Thank you a million times Debbie and Brian!!! I will be back!
We were able to stay off the main drag through town thanks to directions from Debbie and Brian. We also found this little bike path.
Perfect!
As we made our way out to the Ochoco Hwy (aka Hwy 26), we were met with a moderately strong headwind. “So this is how it’s gonna be, eh?”, I said to the wind. The wind just responded by blowing in my face (cheeky wind).
It was fairly flat for several miles. We went by Ochoco Lake (had originally planned to stay at the county park there).
Looks like a nice lake.
Just before we started the actual climbing up Ochoco Pass, we met two more Trans Am cyclists. Grace and Matt are from Florida. They are also going west to east. They started in Seattle on June 2. It’s a first tour for both of them.
The climb up Ochoco Pass was never as difficult as McKenzie Pass.
Starting up Ochoco Pass.
The heat did mean consuming more water. Doug said he was going to need water. I started looking for a place we could get down to the creek. Eventually we came to a Forest Service Rd. We could see some people camping, and there was a creek. We grabbed water from the creek and filtered it. It felt good to chug some cold water, and top off the bottles.
Just a bit later, we pulled off I to some shade for some lunch. Debbie had given us each a half a loaf of banana bread she had made. OMG, it was delicious! I had to restrain myself from eating the whole thing!
We had about 6ish miles to go on the climb to Ochoco Pass. As I rode by one of the Forest Service roads, I recognized it from the Ochoco Overlander that Derik and I did last year.
Derik and I came out to 26 here last year. We had come from Walton Lake.
In another mile and a half, we reached the summit!
Ochoco Pass Summit! Woo Hoo!
Then there was a lovely 7 miles of downhill. Thanks to “Mother Nature’s Brakes”, I was able to just let Tilmann go. I only stopped once for this shot.
Nice view.
Once down out of the Ochocos, the temps really started to heat up. There was a seemingly endless, slightly uphill section just before coming into Mitchell. I was very glad to see the Entering Mitchell sign. The Spoke n Hostel is just as you come into town. Jilet (the owner) wasn’t here when we got here, but the signage was great, so we just did what the signs said. At first we were going to camp out back, but inside has AC, and there’s no one else here except a guy named Robert. Grace and Matt are camping out back.
Jilet came in a little later and gave us the tour. She even made these name signs for our beds.
Bunk room and common space.
Doug is next to me.
Downstairs is the kitchen, and more hanging out space. There are breakfast fixings, and spaghetti in the fridge. Out back is a wonderful shower (towels, soap, shampoo, and conditioner provided, of course). This is right up there with my favorite hostel on the AT, Norwich Hostel. It is actually even better as it is donation based (suggested donation is a measly $12). I told Jilet that I had wanted to stay here last year. She was happy I finally got to stay!
We did just under 50 miles today in 5:50 ride time. It was a good day!
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