging out in a field as we rode through the canyon that leads out of Baker City...we are used to only seeing females and babies in groups together.  

We were planning on a long 70 miles today, including 3 mountain passes near the end.  The first part was mainly flat or rolling - we climbed our first little bit to be greeted by a beautiful view of Phillips Lake.

We passed and interesting overlook...it was actually just a lake overlook in a state park...nice name :)

We were about 20 miles into our day when Mel's shoulder started hurting.  She tore her Labrum in her left shoulder during a fall during a bike ride last October (the Beer Ride in Columbus...but no beer had been consumed yet!), and had to go through physical therapy just before we left.  It's been painful here and there, but today was pretty bad.

We stopped for a rest and lunch at a narrow gauge railway station, and shortly after that, decided her shoulder was in too much pain to tackle mountains today.  We rode the three miles off-route to the small town of Sumpter to get a room and get some ice on her shoulder.  We stayed in a place called the Sumpter Stockade - there actually was a stockade built around the thing!

We stopped by a state park with an old gold dredge and checked it out - this thing was massive, and pretty much tore up the entire meadow in Sumpter around the 40's digging for gold.  Neat machine, but there are still rows of rock covering the valley from these things.

We hit up the grocery store for an ice pack and some snacks, relaxed for the rest of the afternoon and evening.

Day 74 - August 16, 2013 - Baker City, OR - Rest Day

Well, we got virtually no sleep last night, so we stayed in Baker City again.  Didn't do much outside of eating and resting.  Annoyed to not be moving forward!

 Found beanie baby Badtz at the local grocery store!

 

No idea what these articles are about...

Day 73 - August 15, 2013 - Baker City, OR Rest Day

After 6 days back in the saddle, and before a tough 70 mile day with three mountain passes to climb, we determined that a rest day was in order.  Sleeping in, even until 8:30, was a great luxury!

We had a leisurely breakfast at the cafe attached to the hotel, vegged out to the History Channel, then got ready to hit the Baker Heritage Museum.  We briefly contemplated unloading our bikes to get there, but chose to walk instead.  It was a hot one again - surprise, surprise. 

The museum was neat, very well done, especially for a local museum, and they have an impressive rock collection, donated by a couple of sisters who devoted their lives to collecting them.  The museum is housed in what used to be a natatorium before World War 2, when the pool was filled in and the building converted to a factory creating vehicle trailers for the war effort.  Most of the folks on the museum board happened to show up, and we had a good chat with a few of them about our trip.  Nice people.  I bought a diary of a young man who traveled on the Oregon Trail to read in the gift shop...I've been missing a good book, and the entries are short so I might have time to actually read it in the coming week or so.

We decided to hit up historic downtown Baker City afterwards, and enjoyed the walk past the pretty city park, with the Powder River running alongside it.  The city has a nice feel to it.  We found a Chinese restaurant for lunch, and followed that up with a stop in at a cute ice cream parlor.

After a toasty walk back to the hotel, we lounged a bit more, I took a dip in the hot tub, and we started to settle in for an early night, in preparation for getting up early to tackle those mountain passes.

Of course, what we can only imagine are a herd of elephants has checked into the room upstairs, and they wanted to see just how squeaky every square inch of floor is.  Then a large and loud family arrives in the parking lot just outside our window, chats for an hour, and is, naturally, staying just steps away from our room.  They continued to have a loud, seemingly hilarious conversation in the hallway before retiring to their respective rooms, ensuring that they slammed their doors no fewer than 5 times each.

So it's nearly 2am Pacific time, I need to be up in about 4.5 hours, but sleep eludes me.  I'm not so sure those passes will be tackled tomorrow after all...

Here is the only other photo I took today - a creative bike rack downtown, if you can make it out.

Day 72 - August 14, 2013 - Richland, OR to Baker City, OR

Miles - 40

Total mileage - 1,957

We went to sleep so early last night, around 8:00, but still didn't get up until after 7 this morning.  Our bodies are telling us we need a break, methinks.  We stopped quickly for breakfast at the Shorthorn Cafe, where another westbound cyclist stopped in as well.  Sounded like he was German.  The guys we ran into yesterday were across the street at the post office.  

