Oregon

My first stop in OR was Cave Junction, a small town that made a good impression.  I dropped my wallet and a nice guy waived me over to return it.  Then his wife recommended I ride over McKenzie Pass on my way north as the highway is closed to vehicles, but open to cyclists until mid-June.  She was the first of many friendly people that suggested this route.  If I get a suggestion once, I don't usually remember, twice maybe, three times almost always, more than three I consider going out of my way to get there.

After a 100 mile ride through the Rogue River Valley I arrived in Ashland for a highly anticipated visit with friends from CT, Ryan and Jess.  Ryan suggested that at least 2 paragraphs would be needed to cover the visit.   After 10 days of biking, hiking, a bit of running and yard work, and lots of good eating this should be no problem. 

A good place to start is with sweet baby Willow, their 9 month year old golden retriever that is the recipient of unlimited affection.  I got to take Willow on a couple outings to the park and for a nice hike along the creek.  Willow lives up to her retriever nature, loving sticks and water, and will stay fully submerged in search of sticks longer than any dog I have seen.  She has one very annoying habit of picking up sticks and jamming them into the back of your leg while you are running or hiking with her, but she is working on this. 

Willow doing what she does best in her favorite swimming hole in Ashland Creek.

There were several outings up to Mt Ashland, the 7,500' peak adjacent to the city.   I tried riding up via the forest roads in questionable weather one day.  To my surprise snow was falling by time I got around 5,000' and I had to head down before making it to the top.  The descent was a cold miserable ride.  All the other Mt Ashland experiences were much better.

Jess is preparing for a 50 mile trail race at the end of July, and coach Ryan has her doing her long training runs along the Pacific Crest Trail where the race will be.  While Jess was running, Ryan and I biked on the forest roads, once pararell to the trail, and another all the way up from town.   Alex, Ashland friend of Ryan and Jess, ran up from town (faster than we could bike up), and then we all met in the parking area for a picnic, which included some of Alex's tasty homemade energy treats and last minute goodies Jess picked up from the Ashland Food Co-op since Ryan and I dropped the ball on picnic preprations.  After food, Ryan, Alex and I rode down the paved ski road to town and Jess drove Vanna White, Alex's rad mini-van, back to town.  A good way to spend a Saturday.    

Me, Jess and Ryan up on Mt Ashland post run/ride picnic.  If you look closely, just above Jess's head is 14,000'+ Mt Shasta. 

Which brings me to the final Ashland topic: food. When Ryan, Jess, and I lived in New Haven together we cooked up some tasty meals, so being back in the kitchen cooking and sharing meals was a treat. Along with Ryan and Jess's new house and dog they got a new blender, a Vitamix, which was involved in most of the kitchen fun. You can liquefy just about anything with the Vitamix.

Ryan and Jess like peanut butter as much as I do, so in addition to making a lot of healthy fruit and veggie smoothies, we also experimented with various nut butters.  Lessons learned: sunflowers and raisins don't make a good nut butter and look like brains, coconut oil and dates blend well with nuts, it is cheaper to buy peanut butter in a jar than to buy peanuts and make your own.  Ryan also whipped up some pate with organ meat (heart and liver) he gets at the Co-op.  Tasted like high quality dog food to me, but I am told it is an acquired taste and very high in nutrition.   

Riding out of Ashland there is a 15 mile 3,000' climb to start what was the nicest riding of my trip, the section through the OR Cascade Mountains.  Between Ashland and Portland I was mostly in a National Forest or a National Park, and traffic was low and the scenery spectacular.  The weather was perfect and there was always a free place to camp.  The mosquitoes were bad on the western slope where it is wet, but I figured that is all good preparation for AK.

I got some new equipment before leaving Ashland.  I had my water filter and stove shipped out from CT, and I got a new tent, which is lighter, more roomy, and does not have condensation problems like the old one.  So I have a comfortable place to hang out with a hot cup of tea when there are bugs or bad weather, and I don't have to worry about finding a place to fill my water bottles (though in OR Cascades I regularly drank from springs on the side of the road without filtering).

