Downhill

It is amazing to think that I am in Portland at my best friends place and that the ocean is waiting just 80 miles away.  Oregon treated me much better than Idaho but I was still amazed at how much of the state was desert and mountains.  I crossed into Nyssa and my phone enjoyed playing games with the timezone changes by jumping back and forth depending on which side of the street I was on.  In Nyssa I actually took time to organize myself and bought a state map and marked which towns actually existed and had food, water or camping in them then pedaled on to spend the night in Vale.  The next morn I got about 5 miles out of town before I had to change a tire and just as I was finishing up Eli came pedaling up on a bike just about as loaded as mine.  The two days previous my Mom had ran into him at a gas station and found out that he was taking the same route I was only 40 mile behind me and told him about me, so we actually knew about each other before even meeting.  We joined up and headed northwest on hwy 26 and ate our lunches at a tiny park in the next town.  Even though we had just actually met, it was cool to see how similar we were as solo self supported riders.  Leaving town we ran into some Bike & Builders taking the same route so for the next 40 miles I had more company than the whole trip combined.

We all stayed that night at a state park outside Unity, Eli and I camping near enough the Bike & Builders to camp for free and enjoy their company.  We (Eli and I) cooked some summer sausage and zucchini pasta which went wonderful with cold Coronas we picked up in town 3 miles back (its interesting biking with a 12 pack on ice in your backpack.  Quite refreshing on a hot day!)  Through the course of the evening just one guy from the bike and builders came over and said hi but almost every single girl came by to talk to Eli.  By the way some of the bike and build kids acted it reminded me a lot of summer camp on wheels.  We guessed that about 20-25% of the people there started dating on the trip and we were just about right.

Sitting at the table and talking to Eli and the nice bike and builders it was interesting to see the differance in journeys and how it changes people.  Being supported and with a group the bike and builders were able to extend thier efforts to Habitats for Humanities and joke and have fun.  Some kids even had nerf swords on their bikes.  Eli on the other hand vocally laughed and joked, but in a quieter manner and wasted no physical effort that could be helped.  The lone road and self reliance of doing a solo trip is much better for helping ones self without lots of people to contend with.  Eli and I agreed that the company was nice for a change, but we preferred our way.   And they started playing rap music at 6am.

The next day we pedaled over the mountains to John Day, OR still enjoying the company of the bike and builders then stopped at a grocery store to restock before pedaling on 30 more miles to camp.  Since both of us had been surviving on pasta and peanut butter (not together) we splurged and bought a medaly of veggies and had zucchini, squash, mushrooms, peas, water chestnuts, and onion in a coconut peanut sauce over curry couscous with a cheap bottle of wine.  It hit a 100 degrees that day so we were very very excited to find a block of ice about 8 miles from camp.  When you are on the road you usually only get ice once every couple of days... if your lucky. To find a huge block when you are nearing heat exhaustion is an absolutely glorious thing.  It kept us cool and entertained the last miles in and even chilled the wine down from the 90ish degrees it had gotten.  By far the most delicious meal ever cooked over a whisperlite camp stove!

Doubled my water capacity and had room for a bottle of wine!

The next morn we packed up and headed back into the high desert mountains.  We passed through Mitchel, Or which has exactly two businesses still in business but only the diner was open.  Leaving there we hit 120 degrees on the asphalt in the bottom of the canyon.  In that heat you can not drink enough and every drop you carry is so warm it is disgusting to the tongue.  That combined with a 4000ft climb with all that gear could easily kill a guy.  We survived by stopping every 5 miles and splashing in a stream running next to the road.  Now this stream would be jealous of a garden hose, so you can imagine what the motorists thought seeing two grown bearded men in spandex splashing around in the middle of the desert....  Tiny as it was at least it was cold coming off the mountain and the climb was about as enjoyable as a mountain could be.  Crossing the summit we came into a completely different ecosystem as we finally reached the ocean side of the mountains.  Where a half mile back the flora was all desert plants we started riding past mountain pastures hip deep with grass and flowers.  Trees were taller and greener and even the air was cooler.  A little while later I saw the first cloud I had seen since Dubois Wy, 2 weeks earlier.  Coming out of the mountains we hit a bit more traffic, and one car in particular was nice and slowed down and waited to pass till a straight safe stretch came up.  I was riding behind Eli 20ft and spent all day yelling "car back" to warn him and seeing a cute girl driving I hollered "cute blonde back"  Eli looked as she went by then stood up and cranked trying to catch up on his bike as she disappeared over a hill.  Poor guy, all I could do was tell him that she was gone and he had to let her go.

Coming into Prineville we were pretty exhausted from climbing 80 miles worth of mountains for the second day running and just wanted to get to camp.  About 2 miles out a shitty little Nissan flies by as close as possible while blaring its horn at us and another car followed suite.  About as the asshole drivers (who's mother obviously did things with an alpaca that even the french wouldn't approve of) did this we flipped them off then rode pass an old guy taking his trash out.  I made eye contact with him and shrugged my shoulders while saying "some people don't know how to share the road."  That old fart replied "They probably agree with me that you don't pay for the road"  for the next 60ft we had a running (even civilized) discussion about how bikers do in fact pay taxes and I probably spent more on gas last year than he did and how by his logic that gave me more rights to the road than him.  I didn't stop and waste my momentum to finish the discussion and ended it by standing up and farting in his general direction (hey, up till then I was civilized!) and pedaling on to camp.

