Northwest Loop - Week Three

Northwest Loop

via bicycle with WomanTours

July 31 - August 30, 2009

Week 3

Halfway to Sisters, OR

Day 15 Day 16 Day 17 Day 18 Day 19 Day 20 Day 21

Day 15 - August 15, 2009

Halfway to Baker City, OR - 54.9 miles & 3,639 feet of climbing

(back to beginning of week 3)

It was VERY cold when we started and I wore long pants, a long sleeve jersey, a warm jacket, and my ski gloves. I warmed up fast on the climb and took the jacket off on the way up and switched gloves at the top, but the long pants and long sleeve jersey felt good all day. It was another good riding day! The Oregon Trail Interpretive Center was just off the trail at mile 47 and even though it meant climbing a LONG circling steeply graded road I went to the center. The road started at 6% and kept climbing with no relief. I made it a long way including around a curve at 14%, but then I had to walk for a while. The center was very interesting and was definitely worth the visit.

We stayed at the Bridge Street Inn which was only one block off of Highway 7 and the owner was very nice. There was home-made chocolate chip cookies, spice cake, and banana bread when we checked in. Also she said that a continental breakfast wasn't enough food for 80 miles of cycling so she and another lady got up very early and made sausage and egg burritos and meatless burritos for us and another batch of cookies so we could take some with us.

The straight grade line at about mile 47 is where I was walking UP the Interpretive Center Road at too slow a speed for it to register on the Garmin.

a wood burner

the summit we reached today

this display was beside the road in Richland

In this zoom picture of the Blue Mountains you can see a checkerboard field with grazing cows.

In September 1984 millions of tons of rock and debris slid down the hillside forming a dam across the Powder River and burying a Stretch of Highway 86. It is estimated that this slide moved 10 million cubic yards of soil and rock. This quantity of earth is equivalent to a line of 10 yard dump trucks bumper to bumper extending from Baker City, OR to New York and back again. Today’s Highway 86 (including the overlook where these pictures were taken) is a 2-mile bypass completed in August 1887. You can still see traces of the old highway along the north bank of the Powder River.

The top 3 pictures are of signs explaining what happened, and the bottom 2 pictures show each end of the slide.

Pictures from the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center outside Baker City including signs that help to explain the Oregon Trail. For some immigrants the road to Oregon began in Maine or Illinois or Iowa and ended in California or what later became Washington or Idaho. But the Oregon Trail may be defined as that narrow strand of ruts leading from the Missouri frontier towns of Independence, St. Joseph and Westport and ending in Oregon City.

Day 16 - August 16, 2009

Baker City to John Day, OR - 83 miles

(back to beginning of week 3)

It was 36 degrees when we were eating breakfast but had warmed up to 47 by the time I left. However, I had decided the evening before that I wanted to be boosted up to the first sag stop to avoid the short construction zone we had to navigate through at the beginning and to avoid being behind everyone all day so I wasn't worried about the temperature at 7 o'clock. It was still a little chilly when I started riding, but after only one mile I started climbing up to the first of three passes we would be riding through today and that warmed me up quickly. We called the three passes a "triple bypass." I climbed all three and they were not difficult as the grades were not steep, but they were long and tiring at 4, 5, and 6.5 miles;, and my right knee started hurting so when I met the sag at the top of the 3rd peak I decided to stop cycling and be driven in. Thus, I only rode 42.8 of the 80 miles today, but I climbed 3,185 feet. We were in the Walloway-Whitman National Forest most of the day

You can see the climb up and descent for the first 2 passes and see the climb up for the 3rd pass in this Garmin chart for today.

we started on the Elkhorn Scenic Byway today . . .

. . . then the signs started saying it was the Journey through Time Scenic Byway.

This sign discusses Oregon's geologic history.

view of the Blue Mountains today

We climbed to three passes today, but the first one--Sumpter Pass with an elevation of 5,082 feet didn't have a sign.

Day 17 - August 17, 2009

John Day, OR - REST DAY

(back to beginning of week 3)

John Day is surrounded by the Strawberry Mountains to the south and the Blue Mountains to the north. It is considered part of Eastern Oregon, about three hours north of Bend, Oregon and three-and-a-half hours west of Boise, Idaho. The first homestead staked in Grant County (what was then Wasco County), in 1862 by B. C. Trowbridge, was within the limits of the present city of John Day. The community was not as quick to grow as neighboring Canyon City, which was the county seat and center of the bustling mining industry in the area. Incrementally, local merchants and residents began relocating to John Day—primarily each time after severe fires in Canyon City: the Grant County Courthouse burned in 1870, Chinatown burned in 1885, and fires in 1898 and 1937 devastated Canyon City’s downtown.

