Last night was pretty chilly – probably lower 40s/upper 30s – but we all had the gear for it
We got a good start this morning, but got a bit waylaid at the weird boutique general store/restaurant in McKenzie Bridge
We began our ascent of McKenzie Pass – we know the eastern side was closed due to repaving, but a cyclist we met yesterday assured us we could just wait until after the crews had finished to descend. The prospect of a no/low traffic ride over the pass seemed worth it, plus the alternative was 20 miles longer and not as scenic (it’s pretty common that when a gate on a road goes up, the cyclists come out to play)
We made decent time riding up the pass, and to our joy there was very little traffic since there was no through route for cars. And wow was it gorgeous! It was a nice, sunny day but the thick foliage provided plenty of shade
We were about halfway up when we stopped for lunch – we cooked up some fancy veggie burgers with onions, tomatoes, and jalapenos. Pretty lux.
Unfortunately, while we were cleaning up from lunch, a couple of cyclists heading down informed us that there was a guard posted at the top of the pass that wasn’t letting anyone through, and that guards were posted 24 hours. We had been led astray
We didn’t have much of a choice to turn around and descend back down the near-2000 feet we had climbed, and then take the alternate route over santiam pass. I wouldn’t say it was worth it, but the blazing descent was really fun
The main road wasn’t awful, but it was a let down after what we had just done – more traffic and less shade
We knew we were too cooked to make it over the pass – we did probably around 5k of climbing today – so we aimed for a campsite near the top, only to find it was full!
No worries – the ever-adaptive bike bums found a cozy spot to pitch off a forest road. After a tasty quesadilla dinner, we’re now snug in our tents
Tomorrow: santiam pass, Sisters, and a hang with some Pandora nerds