In camp we were pleased to find a family from Amsterdam pedaling across the country.  We exchanged stories about beautiful mountains, rolling fields and stupid rednecks.  This campground was unfortunately the nastiest yet on the trip.  In the bathroom I couldn't decide if the smell was me after 80 miles under the desert sun or remnants of deceased occupants.  It was the shower...  After a couple conversations with the locals I decided I had enough entertainment for the day and went to bed.

The next morn I was surprised to see how fast the family from Amsterdam packed up.  It usually takes me 1 hour to get enough coffee in me that I move in an organized fashion but within 30 min of climbing out of their tents they were packed up and ready for the road.  We shared coffee and farewells and they left Eli and I packing up.  In town we stopped at a restaurant and had a real meal.  It was the first cream and sugar I had had in my coffee since Iowa and have to admit I stole some for the next morn.  Eli and I told stories about our journeys and showed each other pictures from along the way enjoying them as much ourselves.  Both of us were apprehensive about ending the journey.  Definitely we were ready to hit the ocean, but I definitely know I didn't like the idea of the journey ending.  It had been so great (although painful) it was impossible to imagine it truly being over.

Splitting ways after 3 days riding together Eli headed straight for the ocean and I turned northwest towards Portland.  I camped that night in a canyon between Madras and Warm Springs along the Deschutes River.  Riding down into the canyon on a steep twisting road I lost my jar of peanut butter I had strapped to my bags and damn near had to change my shorts.  Even the Tetons were not that intense!  At the bottom I realized I missed a perfect video opportunity but there was no way I was climbing out of the canyon to do it again.  On the next little hill (1/10th as steep and windy as the big hill down) I took this vid, I thought it was cool to see how far I actually have to lean into the curves. 

Checking into camp I asked the lady how the road north out of here was.  She looked at me and at my bike and simply said "you will want to shoot yourself"  she was right..  After pitching camp I wandered down for a swim and found the water deliciously cold.  In town I had picked up a litter of beer so I tied it to 25ft of cord and chucked it in the lake to cool down while I cooked supper.  Worked almost as good as the backpack full of ice :)

At camp I met Terry, a logger working in the area for a week.  He gave me a steak and I shared my pasta with him and he got telling stories about his life.  He was born in Oklahoma, Comanche with a bit of Kiowa in him, but raised by a family in Oregon near where he still lives with his wife.  He talked about riding harleys with his brother and father-in-law, how he has friend in LA owns a chopshop (and is a member of Hells Angels) and reworked his bike for him.   He told one store about riding with a bunch of his buddies and having a car cut off his father-in-law.  Apparently they ran the car down and explained that it wasnt polite to do that and very very bad things would happen if a biker actually got hurt.  He also talked about Quanah Parker, his ancestor and how he fought the whites and then smoothly transitioned onto the reservation and became the richest Native American of his time.  When Quanah moved onto the reservation he had 5 wives and the white director told him that that was unacceptable in a christian society and he could only keep one.  Quanah agreed but with the terms that the director would have to choose the one wife and tell the other 4...  He kept all 5.

After hearing about my journey he couldn't believe that I was traveling without a gun.  We discussed calibers and ballistics and learning that I knew the weight of a 30-06 bullet and actually grew up in the country he all but offered me his Ruger 44 mag.  While definitely one of the more interesting people I had met on the trip, a bit of a shady past but still a good person who I honestly liked and he likewise towards me.  I couldn't help but chuckle that I was probably safer camping next to him (still not sure if he was directly associated with the Hells Angels) than I was camping behind any church along the way.

The next day I crawled painfully up out of the canyon and started towards Mt Hood.  Halfway through the morn I happened to glance over at a car next to me and recognized Christina Joseph, a wonderful friend who somehow puts up with my best friend Matt.  It was wonderful seeing them, especially after pedaling there, and Matt joined me riding back into Portland.  We stopped at Mt Hood Brewery for lunch then enjoyed the ride down my last mountain!  Getting to their house I met Dakota, their 10 month old 90lb puppy.  Poor Dakota is one of the weirdest dogs, and even though she looks tough she is completely scared of everything.  A couple months ago she was sitting on the floor wagging her tail and apparently saw her tail out of the corner of her eye, got scared and jumped up and ran straight into a wall...  a very special dog.

Here at the Josephs I rested up a few days, and now I am ready to take off for the Ocean.  My brother and nephew Dom are coming down from Seattle and tonight I will camp with the sound of the waves.  Hard to believe I am here, a couple days ago I was ready to turn around and start pedaling back.  I sit here with my coffee not thinking about what it will be like to feel the sand and salt, but of all the mountains and emotions of the past 3 months.  It has been amazing.