Day 11-Rebuilding

What a lovely spot we had last night! And the best part is that we woke up to blue sky!!! First time in 11 days! So, of course I had to take this photo too. 

The sun has come!

Not too long after we got onto Hwy 126, we started noticing the remnants of the major forest fire of  two years ago. It was massive, destroying entire towns (Blue River, Nimrod), and burning everything in between. We saw a few “Thank you Firefighters” signs still displayed at houses. Much rebuilding has been done, and several homes are under construction. Nearly every building was new. 

All new buildings. 

The Goodpasture Covered Bridge was spared somehow. 

Riding through, even though we just had to ride back through. 

We stopped in Vida for some lunch. Met a couple, Virgil and Mary from Corvallis. They are cyclists too. Had a great time talking with them. 

Even though we were gradually climbing, it was pretty easy. Our average ended up being 10.2 (doesn’t seem like a lot, but on loaded bikes it’s not bad). We pulled off here and there to take photos of the river and the “stick forest”.

McKenzie River and sticks (not to be confused with the River Styx, although I bet during the fire it was pretty close).


Near McKenzie Bridge, we started to see more green trees instead of burned trees. 

Reaching the end of the burned area. 

Then, just like that, no more burned area! When we reached McKenzie Bridge, there were no longer any signs of fire. Also came to another covered bridge. 

Belknap Bridge (the 4th build)

 

We had planned to stay at McKenzie Bridge Campground (USFS), but decided we would go on to Limberlost CG. We stopped at the Obsidian Grill and Market for a break and a snack before continuing for the remaining 5 or 6 miles. I noticed Doug was lagging a bit behind (he’s usually pretty close), and we were coming up to another USFS campground, Paradise. I stopped and asked if he would rather stay here. He said he was tired but could go on if he had to. I said we didn’t have to, so we are staying in Paradise (campground). The host came over after we had set up and paid (we used Doug’s Golden Pass so only had to pay $12). He said we could have stayed for free in the day use area (what a difference from Armitage!!!). Now we know to check with the camp host first to see if that is available. 

It was amazing riding in the sun all day! I think I was even sweating!!!