Day 7 June 28, Leaburg to Prineville 122 miles

Wild Rhododendron near Proxy Falls

Sunday, 6/28/81
Prineville, OR City Park

Got up at 6:00 and climbed McKenzie Pass. Took five hours, 22 miles. Great scenery on top, see the pictures. 

Ride into Sisters was nice, but short. What a change! From almost rain forest to almost desert in one day. Fantastic! Lunch in Sisters. Camped in Prineville City Park. Sprinklers came on twice during the night.

McKenzie Pass was the worst climb of the entire trip: twenty miles of steep switchbacks up and over McKenzie Pass. There was a less steep alternate route over Santium Pass, but it was longer and less scenic. I never even considered it. A couple of weeks later in Montana, I heard about a guy who climbed half way up McKenzie Pass, gave up, turned around and took Santium Pass. Talk about doing things the hard way!

Three Sisters, McKenzie Pass

I stopped half way up McKenzie Pass to hike in half a mile to two of the prettiest waterfalls I have ever seen. That helped. I did some climbs later on that were shorter and less steep than McKenzie Pass, but were nevertheless much more uncomfortable. The difference was the weather. McKenzie Pass was on the west and therefore the cool side of the Cascades. All the other climbs were on the east and therefore the hot side of the Cascades. The difference was most noticeable.

McKenzie Pass lava.

At the top of McKenzie Pass, surrounded by the snow-covered peaks of the Cascade Mountains, is a huge black lava flow with a complete absence of life, which is a characteristic of relatively fresh flows. It was quite disconcerting to see it up here in the mountains instead of down in eastern Oregon where one expects that sort of thing.

That night in Prineville City Park, I was with with two other bikers. The mayor said it wasn’t policy to allow camping in the park, but they’d let us do it just this once. What he forgot to tell us was that the automatic sprinkler system comes on at 1 AM. I never hopped out of a sleeping bag so fast in my life! I managed to wedge my helmet in the sprinkler closest to me and thus averted disaster. The other bikers were all right because they had a tent. It was a bit noisy since the sprinkler nozzle was only four feet away from the tent and was spraying water with a force that would normally send it 25 feet. Eventually, the water subsided and we drifted off to sleep again, only to be awakened at 3 AM with a repeat performance. It was generally a bad night.

Llamas outside Sisters, Oregon.

Looking back at the Cascades from Central Oregon.

Day 6: June 27 Junction City to Leaburg 39 miles

Goodpasture Bridge, McKenzie River.

Saturday, 6/27/81
Leaburg, OR church

Got a late start because I watched a tv movie last night. A fellow cyclist showed me some neat bike trails in Eugene and directed me back to the trail, A bridge was out because they ere building a new one. I had a choice between a 7-mile detour or a railroad bridge. I half walked, half carried the bike over the bridge. [I have no recollection of this whatsoever—ha!]

In the evening, a family in Leaburg showed me where I could use a picnic table down by the river behind the church. The boys even brought me cookies. McKenzie River  is one of the prettiest west Cascade rivers I've seen. I'm very tired but I have a 5,000-foot McKenzie Pass to climb tomorrow.

Day 5: June 26 Neskowin to Junction City 70 miles

Willamette River, Corvallis

Friday, 6/26 81
Motel in Junction City, OR
 
I crossed the Coast Range this morning without even realizing it. I kept waiting for it to get steep when, all of the sudden, I was going downhill. Great! It's only a 700-foot pass, though.

After that, it was downhill to the Willamette River valley. A strong tailwind, and well-maintained bike trails led to a 100-mile day! Stayed in a motel in Junction City, off the trail. Cooked with my stove in the room. and watched MASH twice. Very nice.

I stayed in a motel that night. I had always planned to stay in a motel once a week for a little luxury and a long hot shower. It was weird keeping my bike in the room and spreading my crap all over. I got off to a very late start the next morning. I never even considered staying in a motel room again. It turns out showers are available when you’re on the road—for example, we would go into any KOA Kampground we passed and use their pay showers.

I rode 103 miles that day—quite an accomplishment. I averaged 70 miles per day overall.

