Anaxshat Passage-A Day of Hopping On and Hopping Off Hwy 224

Official Day 1 of our Anaxshat Passage went well. We had to get back to the route from the State Park, but that was easy. We planned just about 35 miles, so we didn’t feel like we had to get a pre-butt crack of dawn start. We even took advantage of the free showers. Still we were packed and ready to roll before 8:30. 

We had a short distance on Hwy 224 before we got off on a gravel side road, but that also didn’t last long before we were back on the Hwy. But, never fear, we diverted once again for several miles of paved, but no car road to the North Fork Dam and beyond. 

On the Scenic Bikeway when we were on pavement. 

No cars!

2 km fish ladder to the North Fork Dam. 

Some swift moving water there!

We continued to follow the Clackamas River. 

Above the dam. 

Eventually we were back on the Hwy. This time, for 14 miles. 

Stick Forest for a long time!

This bridge wasn’t the route, but just for fun we rode across it (and back) anyway. 



The sign on the right says, “Target Shooting Information”. Apparently, the information is that there is no target shooting. 

We took a snack break at Carter Falls. We talked to a woman who was waiting for rafters to come through so she could get photos for the rafting company. 

Class III and IV rapids. 

We left before they came through, but saw them later up the river. 

There were four boats. 

After the 14 miles, we came to another section off Hwy 224. This was the Pipeline Rd. Basically, we followed the hydro-electric pipeline (surprise surprise). However, it was also the longest and steepest climb of the day. 

The pipeline coming down the mountain. 

The road started out paved, but soon turned to gravel. At one point, I glanced at my Garmin. It said the grade was 14%. As the road switchbacked, I stopped to catch my breath (this is what happens when you haven’t been on your bike for over a week). Due to the steepness of the grade, I could not get going again. I pushed Billy until the climb leveled out enough to get going. It was in full sun, and quite warm. At least for part of it, there was a good tailwind. 

We stopped for some lunch where we could get water from a small stream. It was a good break in the shade, but the flies they were a bitin’. Back on the bikes, we had a nice descent back to…you guessed it…Hwy 224. Now we would be on it until the campsite. The route does go off onto the Clackamas River Trail, but the Trail is so overgrown that it’s very difficult to get through. Makaela had read about this beforehand from another person who did it. We were glad to have had that information. We just stayed on the Hwy to Riverside Campground. The campground is closed (fire damage), but we are staying here anyway. We did get a very nice site, and access to the river. For a closed campground, there have been several groups of people coming and going. No one else appears to be staying the night. 

This is supposed to be the end of the Clackamas River Trail. There is hardly a trail. 

Our campsite (complete with really good walking stick to get down to the river).


Tomorrow we head toward Timothy Lake. All day we have been seeing orange signs saying no access to Timothy Lake, Detroit Lake, and one other. The woman we talked to at Carter Falls said she thinks those are old signs. We hope so…