Day 84: 42 miles from Nimrod to Coburg
Today is the kind of day that makes blogging easy. Not much to show or tell!!
We were happy to sleep thru the rest of the night without further fire warnings, then we got up early (5:30) and hit the road. The ride continued our descent out of the mountains, from 1,000 ft to about 300 ft. And it was short because we rode part of it the night before. I am dad to see the wilderness go.
As we approached Eugene, we passed mainly small farms with goats and chickens and suburban type homes in large lots. It was pretty, but it didn’t feel like a picture taking day. There was this covered bridge.
Oregon, however, does feel like a bike friendly place. There are shoulders, drivers have been courteous, and there are even bike lanes. Coberg, where we are tonight, has embraced its place on the start of the Trans Am. It had a cool little park with bike tools, a “bike depot” where cyclists could camp, bike lanes and lots of bike signage.
We stayed in the RV park because we needed to do laundry. It was 100 degrees and kind of a boring afternoon as we waited out the heat.
I think I am feeling the end of the ride looming. I’m excited to be done, but we still have a lot of miles to ride, so have to keep our heads in the game. If I was leaving on a 5-day bike trip, that would not seem short!! Still, it’s crazy that we are scheduled to finish on Friday.
Day 83: 50 miles plus 15 miles from Sisters to McKenzie Bridge then to Nimrod
Climbed our last mountain today!! The ride up went thru several burned areas.
I took my time and enjoyed it. Not too steep. Smelled of pine (and then of fire).
At the summit, we came to a 20 square mile lava flow.
It was amazing g to see the total devastation—esp from so many thousands of years ago (don’t ask me exact numbers).
Two of the three sisters visible from the summit.
Yeah, I kept taking pics of the same thing. It was just so beautiful.
And then the landscape changed on the way down to fairyland. Pine trees as high as you could see, moss, a trickling stream, perfect switchbacks. It smelled like Christmas.
I stopped repeatedly while descending 30 miles to listen to how quiet it was, hear the birds and the breeze, and be in the stillness.
Toward the end of todays descent (it continues tomorrow), we could see a nearby fire over the treetops. That is smoke, not a cloud, with a tinge of pink. Hopefully they will get it under control.
I talked to a US forest service woman, and it’s not as close as it looks. Camping downwind tonight and leaving early in the morning.
Well, a little update here. This fire grew as the day went and by the time we got to our campground, they had a level 1 warning: get ready to leave. By the time I had bathed in the cool river by our campsite and set up my tent, it was a Level 2 (be set, as in packed) to leave. We could t be packed and also be staying, so we packed and left with everyone else. By the time we left there was ash and debris in the air and increasing amounts of smoke.
The sun was setting, so the sky was beautiful, but not really in a good way.
Keeping our spirits up.
We weren’t sure where we were going—just 5 or 10 miles down the road, depending on how things looked and what we found. As I rode, I thought I was getting g hit with bugs but eventually realized it was soot and ash.
We considered stopping in Blue River but there was still too much smoke and ash, so we decided to try for Nimrod, hoping for a post office or other official property where we could camp. Thankfully, Nimrod had a fire department. We parked in their yard for a while until a fireman showed up, then we asked permission and pitched our tents.
All was good until the Level 3 alarm that said GO NOW blared from our phones jolting us from sleep. I didn’t know if Deidre was awake, so I sat up for an hour looking at my phone deciphering the addresses that were affected. Determining it wasn’t us, I tried to sleep but felt unsettled—worried what we would do if we got an alert that did affect us. In my sleepy delirium, I decided I needed to be dressed to go, so I put on my bike clothes in the middle of the night, I clouding my socks 😂—then I was able to sleep.
Day 82: 53 miles from Prineville to Sisters
Our stove is out of fuel and it’s silly to buy more with just a week left (and we can’t find any anyway). So no more hot oatmeal breakfasts. We will be winging it, but for today, that meant a diner just 7 miles down the road. Yum!
Then on to our 50+mile day with more rock formations.
This cow really gave me the stare as I went past.
Smith rock. It would be in view for a while as we approached. I tried not to take tooo many pics of it.
Painted rocks.
And then the sisters came into view. They would be on all sides of us as we wound our way toward them.
And a llama farm!
There were a ton of hikers and another couple touring (on a tandem!) in our campsite. It’s the most people we’ve seen the whole trip—although we didn’t socialize much. Everyone is too busy with the “jobs” that need to happen off the trail (eat, set up, shower, map the next day, buy food/water, post on social media, blog, journal, read, sleep—so much to do!!)
Since the hiker/biker site was only $5, we splurged in dinner at this place.
I guess it was on TV?
Day 81: 78 miles from Dayville to Prineville
Departed our full little hostel around 7, just after everyone else.
We had a 30 mile climb then. 7 mile descent into Mitchell, so I started out ready to just focus on my pace and get the job done. But the views blew me away almost immediately. We were approaching the John Day Fossil Beds and the Painted Rocks. We didnt go to either (closed this early and too far off the trail), but we saw quite a show from the road.
