Mike here, it’s been a while. I flew into Eugene, unpacked the bike, and ride straight to Mago Gilson’s lovely AirBnb where she taught me to play La Bamba on the Jarana into the wee hours of the night.
The next morning I wandered around Eugene until the other bums arrived.
Nick’s knee was bothering him, so we decided to take the rest of the day to let him recover, which culminated in a late night hot tub rental.
The next day Nick was feeling better enough to ride. We rode 67 miles, which was longer than we intended, but the McKenzie forest fires of 2000 destroyed several of the campgrounds we were looking for.
We camped at McKenzie bridge campground, 26 miles from the peak of McKenzie Pass. Today we climb!
We spent the night in sisters, at the hiker/biker campground, which had a lovely shower facility, and a creek that was perfect for chilling a six pack.
After a nice breakfast with Nick, Greg and I headed out for Terrebonne and beyond.
We had a minor misdirection in Redmond, but wound up on a beautiful backcountry road before having a late afternoon beer in Prineville.
We made it most of the way up the Ochoco Pass, before my sit bone pain— which had been accumulating over the past day and a half— finally forced its attention upon us. We camped off a national Forest Road among the mosquitoes, had another pasta dinner and were in our tents before sunset.
This morning, we rode around 30 miles into Mitchell. It’s worth noting that the last time we were there there was a bear in a cage downtown, and the town was under siege by a gang of rambunctious bikers. Mitchell appears to have grown up quite a bit since then, with a swanky beer garden, and a bustling gravel/mountain bike scene.
At lunch, I made the executive decision to take the remainder of the day off from riding in order to rest my aching butt. From there, Greg headed east toward Dayville by bike, and I spent around an hour and a half thumbing a ride out 26. I was picked up by a friendly, bikey couple from Bend, OR, Elisia (?) and Chris (?). They had a tricked out sprinter van and were headed to Colorado for some mountain biking. They’re both transit/bike advocates by profession. They gave me a beer when they dropped me off!
We are now staying at the Dayville community church where I was met by Cindy and Skip who showed me the Wi-Fi and gave me a tour of the church. What am amazing place, and such gracious hosts!
I relaxed on a pew for a while until Greg arrived, then we had a terrific dinner at the Dayville Café. We’re now doing laundry and having showers back at the church.
I’m hoping for a fresh start tomorrow morning where will continue east toward toward Prairie city and eventually Baker city hopefully my butt holds out.
Saturday morning we woke up in Dayville and had another great meal, including pie, at the Dayville cafe. We visited a bit with the new owner of the Dayville mercantile, and then headed out toward Mt Vernon. Sadly, the antique shop where I played music with the locals 20 years ago was no longer. We passed thru John Day during the hottest part of the day, so we sat and had a couple beers at a brewery before Greg insisted on a blizzard at the local DQ.
We ended the day in Prairie City, where 20 years ago we sat in a hot tub with a high school kid overlooking the Strawberry Mountains. We didn’t see trace of him, and his parent’s restaurant— the Branding Iron— appeared to be gone. We are Mexican food at a place called El Cocinero, stopped at the grocery store, and then headed back to camp.
However! On riding back to our campsite, we happened to see a back alley entrance to an apparently secret bar, the Branding Iron! We walked in, and Greg quickly realized that we were in the back of the Mexican restaurant in which we’d just eaten! Wild. We had a couple drinks, played some shuffle board and then retired.
The next day was perhaps the most challenging day of the trip. Three separate climbs totaling over 3000 feet, and heat over 90 degrees. We ran out of water just as we reached the 3rd summit, with another 12 miles to go before the campground (mostly downhill). It’s only the 2nd time ever while touring that I’ve flagged a passing truck to see if they were willing to give us some water. Fortunately a very nice British lady driving a white Ford F450 was willing to oblige with multiple bottles of cold water.
Union Lake campground on Phillips lake was really splendid. We got in with a couple hours before sunset, and had a swim before dinner and an early goodnight.
Today was just about 20 miles into Baker City, where once we spent 2 days carousing with world traveler and adventurer extraordinaire Brian Barrows. Greg tells me he has an entertaining YouTube channel now!
Anyway, we picked up a UHaul, and Greg delivered me to the Boise airport after we’d dropped off my bicycle at Bob’s bike shop in sprawling Boise.
I think it’ll be a few days before my butt fully heals, but it was well worth it to catch up with old friends in hauntingly familiar places. Till next time, keep the rubber side down friends!
