Day 13: Monday, April 17

We woke up to freezing temperatures and snow this morning. We spent over an hour at a McDonald's in John Day hoping to wait it out. The clouds broke for a little while, however it continued to snow off and on throughout the morning. We stopped by the Ranger Station in Prairie City, about 15 miles from John Day, and they said they were expecting snow and freezing temperatures the rest of today. However tomorrow's forecast was much brighter and warmer so we decided to spend the rest of today and tonight here in Prairie City. We are camping at the Depot County Park, where they have some historic buildings and an old train car.

Day 12: Sunday, April 16

When I woke up this morning to frost on the windows, I was glad that we weren't sleeping outside. Keyes Creek Pass was only about 7 miles from Mitchell and the ride over was quick and pretty easy. About 20 miles after the pass, we entered John Day Fossil Beds National Monument.

The ride through John Day was picturesque. We stopped to hike up to an overlook just beyond the park. Unfortunately, Shayne got another flat tire shortly after Dayville. We spent most of the day riding and covered almost 70 miles. Tonight we are here at the Grant County Fairgrounds in the town of John Day. The next three passes are all within 30 miles of each other. The plan is to ride over all three tomorrow and then camp just outside Baker City, so we can do some shopping Tuesday morning in Baker City.

Day 11: Saturday, April 15

Today was quite the adventure. We woke up to a cold, steady rain. Three miles after leaving camp, Shayne got a flat tire. Our first flat of the trip couldn't have come at a more inopportune time as it started to snow. The snow intensified as we climbed up the pass. It didn't take very long before I was soaked. My feet became part of my pedals since I couldn't feel below my ankles. Thankfully, there wasn't very much traffic. Shayne and I joked about what the people in the cars who did pass us must have thought. They were isolated in the warm, comfort of their vehicles while we were building character. However, the climb up wasn't the worst part. At least then we were working and able to stay warm. The wind tore through our soaked clothes while we descended at 30 plus mph down the other side.

I was still chilled to the bone after we ate lunch at the Little Pine Cafe in the small town of Mitchell. The sun was kind enough to come out as we took a nap in the city park. However, when we work up, another front had moved in, so we decided to stay in Mitchell for the night. At first we were just going to camp in the city park, but the owner of the Oregon Hotel across the street told us that she had bunks available in the hostel room for only $10. It is a very nice, Victorian hotel, and we are glad to have a warm shower and a roof over our heads. Mitchell is also home to Henry the Bear.

Day 10: Friday, April 14

Today marks the end of our first official week on the trail. It was a lighter day on flat terrain, which was nice after climbing over the pass yesterday.We stopped at the Ranger Stations just outside of Prineville and decided not to push it over Ochoco Pass. It is supposed to snow tonight, and it would be really bad to get stuck halfway up the pass with no place to camp. Instead, we are here at the very nice Ochoco Lake Campground. It is a lot colder on this side of the mountain range away from the coast. Of course, being at 3,000 feet elevation doesn't help either. So now I am in my tent, sipping tea, trying to decide what to have for supper.

Ochoco Lake

Tomorrow we hope to cross Ochoco Pass (4,720 feet) and Keyes Creek Pass (4,357 feet.) There is a small town called Mitchell in between where we can take a break and grab some lunch. Looking ahead, there are three more passes that we hope to cross in the next two to three days before we get to Baker City. And then we will almost be into Idaho!

Day 9: Thursday, April 13

The ride over Santiam Pass wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected it to be. While we were definitely climbing, the grade was not that steep until very close to the top. It was overcast and rainy pretty much the whole day. This morning we stopped at two amazing waterfalls on the way up.

Koosah Falls

Sahalie Falls

The view from the pass.

It is amazing to see the difference in the vegetation from one side of the mountain to the other. It is very obvious that the moisture all gets trapped on the other side of the mountain range. While the ground was almost always damp and mossy before, the ground here is dry and there are a lot of ponderosa pine trees. It reminds me a lot of Flagstaff, Arizona.
This evening we have set up camp at Sisters City Park. Today was a forecast of things to come as we will be going over five more passes in the next two to three days.

Day 8: Wednesday, April 12

We left the hostel in Eugene early this morning and rode to Walterville where I was able to pick up my bike jacket that my sister was kind enough to send last week. Today was confirmation that I am starting to get into biking shape. We rode almost 65 miles, climbed close to 1000 feet, and we were still able to average over 13 mph. In fact, we were able to set up camp early. We are in the National Forest a little beyond McKenzie Bridge. It turns out McKenzie Pass is closed due to the snow. So, we will be going over Santiam Pass. The alternate route is 500 feet lower than McKenzie Pass, but 12 miles longer. Tomorrow is going to be interesting. We are camped at the foot of the mountain right now. Sisters is the town on the other side. However, it doesn't look like there are any services in the 50 or so miles in between here and there other than a couple of campgrounds.

Day 7: Tuesday, April 11

Unfortunately, Greg's knee had been bothering him from the beginning of the trip, and this morning it really started to hurt. Rather than risk permanent damage, he stopped in Monmouth to catch a Greyhound back to California.

Shayne and I made it to Corvallis by late morning. The stretch between Corvallis and Eugene was amazing. The weather had become absolutely perfect. It was nice, sunny, and, most importantly, flat! That afternoon, we ran into two other Oregon bikers who were heading down to California.Late in the day, as we approached Eugene, it finally started to drizzle. Tonight we are staying in the Eugene International Hostel. While this is the first time I have ever stayed in a hostel, I am not that impressed with this one. Shayne, who has stayed in many hostels across the country, agrees with me. However, I was glad that we weren't outside in the rain.

Today was a really fast day. We rode over 70 miles averaging over 13 mph most of the way. Making it to Eugene marks a significant accomplishment in our trip... we have completed the first section of maps (only 11 more to go!) The next section begins with our first real challenge: the 5,324 foot McKenzie Pass.