Anaxshat Passage-A Long Climb to Where I’ve Been Before

We had a nice night last night letting the river lull us to sleep. Woke up close to 6:00. Even though the campground was closed, the potty shacks were still reasonably functional (at least the one close to us…we didn’t check out the others…ya only need one). We were packed up and back on the road just after 8:00. From the beginning we were climbing. It wasn’t difficult, and it was paved. 

Makaela up ahead there. 

There were numerous dispersed campsites along the river, and only about 4 vehicles total (most were empty). It is Monday, so I suppose most people are back at work. 

About 8 miles in, we turned off onto gravel. No the climbing began in earnest. It was an 8 mile climb. We would get to Forest Development Road 42 after about 5 or 6 miles, then continue the climb. 

We did have a couple of log trucks to deal with. I just pulled over, let the dust settle a bit, then continued on. I caught up to Makaela where she was waiting. Another log truck went by. This one had the decency to slow down, and not kick up so much dust. I have him a thumbs up. 

We had a bit of downhill to 42. Forest Road 42 is part of the Sierra Cascades Route from Adventure Cycling. This was my third time going up this road. We came in partway up the road, so I didn’t do the whole thing again. 

A nice view

Still going up, but much nicer on pavement. 

When I caught up to Makaela again, she said, “Look behind you”.

First she thought it was Mt. Hood, but I was pretty sure Mt. Hood was in front of us still. This had to be Jefferson. 

At the top, we had a bit of descent, and then a couple more shorter climbs. We took a lunch break off of Skyline Road (which is still FR 42). More downhill (and a bit of uphill).

We got up to speeds of 33 mph. Here’s Makaela in tuck position (or is she smelling her shirt???)

Upon seeing the nasty steep hill at the turn to go to Summit Lake to camp, we decided to continue on to Clackamas Lake. Upon reaching Clackamas Lake CG, and seeing it was $25, we decided to continue on to Gone Creek CG. Just after leaving Clackamas, we got on the Miller Trail. 

It was not too bad singletrack (even though I’m not a mountain biker, I had fun pretending).

Upon reaching Gone Creek CG, and finding it was $26 per site, I asked the host if there was a lower rate for cyclists (it doesn’t hurt to ask). There was not, but the host told me where we could disperse camp that was not far from the campground. We dumped our trash, filled up on water, and set out to find a dispersed site. 

We followed Cheryl’s directions. She said she had just checked out the sites that morning. Said the first one on the right was, in her opinion, the nicest one. We found it, but it was occupied. We kept going. Came to another one. It looked suitable (there were many more nicer ones a bit further, even one with a creek, but you never know what’s ahead). We got our tents set up, then it started to rain. This wouldn’t really be a problem. It wasn’t raining hard. But, Makaela had opted to not bring the rainfly for her tent. She moved her tent under a tree, but it wasn’t really a good spot. I got into my tent. When it stopped raining, I got out, and Makaela was in the process of moving her tent to another country (okay, it wasn’t another country, but it was quite far away). She had to go back into the woods (past where all the previous campers had taken dumps and not practiced “Leave No Trace” principles) to find a flat spot with some tree cover. 

Makaela’s tent in far far away land. 

Before dinner (to kill some time), we went for a walk to check out the next dispersed site (okay, maybe we should have done that first). It was nice with a good spot under some tree cover. But, Makaela having already moved her tent once, and me not needing to move my tent, we decided to stay where we were. We did, however, appropriate some “furniture”. 

Makaela lounging in her new cinder block chair. She later added my Z-seat pad for more comfort. It made our home so nice (even though her house was in Far Far Away Land up that trail behind her). I, of course, have my chair…and my rainfly…but I won’t rub that in…very much. 

We cooked our dinner using a nice Tyvek tablecloth (minus the table) between us, as we sat on our furniture. Quite fancy…really!

We did a post dinner stroll (to kill more time), discovering all those other nice sites. When we got back, Makaela said she thought it might be time to retire to her tent in Far Far Away Land (through the gauntlet of toilet paper). It was only 6:15. Instead, we sat in our chairs and chatted until the respectable hour of 7:00. At that point it was okay to begin the nighttime chores of teeth brushing and whatnot. Now, I’m finishing this post so I can finish my “tent work” and go to sleep. Tomorrow we continue around Timothy Lake on singletrack, then climb up to Abbot Road.