Day 4: June 25 Nehalem Bay State Park to Neskowin 66 miles

Thursday, 6/25/81
National Forest Service campground near Neskowin, OR

Nehalem Bay in the morning fog.

Misty in the morning (great pictures). Visited Tillamook Cheese Factory—mildly interesting. Lunch at Cape Lookout State Park—big climb. Sun came out 3:00—cutoffs. Explored Cape Kiwanda—fantastic geography. [I returned to Cape Kiwanda a couple of years ago. It is an official park now and it was crawling with people.] Took eight pictures, lots of fun. [For those of you who were not around before digital photography, if you didn't have money, you really had to consider every single shot, since you had to pay for the film and the photo processing] Neskowin grocery store burned down two months ago, so cold food for dinner—there's plenty. Lousy Forest Service campground. What there is has been ravaged by campers. Outhouses and picnic tables and huge mosquitoes.

A log in Nehalem Bay.

The Oregon coast can be difficult riding. It’s a series of bays and headlands and bays and headlands. Climbing over some of those headlands can be, as I found out, worse than crossing mountain ranges.

Nehalem River.

Cape Kiwanda

I was quite taken (blown away) with Cape Kiwanda.

It appears to be weathered sandstone and mudstone.

One of the most photogenic places I have ever seen.

Of course, my photos don't do it justice.

They were taken with a cheap camera on cheap film that faded over the years.

Then they were poorly scanned and Photoshopped.

South from Cape Lookout.

A fern in a tree branch above my campsite.

Day 3: June 24 Fort Canby State Park, WA to Nehalem Bay State Park, OR 59 miles

A ship from the Columbia River Bridge.

Wednesday, 6/24/81
Nehalem Bay State Park

Not a cloud all day. Started late so I could see the Lewis and Clark display at the park. Crossed Columbia River bridge into Oregon at Astoria at noon. (took 25 minutes!) Picked up TransAmerica Trail and immediately got lost. Had to get maps into perspective. Hot tar on back road nearly ruined my bike. I guess it's OK. Laundry in Seaside. Nowhere to lunch! Ate lunch at 5:00! Couldn't find camping at Oswald West State park, so went to Nehalem Bay State Park. Rather than share a picnic table with other cyclists, I paid for my own site. [I soon got over that shyness.]Watched stars before bed, Saw Venus! Alright!

Astoria from the bridge

Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach.



South from Cannon Beach.



View south from Oswald West State Park.



Seagulls at Hug Point.

Another Oswald West view.

 

Day 2: June 23 Montesano to Fort Canby State Park 77 miles

Mountain of oyster shells.

Willapa Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

A ship passing over the Columbia River bar.

Looking back from the Columbia River entrance jetty.

Logging operation.

Tuesday, 6/23/81
Fort Canby State Park, WA

It rained all night and was very wet in the morning. It stayed overcast till 3 PM. Then I put on cutoffs in the sun. [No dorky bike shorts for me!] Stayed at Fort Canby State Park, mouth of Columbia River. Beautiful, huge park. Walked to end of rock jetty and got drenched by surf. Beautiful weather, no tent.

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse.

A coastal sea stack.

I also have a clear memory of being awakened in the middle of the night. Turning on my flashlight, I found a large raccoon going through my bags. When I turned the light on him, he looked back as if to say, “Could you hold that light up a little higher?”  I had to crawl out of my sleeping bag and chase the bugger away with my pump. I moved by bags within reach for the rest of the night.

Day 1: June 22 Seattle to Montesano 89 miles

Monday, 6/22/81
Lake Sylvie State Park, Monsanto, WA

I began by ride by catching the ferry to Bremerton. Said good-bye to my dad and girlfriend. It started raining near Shelton and drizzled on and off all day. Someone threw a beer bottle at me south of Shelton. Camping at Lake Sylvie State Park, where I camped during my practicve ride around the Olympic Peninsula.

The rain didn’t let up till 9:00 the next morning. This was the largest volume of rain I experienced the entire trip. Due to the rain, this was the first of three or four times I was forced to use my tent. Usually, I slept in the open.