At the top of Dead Indian Memorial Rd. heading out of Ashland, a nice view of Mt. McLoughlin and some cycling company.

After the dirt forest road riding in Ashland and my new gear I was feeling a bit more independent and adventurous, so I experimented with taking less traveled forest roads. This worked out great my first day out and I took forest roads to bypass Fort Klamath, just south of Crater Lake.  I found a decent but high mosquito place to camp along the Sevenmile Creek before riding up to Crater Lake.

Crater Lake is incredible.   The story goes around 7,700 years ago Mount Mazama stood 12,000'. After a massive eruption it collapsed in on itself dropping the elevation about a mile and forming the crater, which is now a nearly 2,000' deep lake of crystal clear water.  The only water that comes in or out of the lake is through precipitation, which there is a lot of, and evaporation.

The park was fairly crowded and people were interested in what I was doing.  At one point I even got an embarrassing round of applause from a school group when their tour guide announced to them I rode my bike from CT.   A wonderful coincidental encounter happened at one of the parking lot view areas.  A guy stopped me and said, "I know you". That guy turned out to be John from Dripping Springs, TX, who I had a 10 minute conversation with in February when we met on the road outside of Austin, TX.  He was visiting Crater Lake with his wife before starting off on a cross country tour from OR to Maine.  

Discovery Point Photo Op

The north entrance to the park had just opened, so I was able to ride in the south entrance and out the north.  The Rim Dr. along the east side of the lake was still closed, but the Park Service had about 10 miles cleared of snow on each end that pedestrians and cyclists could access.  So on my way out of the park I decided to ride in along the north rim.  I ended up camping out along the rim and then walked down to the lake level trail in the morning.  The water was like glass, and I was the only one there as far as I could tell.  One of my most memorable camping adventures.

Snow wall on the north rim, where the road was still closed to traffic. 

Morning shot water level by the boat dock

From the rim road

After a great visit to Crater Lake I rode north by Diamond Lake intending to take dirt forest roads (Windigo Pass Rd.) by Crescent Lake and then to the Cascades Lake Scenic Highway into Bend to avoid route 97, a heavy truck traffic road east of the mountains.  I climbed about 15 miles up Windigo Pass before the road began to get very muddy and had patches of snow. Then the road was completely flooded or covered by snow.  So I had to turn back and take 97. That was a hilly 50 mile mistake.   I should have made some inquiries about the road conditions with the Forest Service.

Windigo Pass, not passable

The silver lining was a nice night camping near Lemolo Lake and an extra evening in the OR Cascades.  After a quick ride around the area I found a nice free camping spot along a creek that some locals were just leaving from.  They even left the fire going for me. Later the sheriff stopped by.  I was worried I wasn't supposed to be there, but he was just making sure there was somebody tending to the fire he saw burning.  There is no shortage of free roadside camping in OR national forests.

Wild edibles with my kippered herring sandwich at Lemolo Lake campsite

In the morning I climbed back up toward the Crater Lake Park entrance and then down the east side of the mountains to route 97, where the forest was noticiably drier and the traffic much heavier.  After 50 or so miles of riding I turned off to the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway and I was back to beautiful forested roads with specatacular mountain scenery.

I camped along Wickiup Reservoir and met a nice retired man from Bend, Bill, along with his 180 lb mastiff companion, Tara.  Bill invited me over for dinner, which was marinated chicken cooked over an open fire accompanied by wine and salad.  A delicious meal and I was glad to have some company after a few nights of camping alone. Bill also offered me a place to stay in Bend,  which was the first of a couple offers I had had on the Cascades Lake Byway.  Very friendly people in OR.

Heading north from Wickiup Reservoir the scenery gets better and better, with more lakes and snow capped mountains.  I stopped at Hosmer Lake for a picture, and then stopped at Elk Lake for a refreshing and cold swim before climbing up to Mt Bachelor and down into Bend.

