Andrew and I woke up on Sunday, had breakfast, and immediately got to work on our next obstacle: Elwood Pass, at over 11,600 feet. We had 1600 feet to climb over 8 miles of dirt road through more stunning mountain wilderness. We kept a solid pace and soon found ourselves making a victory lunch (only some of which was accidentally spilled) overlooking an alpine meadow. We then had over 3000 feet of glorious, bumpy decent over 19 miles to get us back to paved highway. Thankfully the road down was in great condition, with very little washboard, so we were able to keep our speed up as we raced down the mountainside.
Once we made it back to smooth pavement, we had an easy ride into the town of south fork where a pizza joint/taproom awaited us. After gorging ourselves, we decided it was still early, and we should just go for the extra 22 miles to the next town of Creede. A few hours of more great riding though canyons carved by the Rio Grande, and we were checking in to the first motel of the trip. We showered, did laundry, hosed off the bikes, ordered takeout, and watched Beetlejuice before falling into a very comfortable sleep.
We woke up in Creede, had a great breakfast across the street from our motel, did some shopping, and headed out on the road. A great day of riding along the wide valley of the Rio Grande. Got some ice cream at a resort, then began a long climb up to the Continental Divide. It also looked like we were about to encounter the first real weather of the trip – at one point it seemed like we were surrounded by dark rain clouds, but somehow managed to keep relatively clear skies above us and only had a few sprinkles.
A mile from the top and we spotted a familiar minivan – Morgan and Joey hath returned! They had done a road trip to Silverton and the million dollar highway, to raving reviews. Unfortunately, Joey was still on the DL, so he stayed in the van while Morgan rode with us to Spring Creek pass (10,898 feet) on the divide, where we made camp for the night. Certainly a chilly night up that high, but it was worth it for the views! From now on, our pee flows to the Pacific!
On Tuesday morning (brr!) we made breakfast on the pass, and then took off on the bikes for an 800 foot descent before beginning the 5 mile climb up to Slumgullion Pass – 11,530 feet. The climb wasn’t too bad, especially since the scenery was so gorgeous – aspen-covered mountains as far as the eye could see. Morgan joined us on the ascent while Joey drove the welcome wagon. We finally made it to the top, and Morgan and Joey switched off as we took off down one of the most amazing descents I’ve done -3000 feet over 10 miles, with smooth pavement and wide turns and beautiful views the whole way down. Eventually we made it into Lake City, but not before spying a moose across the canyon!
We lunched in Lake City before saying goodbye to Morgan and Joey, who needed to return to Albuquerque for Joey’s sister’s wedding. Andrew and I piddled around for a bit – visiting the bakery twice! – before heading down the road on a gentle descent before we came to a nice BLM campground on the river.
On Wednesday morning we had two decent 1000 foot climbs and then got a nice long descent back into the high desert and the gunnison river. We followed the cottonwood-lined river up to the city of Gunnison – the largest town we’d seen since Taos! We decided to get another hotel and live it up in the city, though the brewery was inexplicably closed so we made due with an outdoor pub attached to a pizza place. We also realized that we were way ahead of schedule and only had to average 25 miles per day to catch our train!
On Thursday, we decided to skip riding to Crested Butte and instead opt for the much-less trafficked Ohio pass road. What a great ride! 5 miles of bike path, 15 miles of quiet pavement, then another 10 of dirt that led us up towards the 10000 foot pass, all through another amazing valley! We found a nice campsite on a ridge about 500 feet below the pass and turned in early.
Alice and I caught the Amtrak Thursday night, after a brief waterfront music sesh with Darles where I got to test drive my new fake plastic clarinet (it’s called a clarineo and sounds surprisingly good for being a lightweight, waterproof, nearly indestructible reed instrument).
After grabbing some Soley Vegan for the ride, we handed off our bikes to the baggage attendant (Amtrak finally nixed its dumb bike-box policy), and were off on our train ride to … Sacramento. Turns out wildfire season (predictably) began early this year, and the rail tracks were first on the menu. We had to take a seven hour bus ride from Sac to kiss Klamath Falls, where we re-boarded another train. Other than that, our trip went find, and the train ride through Oregon to Portland was gorgeous.
Upon arriving in Portland, we were graciously hosted by Alice’s friends Rebecca and Matt, who took us out to some of the most delicious tacos I’ve had, and took us on a tour of Rebecca’s amazing print studio, complete with 1600 pound press!
Unfortunately, Zach’s train ride from Seattle took nearly as long as ours did, and also resulted in a bus transfer. Nonetheless, we all met up for breakfast this morning, hungry for the open road.
You know it’s gonna be a great tour when a stranger asks about your bikes, gets excited about your trip and treats you to your first meal – at a vegetarian Jewish deli, no less! Once we were full of bagels, cabbage roll, and vegan lox, we hit a store for supplies and headed east out of Portland, taking the Max to Gresham to get a jump start out of the city. Traffic and strip malls slowly tapered off until we found ourselves rolling through the countryside on the Columbia plateau.
Riding the Columbia River Gorge is bike touring at its finest: beautiful scenery, low traffic, several excellent bike paths, and a fair smattering of small towns, fruit stands, and campgrounds. We are lunch at Crowne point overlook, did a short hike at Multnomah falls, and had some beers in Cascade Locks. While we drank at the brewery, Alice gave a curious fellow an impromptu musical saw lesson. Overall, it was a great first day of riding: not too hot, not too hard, and we even had a tailwind. Also, more bike paths have been completed since I was here last, so there’s now only one brief section of the gorge route where you need to venture on to I-84 (which we will tackle tomorrow).
We ended the day here at Viento state park, where we made some delicious veggie cheese burgers with grilled onions and jalepeno on ciabatta rolls. We ended the night with beers, music, and free hot showers! Doesn’t get much better than this!
Another great day in the books! Woke up at camp and made some gourmet breakfast burritos, then headed east towards hood river aided by a killer tailwind. Hood river unfortunately had no replacement violin bows (Alice’s became unstrung, so we are currently musical saw-less), but we did pick up some camp fuel, and, more important, ice cream!
There was a good climb out of town and then we were back on the amazing Columbia gorge bike trail. I think this is the fourth time I’ve done this route, and it gets better every time. There’s now only a 4 mile section where you need to get on the freeway, which is quite a change from when Megan Books and I rode it back in…2005?
The tailwind got stronger and stronger as we headed eastward, and then we were at the famous Rowena Curves, a set of really fun curvy switchbacks that led us of the plateau and into the town of The Dalles.
We picked up some supplies and then headed across the Columbia into Washington. Unfortunately, we then had to ride west, back into the wind that had been aiding us all day. But it was still a nice ride on a quiet highway. We saw some bison, took a swim in the river, and had some nice chats with some windsurfers.
Now we’ve pulled away from the Columbia as we ride up Klickitat canyon and back up into the plateau – gonna be some good hills today, but nothing a few bums can’t handle!
Woke up in the RV park with fresh laundry and clean bodies. We started the day at the coffee shop/bakery. Today we committed to spending our flex day exploring the Mount Rainier National Forest.
A quick 12 mile ride got us to the Ohanapecosh campground. We spent the day hiking amongst old growth cedars, crystal-blue streams, and baby skunks. We would discover later in the afternoon that our campsite was nestled amongst an enormous group of nosey church-goers on an annual summer retreat. One particular octagenarian would not leave us alone. Cue Cat Stevens. We ended the day with a frosty dip in the river, a gourmet dinner of cheesey broccoli rice, and some tunes next to the campfire before retiring to a delightfully chilly evening.