This picture shows—from a distance—the gorge we will be riding thru in the next pics.
Boring pic but it shows the crazy landscape, with valley and plateau. Apparently this used to be an ocean.
Proof that I reached the summit.
And the view.
Then an excellent 7 miles down.
This restaurant had a veggie burger. It was one of the best sandwiches of the trip since all I can usually get is fried fish or grilled cheese.
The next climb was 17 miles and much more steep, so there was no picture taking. Just pedaling and listening to my book: The Round House by Louise Erdrich. She is one of my favorite authors. She is a Chippewa writer and her themes often revolve around theft of Indian land, so she is interesting to read while riding through these parts. This is supposed to be one of her best novels and it’s not disappointing me. So it kept my mind off the climbing.
We originally planned to camp at the summit but found out from another biker that CG had no water. Did t want to haul water up for the next day too, so we decided to extend our 50ish mile day to 78 by riding down the 20+mile descent to a campground with water.
I was tired when I got to camp. I stumbled around trying to figure out where to set up. Then found this pretty spot.
I showered and made this amazing peanut butter, honey, blueberry and banana sandwich. With a cuke on the side.
And bed!
Day 80: 45 miles. Prairie City to Dayville
Midnight sky was spectacular.
We sadly had our last hot oatmeal and coffee/hot chocolate this morning as our fuel canister ran out and it seems unlikely we will get a new one before the trip ends in ONE WEEK! Thank you Jetboil, you served us well.
Coming into the town of John Day. Names for a prospector.
This town is the jumping off point for a circular bicycle route that connects several towns in the area, so there was lots of bike-centric stuff.
And a bear sculpture, of course.
We rode on to Dayville where we would be staying at Dayville community church.
We caught up with Mal and Mel Baxter! We’ve been following this Australian couple on the trail and on Instagram almost since our trip started. They have given us so much advice, like our own trail guardian angels. Most importantly Mal is the one who drew us the map to tell us where the mean big white dog lived way back in Kentucky! They have been a week or more ahead of us but recently slowed down, and today we finally overlapped. We had lunch together in an excellent little cafe—one of my best meals of the trip, and we are staying in the same church with them. Ueli from Scotland and Lars from Colorado are also staying here tonight ( they are eastbound). So we have all been swapping stories about what’s to come on the trail.
Day 79: 68 miles. baker city to prairie city Oregon.
Saying goodbye to warm showers host, Judy. She was so cool she had previously taken a 9000+ mile bike ride around the US. She was supposed to do the Trans Am trail with someone who advertised in adventure cycling but that woman quit on the second day. She ended up doing a modified ride by herself, then later planned the 9k+ ride. She said it was a gift that the woman abandoned the trip and showed her she could ride alone.
The ponderosa pines were beautiful the way they are more spaces apart.
And there were rivers of pine cones lining the road.
In a rude awakening, 2 miles from the summit of the third climb the road turned to gravel, but I learned to pick my way through for the best trail, but then I started worrying about the downhill. Would I be breaking the whole way to avoid skidding out? In the end, it was way better than expected.
As has happened before, popping through the final pass. Thought us to a beautiful valley with views of the next range.
This rest stop had a huge covered wagon. They like their pioneer history out here!
And then I arrived in Prairie City after a 7-mile downhill.
I ate at a little pub/pizza place with quite a few trophies on the wall.
I had a pizza that was decent while I waited for Deidre, but then the restaurant said they would be closing early and I realized she wasn’t going to make it, so I paid quick then ran across the street to get Deidre dinner from the Mexican place before that restaurant closed too. They had also closed but I knocked on the window and asked them to make her a chicken enchilada, which they did. Good thing because it had been a long day and there was nothing else to eat in town.
Here is the elevation profile of our ride.
Day 78: oxbow to Baker city, Oregon
We woke a little late in Oxbow, then got on the road after Todd, who packed up earlier than we did.
Today was totally beautiful, but unremarkably so because every day has been so beautiful. All desert.
This area smelled so strong of sage and time and rosemary—it smelled like thanksgiving dinner! It definitely made me nostalgic for home.
During these long climbs, what gets me is not my legs but how tired the rest of my body is. My shoulders, My left hand keeps falling asleep, and the not unrelated pain in my hip. Plus, the sun was finally shining, even though the temperatures did not rise out of the 80s. It felt hot and exposed.
I entertained myself by listening to the book Trust Exercises by Susan Choi.
I stopped for a snack and stared dumbly out at the landscape. I was too tired to move. Then a hummingbird mistook the red label on my snack bag for a flower and flew right in front of my face to check out the bag. It was amazing to be so close.
I was exhausted when I rolled into town around 615. I hung out with Judy our a warm shower host until Deidre showed up around 815. Judy had made homemade soup with homemade chicken stock, vegetables and chicken. It was delicious. I think the Kale even came out of her garde
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