Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Mountains and Orchards

This morning as I left my campsite at Clackamas Lake I discovered there actually was water there. I filled my third water bottle. I guess I should have investigated more last night.

About 9 miles into today's ride I came to my first pass of the day--Blue Box Pass. It was a pretty easy one. I never even got into Super Granny gear. At the top, I met one touring cyclist going the other direction. We talked for a bit then I continued on. As I came down Blue Box, there were great views of Mt. Hood.

I made the turn onto Hwy 35 toward Hood River and began the climb up my second pass--Bennett Pass. Bennett was longer and steeper than Blue Box, but still I was at the summit sooner than I thought.

On the way down, I met two touring cyclists. They were also doing Sierra Cascades, but in chunks. They told me Elk Pass is closed. I need to go over Elk Pass to get to Randle! Tomorrow I will call Gifford Pinchot Forest HQ and find out if it is still closed.

I continued down and met three guys touring. They were out of Portland. The one guy took a picture of me so I took a picture of them. They said they thought they had seen a tweet about me on Twitter. I dunno.

I stopped at Routson Co. Park so I could see what it looked like. It was my grandma's friend's uncle who homesteaded there.

Not long after the park, I was onto a road that would take me through Parkdale and Dee and on into Hood River in a somewhat roundabout way. I began to ride through orchard after orchard. Cherries mostly, but also pears.

As I continued down, I met two cyclists. They were on Day 1/2 (they were from Hood River).
As I came up this one hill, I saw Panorama Point. I figured since I was already going by , I might as well go up and see it. It was a pretty good view of Mt. Hood and the valley.

I continued my way into Hood River. I thought for sure I would see one more touring cyclist but, alas, it was not to be.

I made it to my cousin's house after riding 68 miles. Tomorrow I will find out if I have to do a severe detour...

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