Adam and I are copacetic. We did a
tour last fall, along with three others, and we'd been bike riding friends for years. Our
pace is usually in sync, as are our conversations. He'd left his home in Bend
two days before, ridden out for an overnighter with his local group, the
Kooks, near Suttle Lake I think, then continued to meet me at Kiahanie.
There's no cell service at Kiahanie, or on the Aufderheide I think. We had to
meet like we did before cell phones and the internet; a place and a time, and
if either of us had not made it, we would have had to figure it out. I like
that. Glad we did.
This time I was lagging, the lack of sleep was starting to make me feel like
the riding dead. We continued up the Aufderheide in beautiful light, enjoying
each other's company and keeping a mellow pace. It does get steeper toward the
top, and the heat was climbing. He assured me the other side was beautiful,
and there was plenty of water.
Constitution Grove
Constitution Grove
blooming rhododendrons
scenic bikeway
a little cabin at Box Canyon Guard Station
wild strawberry
wild strawberries, so flavorful
a dripping cliff on the Aufderheide Scenic Byway, at the
Cougar Reservoir
Terwilliger Hot Springs
the trail to the Terwilliger Hot Springs
Terwilliger Hot Springs, sans people
I could have made a shorter route, where I
cut northeast toward Bend
earlier, but I wanted to include a hot springs, and the route I chose / made
brought me by
Terwilliger Hot Springs. The timing and temperature were not ideal; mid-afternoon and sunny and
hot, but we decided to do it anyway. You must pay a fee, I think $12, you
get a wristband and a talking-to, and you have two hours. We hiked up the
trail to find four hot springs, hottest at the top, and three groups already
in the pools. We started in the coolest, empty pool. It was like a bathtub
that could use a bit more hot water. A cold stream ran alongside, and
5-gallon buckets were there if you wanted to cool off. I brought a full
nalgene 1L water bottle and a hat. We eventually made it up to the 2nd
hottest pool, and then Jev appeared. He told us Grant chose not to join us,
and was back at the concession hut, reading. I introduced him to Adam, and
we had a nice conversation. We moved to a cooler pool. I was starting to get
dizzy from the heat. The bucket of cold water helped, and I'd drunk all my
water. The pools have a sulphur smell, not unpleasant. I felt my sore body
ease with the soak.
Self heal, AKA Prunella vulgaris
_C_OOL BUS
Below the Cougar Dam
Adam approaching the Belknap Bridge
Loose Deuce truck
Connor from Salt Lake City and a Bigfoot sculpture at the Rainbow
Blue Sky Market
Adam, about to dig into the baked ziti at Takoda's Restaurant in
Rainbow, OR
We dried off, dressed, walked back, saw some skoolie buses, visited with
Grant for a bit then slow-rolled down the canyon, past the dam, letting Jev
and Grant go ahead, finding ourselves at the store in Rainbow, a tiny town.
There we reconnected with Jev & Grant, and also met Connor, riding from
Salt Lake City to Portland, and easy-going fellow. We bought some junk food
and necessities, then Adam and I went to
Takoda's Restaurant for some
beers, a salad for me, and we both got the baked ziti. Can recommend. I
charged a power bank, altho I think the
Sinewave Beacon
was doing a good job of keeping it, and my phone toppped up. (I was doing
pass-through charging;
SON 28 dynamo hub
-> Sinewave Beacon ->
Nitecore NB10000
-> phone.)
art
Adam on the McKenzie River Trail
Indian Pipe, AKA Monotropa uniflora, a herbaceous, parasitic,
non-photosynthesizing, perennial flowering plant
Adam, about to push up and over a bridge
My proposed camp, I recorded this to show Adam, who was reconnoitering
a different location
We rode up the McKenzie River Trail, which has a slight uphill grade,
between the McKenzie River and the McKenzie Highway. You can always hear
both, there. It was so buff. I'd only ever ridden it once, 12 or so years ago, and in the other direction. Around 8:00 PM we started looking for a camp. We split up and I
identified one, recording the video above to show Adam. The mosquitos were bad, and in
my rush to get into my tent, I didn't do a thorough job of clearing sticks
from my tent spot, and one stick punctured my
Nemo Tensor
pad through both sides, but thankfully not through the tent floor. I
patched it with quick, stick-on patches that came in the stuff sack. It
was still hot, the sun hadn't set yet, but we settled in. I took two
diphenhydramine and didn't sleep. You know the definition of insanity,
right? Say it with me, “The definition of insanity is doing the same
thing over and over and expecting different results.” Sometime around 2:30
AM I took another two diphenhydramine. I didn't sleep.
Comments
Post a Comment