Today's ride appeared to be gradual uphill for about 24 miles, topped off by a steep climb at the end, and a gradual downhill into Baker City.  After a few short bit slightly steep climbs, most of the morning seemed almost to be downhill.  We were confused as to why this was, but weren't going to question it!

The ride transitioned from ranch land back to a desert canyon.  At one point we passed a crew doing roadwork, who turned out to be inmates from a local prison.  I always am torn in these situations...I start saying hello and having those short conversations with them, but I'm sure they probably aren't supposed to be talking to any passerby.  I'm always interested in their story - it really got me thinking about The IF Project (www.theifproject.com).  

We passed an interesting site describing a landslide that happened in the late 80s - you could see where it buried the old highway.  Interesting stuff.

There were no service stops angling the route at all today - luckily we found a "rest area", aka put toilet in the desert, almost halfway in.  And not too long after that, we found the first steeper climb of the day - short and sweet.  I only to be followed by the big one.  It didn't seem steep, but went on forever.  We walked up some of it at the end.  More nice mountain views most of the way up, obscured by smoke from all the recent fires in the area though.

After all the climbing, we met a less than exciting downhill, which we had to pedal down due to the headwind that found us!  We really wanted to stop in at the Oregon Train Interpretive Center, about 7 miles out of Baker City, but they put the damn thing at the top of a big hill!  Some other time I guess...

We crossed over I-84 - the first major highway we've really seen in days, and stopped at the first tiny has station/RV park we saw for cold drinks.  We were nearly out of water, and so happy to see this place!

Mel's parents are generously putting us up in a hotel tonight - thank you guys!  We ate the slightly melty and toasted sandwiches we had packed but not eaten for lunch today for dinner.  Baker City water is currently contaminated with some sort of bacteria, so we are trying to remember to not drink it or wash our hands in it.  At least the hotel is handing out bottled water for guests to use until the problem is resolved.  Even the slushy machine at the grocery store is down until they fix the problem!  Thanks to Adrienne for forewarning us of this days ago!

We are taking a rest day here tomorrow. We've had 6 days of tough riding and high heat, and it's starting to catch up with us.  Thinking we will visit the Baker County Museum.  And eat Chinese food. And relax!

Day 71 - August 13, 2013 - Oxbow, OR to Richland, OR

Miles - 30

Total mileage - 1,917

After a very warm evening in the tent, alternately removing the rain fly because it was incredibly hot, and being awoken by raindrops on our faces and having to put the rain fly back on - packing went a little slowly this morning as we waited for the tent to dry out.

We stopped at a little gas station/convenience store for breakfast, talked to a group of folks getting ready to take a guided raft trip in Hells Canyon for four days.  Sounds hot and remote, but I'm sure they'll have fun!

We had a good mix of climbing, flats, and downhills this morning - and it was hot already before 10.  More dry, desert-like surroundings, but we are starting to see more pine trees.  At one point, we came around a bend in the road and saw startlingly beautiful granite peaks in the distance.  A welcome sight after more than a few desert days.

About 18 miles in, we went a little off-route to a town called Halfway in search of lunch.  On our way there, we passed an enthusiastic lone female eastbound rider - cheering, and clearly still feeling very good about her trip, at what must be less than 2 weeks in for her!

We ducked into a little bar and grill, and ordered up a small cheese pizza to share.  A few moments later, two guys who passed us back in Kansas came in to eat.  They were shocked at what good time we are making - we had to break it to them that we had to cheat to get back on track.  Hah.

After lunch, there was nothing left to do but begin the gigantic climb up the pass that would lead us to Richland.  We always get to these things in the heat of the day, argh.  We pedaled, slowly and with many breaks, up the first third or so, then walked most of the rest.  It was a 3-4 mile 6% or so grade.  These are deceiving because they don't look that steep when you are going up, but when you turn around and glance back, you see just how steep they really are!

The only saving grace of this thing is that we had sweeping mountain views on three sides.  Pretty amazing really.

We finally arrived at the summit, and were faced with a 7% downhill grade.  These are fun, but also frustrating because we have to stop a few times on the way down to let our rims cool.  More beautiful views on this side though.

We almost flew down into Richland, found the grocery store which also conveniently rented out the rooms in the one motel in town.  We needed some air conditioning in our lives!  We picked up sandwich stuff for dinner, grabbed cold drinks, and bummed around for the rest of the evening.  Not a bad day, all things considered.