This ride has lots of extremes. Near the end of our ride on Day 3 the predicted thunderstorm began rolling over the Willamette National Forest. We stopped at the first campground we came to and quickly set up camp before the rain started again. We even got a little hike in. This campground was good, primitive but good. We had our hole in the ground with a seat over it and that was it; no water, no noise (except for the water fall), and almost no people. We shared the campground with 2 back packers and I’m so glad they came even though we all just stared at each other (though I probably did look pretty funny swaying my clothes line trying to speed up the drying process). This was the first primitive camping we had done so far on this trip and I was starting to get concerned. Not because of the lack of amenities (that part was awesome!) but because of wildlife. We weren’t sure if there would be any problems and hadn’t thought to stop by the ranger station to check. In the end there were just a couple big crows watching us pack up in the morning.
So we had that extreme – the wilderness explores - then we had an absolutely delightful stay with a Warm Showers host the next night; Dan and Cindy were wonderful! Momma Litwiller and Momma Teater would be proud to see how well their kiddos were taken care of. This couple took us out to eat where Josh’s menu question was, “which burger is the biggest?” (see picture below) Then we headed over to Smith Rock (a popular climbing rock, also below), which was super scenic, with a river winding below it and massive golden eagle nests nestled on its precipices. We zipped passed a grocery store and picked up some fruit. Josh and I couldn’t get over the long wall of dried fruits and nuts perfectly organized in compartments. We had a great time exchanging stories over dinner and breakfast too. I had my first egg-in-a-hole (which I didn’t even know existed). Dan and Cindy were so generous they even said to sleep in as long as we needed and so we got a glorious 10 hours of sleep on a cushy comfy mattress. With this fantastic rest-up and a light ride today (just 32) we’re planning on conquering the next 2 passes (total of 80.5 miles) tomorrow.
I should quick throw in that we conquered our first pass yesterday as well. The elevation for Santiam Pass is 4,816 ft. It was not the most pleasant thing we’ve done but getting to the summit is pretty awesome and you wouldn’t even know we were both introverts by the way we were hoopin’ and hollerin’.
So we had that extreme – the wilderness explores - then we had an absolutely delightful stay with a Warm Showers host the next night; Dan and Cindy were wonderful! Momma Litwiller and Momma Teater would be proud to see how well their kiddos were taken care of. This couple took us out to eat where Josh’s menu question was, “which burger is the biggest?” (see picture below) Then we headed over to Smith Rock (a popular climbing rock, also below), which was super scenic, with a river winding below it and massive golden eagle nests nestled on its precipices. We zipped passed a grocery store and picked up some fruit. Josh and I couldn’t get over the long wall of dried fruits and nuts perfectly organized in compartments. We had a great time exchanging stories over dinner and breakfast too. I had my first egg-in-a-hole (which I didn’t even know existed). Dan and Cindy were so generous they even said to sleep in as long as we needed and so we got a glorious 10 hours of sleep on a cushy comfy mattress. With this fantastic rest-up and a light ride today (just 32) we’re planning on conquering the next 2 passes (total of 80.5 miles) tomorrow.
I should quick throw in that we conquered our first pass yesterday as well. The elevation for Santiam Pass is 4,816 ft. It was not the most pleasant thing we’ve done but getting to the summit is pretty awesome and you wouldn’t even know we were both introverts by the way we were hoopin’ and hollerin’.