Oregon’s Big Country-Day 2, Part 2

As Jana and I were sitting in the comfy chairs, we were deciding when we should leave for the campsite. There was no sense in getting there too early, but we didn’t want to go too late either. Truthfully, I think we were getting kind of bored. We looked at the notes I had made about water, campsites, and such, and realized there was a nice campsite on a creek about 25 miles away. It was not quite 2:00. We decided to go for it! We knew there would be some climbing (we hadn’t really done any so far), but we figured we’d make by 6:00 or so. 

There’s the first climb (it continued on around the corner).

We got to where we had planned to camp originally. We still wanted to go on, even though we knew we had an 8 mile climb between us and our new destination. 

Jana found the spring that would have been our water source. Just as we were about to fill up our bellies, then fill our bottles, a pickup truck pulled up. Norman and Lisa were out looking for wild mustangs.

Supposedly they are out there, but we didn’t see any. 

Norman asked us if we needed anything, then offered us water, Gatorade, and some jerky. Not ones to turn down food and drinks, we said, “Yes!” They gave us 32oz bottles of Gatorade, 2 bottles of water, and 2 packages each of the jerky. We said thanks, and waved goodbye as they drove off. Then we sat down and each ate a package of jerky, and drank a bunch of the Gatorade. Now, the question was, where to stow the rest of the Gatorade? I combined one of my one liter bottles in the Gatorade bottle and put it in my feed bag (yes, it holds a 32 oz bottle). Then I collapsed the 1 liter bottle, and crushed the water bottle and attached them to the top of the stuff on my rack. Jana had to get a little more creative, but we both managed. 

We continued, starting the long climb. 

The views were getting better. 

Had to walk up part of this one. 

You can see Jana right at the bend in the road. She had to stop to adjust her Gatorade bottle. 

We finally had some downhill, but it was really rocky. Finally, I chickened out and walked part. 

It’s gonna get steep and tricky!

As we came around a corner, Jana saw these two antelope. 

Whatcha doin?

I saw this horse. 

It was laying down…oh, and not a horse…just a cow. 

Time was ticking away, and the route was not getting easier. We took inventory of our water, and decided we had enough between us to get to water tomorrow. So, we started looking for a place to camp. It wasn’t much further when we found a suitable place. 

Nice pleasant spot!

Jana propping her bike up so we can adjust the rear derailleur. 

Also, I forgot to mention, Jana rode much of today in her Crocs. Her shoes are hurting her feet. She is doing fine with them, and just hopes they hold up.