Jefferson to Portland to Wyeth

I missed an update yesterday, which is really rare. Once my tour last summer got into swing I managed to update every day, even if it meant doing it at 12:30am after hanging out with strangers all night.  However, last night I was at my good buddy Mark's house in Portland, and by the time it was bed time I was in no-shape to write anything.  Unfortunately that means the details of yesterday are already fading.

So, here goes two very eventful days in one post, sort of like when you get two Famous Amos Cookies out of the vending machine when you only paid for one!

Jefferson to Portland
This was a heck of a day! 107 miles 7:53 on bike time, 12 hours total time (6:30am to 6:30pm) I woke up at 4:45am to beat the wind, but sunrise wasn't until 6:30 so my packing was hampered. Stupid fall. Normally I wake up at 5:30 and try to be riding 7 - 7:30 (often I get out later because I'm slow and dumb in the morning.)

I stealth camped just fine in the dugout and Jefferson, and then found out later that they let cyclists stay there all the time (damn, should have found someone to ask. Always ask!)  I hit Salem at 30 miles, and Champoeg (Shampoo-e) state park at 70 miles.

I didn't really want to go 107 miles, but that's just how it worked out. Normally I start bike tours easy, but this one is a bit backwards.  Day 1 was 70 miles of killer headwinds and heat , and day 2 was 107 miles of hot, less head windy hills.  That's stupid.  Most of my days on this tour will be 60-70 miles, albeit they will have mountain passes. On the bright side, I'm in better shape then when I rode Oregon at the beginning of last year, but not in as good a shape as at the end of my tour last year.  It's hard to start up where you left off.

It was a pretty ride.  The northern part of the Willamette Scenic Windtunnel if much prettier.  They hadn't done all their harvesting yet, so there were regular crops, as well as tons and tons of hops and variety crops likely grown for food co-ops.  It was really nice.  Next time I ride it North to South (tailwind) and in 3 days instead of 2 so I can screw around more.

It was also hillier (which I liked for the break in monotony)  slightly less windy, and a bit more shaded.  It was 95-100 degrees though.

The highlight of the trip was not biking into Portland (that was a 14 mile death march because I was tired, a bit lost, and disliking traffic - although I did buy lemonade from little kids that was great).  The highlight was Champoeg State Park. It's a nice little park where a town was washed away in the 1800s.  It's also where the first Oregonians voted to join the federal government.  It's worth visiting, and is the northern terminus of the scenic bikeway.  From there I picked my own route to Portland with Google Bike Map's help.  It was decent.

Mark and Sarah's house was of course great.  We've been friends forever and he cooked a great meal and I got hang out with their kids and John, an old friend from Eugene.  We drank beer, played music, and did the all the things that are fun.

Portland to Wyeth
WHAT A GREAT DAY!  I almost took a rest day in Portland to let the heat-wave break and get better winds, but I did some research and learned that this would screw me wind-wise a few days down the road.  Besides, another bagger told me once that a rolling stone keeps momentum. He's right.  Rest days have a way of convincing you that what you are doing really may be a terrible idea - and I prefer not to use them without reason.

The route I'm taking is the Old Columbia River Highway through the gorge (it's a mapped bike route) that I last took with Karen, Ariel, and Minwah on our 2007 x-country bike tour.  I've been riding in good memories of that trip all day, and noting a few improvement to the road.

I hit the start of it 15 miles past Mark's house, and am now camped in Wyeth Campground (not town, we learned Wyeth town doesn't exist back in 2007) about 55 miles today with 4:46 on bike.  That's a much saner day, even though it was still crazy hot.

Luckily, the gorge is great to ride in the heat.  Most of it is shaded, and it's chock full of waterfalls that spray off cool mists.  I think I saw something like 8 huge waterfalls today.  A tailwind showed up near the end of the day, and the heat will break tomorrow.  Can't complain.

Sort of.

I can always complain.  I made very slow time because I was stopping every 5 miles or so at a waterfall and even doing some hiking. That's what a tour is all about.  However, that meant I got done with the 55 mile ride at 5:30 (only an hour sooner than my 107 mile ride yesterday).  That alone is fine - if your planned campground isn't kind of effed up.

First, the road to Wyeth is half-chipsealed at the moment.  Meaning it's tar-soaked gravel.  It's also a huge hill, so I had to climb 5 miles straight up in gravel that kept sticking to my tires and getting clogged in my fenders and almost stopping me. It sounded like raptors were clawing at my bike. Then, when I got to Wyeth, I learn they don't have potable water due to E. coli.

Shit. No really, that means there is shit in the water.  I weighed my options.  Go farther into the unknown kind of late in the day when it's hot, or figure this out.  The next "town" may have been 10 more miles, or it could have been 20 - it's hard to tell on these maps what towns exist, and this campground is very pretty.

Luckily, I have water purification drops (Aqua Mira) as a standard part of my "don't get dead" kit, so after chatting with the campground host I found a good stream and now I have all  the water I need  (I just have to hike to it and wait 35 minutes every time I need more).  It was $5 for the hiker/biker spot, but when she didn't have change for a $10 she just let me stay for free. 

The upshot of no water is the campground is mostly empty, I have an entire field almost to myself with shade, and I didn't have to pay (in the end).  Well, if my purification drops fail I'll be paying out the end... and don't worry you'll hear all about it.

Tomorrow is a 40-50 mile day into the Dalles with a forecast tailwind and high of 80 degrees. Looks like the hardest 3 days of the trip may be over (ha!).

Oh, I almost forgot. I passed through Cascade Locks which has the Bridge of the Gods, which is where the PCT crosses into Washington.  I saw craploads of PCT hikers and talked to a few. When I was here in June on my last tour I didn't see any because I doubt they had made it this far yet.  I can't wait to hike to Hood River from Crater Lake on the PCT. Maybe next summer?