Hosmer Lake and Mt Bachelor

Devils Lake

Climbing up to Mt Bachelor

Mt Bachelor and Sparks Lake to the right

My first stop in Bend was to Sunlight Solar Energy headquarters to see Paul, my former boss and host for a few days.  Paul, lives in Bend with his partner, Steph and his 2 year old son Theo. A little girl is due any day now (maybe already). They showed me some wonderful hospitality with lots of good food, and some hiking and biking around town.  They too have a Vitamix, so there was fruit smoothie every morning (Theo likes smoothies too).   

The evening I arrived in Bend was first Friday street fest and there were thousands of people out and about, so Paul took me out and I got to see Bend in full swing. The next day the Two Bulls fire started just west of town, and burned nearly 7,000 acres before being fully contained.  The city of Bend was not threatened, but there were smoke plumes visible from town making for some interesting light conditions and occasional smokey air.  This didn't seem to stop anybody from being outside, which is what Bend is all about.  There are more bicycle shops, breweries, paddle boarders, and Subarus than any town I have seen yet.    

Me and Paul at Sunlight Solar headquarters 

Steph, Paul, Theo in bike helmet, and me out for a smokey walk in the park.  Theo likes to ride his training wheel free strider bike just about everywhere. 

From Bend I road the beautiful stretch of route 20 up to Sisters and stopped at the Angeline's Bakery before heading up to McKenzie Pass.  About 10 miles outside of Sisters there is a gate blocking vehicles up the road and then there is nothing but friendly cyclists, occasional DOT trucks, and beautiful scenery. At the top there is a tower built from lava rock that you can climb up to take in the view of lava rock, mountains and snow.  

Riding out of Bend toward Sisters

The view from the top of McKenzie Pass.  The road I came up and North Sister (peak on the right). 

The view looking west, where I rode down.  Look close near the bathroom building and you can see my bike. 

The ride down from McKenzie Pass heading west is fun, with lots of switchbacks down into a lush green forest.  When I hit route 126 I rode north along the McKenzie River, which has both hot springs and waterfalls.  I managed to find some hot springs another cyclist told me about, but the air was too hot for hot springs, and I felt like riding more.  I moved on to Clear Lake, passing some huge waterfalls on the way.  I had a hard time finding a place to camp around Clear Lake so after a bit of searching around on nearby forest roads in fading daylight I got back on route 126.  I didn't go more than a mile before I came across a nice camping spot right off the road with a fire ring, creek, and stumps for sitting.  

Sahalie Falls on the McKenzie River off Rte 126

The next day was a ride up to route 22, down to Detroit Lake, and then on to Breitenbush Rd., which is a paved Forest Service road that follows the Breitenbush River up and over a pass to the Clackamas River.  The road follows the Clackamas all the way into the Portland area.  Breitenbush Rd. has beautiful forest and river views, few cars, and hot springs.  I was planning a longer day, but spotted steam bubbling from the river and decided to stop, take a soak and camp for the night. It wasn't until after the soak that I noticed the signs warning of 190F water temperatures.  It didn't take me long to figure out laying directly on the river bed could be very painful. 

Mt Jefferson along Rte 22 into Detroit

Hot springs on the Clackamas

I had a great ride into Portland riding along the Clackamas and then along Faraday Rd., a road closed to vehicles that parallels the North Fork Reservoir.  My friend, Carolie, that hosted me in Portland rode out to meet me and climb up the very steep hill to her place.  She was busy while I was in town, but found time to take me out for drinks and a nice dinner at the Country Cat, and I had a comfy place to stay while I explored the city.  

As with most cities I go to, I never really know what to do expect walk around, catch up on my blog, and try not to spend too much money.   Portland has plenty of opportunities for good food and drink.  I indulged in some chocolate and donuts.   Caroline also has a Vitamix (I think everyone in OR does) so I made some good homemade smoothies too. Other notable things about Portland: the pretty Rose Garden, the incredible number of very nice bicycles, and the dreary weather, which got worse as I rode into Washington.

The road along the Clackamas River to Portland