The first Post Office at John Day City was established in 1865, but was discontinued in 1871. It was reestablished in 1879 with the name John Day. In April 1900, a local committee was elected, and the Oregon Legislature approved an Act incorporating the city of John Day on February 23, 1901.

The largest part of early John Day was composed of the Chinese community, commonly called Tiger Town. In 1882, the Advent Christian Church in John Day boasted 547 members, 382 of whom were Chinese (and a number of Chinese residents were interred in the Seventh Day Adventist Cemetery). By 1887, John Day was home to nearly 1000 Chinese immigrants, who had been attracted to the area by a gold rush twenty years earlier, many of whom were displaced by the 1885 fire in Canyon City.

Things to see:

GRANT COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM, CANYON CITY - I didn't want to ride to Canyon City

GRANT COUNTY RANCH AND RODEO MUSEUM, JOHN DAY- open only on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday

KAM WAH CHUNG & CO. STATE HERITAGE SITE, JOHN DAY - so this is the only one I saw, and it was very interesting

(back to beginning of week 3

Kam Wah Chung (The Golden Flower of Prosperity) State Heritage Site

Lung On (on the left) and Doc Hay (0n the right) were among a wave of Chinese immigrants who helped build the American west in the 19th century. They formed a partnership that lasted over 50 years. Doc Hay established a herbal medical practice and Lung On was a skilled merchant.

The Golden Mountain (or "Gum San") Beckons

Chinese immigration in the west

herbs used by Doc Hay

pieces of this a bear & deer foot would be used in medicinal teas

Doc Hay's bedroom

some of the supplies sold by Lung On

a household shrine

the kitchen

Day 18 - August 18, 2009

John Day to Mitchell, OR - 69 miles & 2,522 feet of climbing

(back to beginning of week 3)

We were on Highway 26 all day. It was cold again in the morning,. I wore my warm ski glove but still lost circulation in one finger due to Raynaud's. It had warmed up by the time we had our first sag stop, and I was able to get the finger warmed up and didn't have any more problems as it was warmer by then. We rode through some VERY beautiful country. At mile 35 there was a turnoff to a John Day Fossil Beds Overlook, and since we were riding on the valley floor we had to climb UP to get to the overlook, but it was definitely worth the climb. Then we rode through the Picture Gorge carved through the rock by the John Day River and called Picture Gorge because of the Indian pictographs painted on the basalt walls. Next there was a turnoff to one of the Visitor Centers for the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, and it was only a 4-mile flat round trip ride so several of us went to the Visitor's Center. Mitchell is the smallest city we have stayed in so far--it had a population of 170 in the 2000 census. To find enough rooms we were split up into 3 motels --the Sky Hook Motel, the Little Pine Motel, and the one I stayed in--the Oregon Hotel. It was actually a house and was nice.

I've shown the entire route and then the route split into two pieces as the first 40+ miles were predominantly downhill then when we were tired and it was hot we started climbing up to the Keyes Creek Summit..

my first good view of the Strawberry Mountains

this sign is explained by the fact that Dayville is just a few miles from the Fossil Beds National Monument

The population of Dayville was 138 at the 2000 census and this is their City Hall.

interesting mountain formation

explanation via signs and pictures from the Fossil Beds Overlook

Picture Gorge is named for the Indian pictographs painted on the steep walls of basalt. The dark layers of Picture Gorge were formed from hot floods of basalt lava flowing from nearby cracks in the earth. Powerful forces have since broken and tilted the Land and erosion has shaped it.

Picture Gorge as viewed from the other side when I was returning from the Visitor's Center.

As the surface of each basalt flood rapidly cooled to a crust, the interior remained hot and somewhat fluid for many years. A jumbled, shattered appearance resulted from cooling and cracking downward from the top. Vertical columns formed when molten lava slowly cooled, contracted and cracked, forming six-sided pillars. A single, hardened flood may contain basalt of both jumbled and columnar patterns. The cooling rate was a key factor in the type of pattern formed. The bottom layers of the gorge are the same layers that cap Sheep Rock peak shown in the 3rd picture.

some interesting explanatory signs outside the Visitor's Center

3 of the displays inside the Visitor's Center

we climbed this summit late in the day and it was much harder due to the heat and the fact that we were tired

two views as I descended from the summit - it was late in the day and hazy but you can faintly see additional mountain ranges in the background

we stayed in Mitchell, Oregon tonight

Day 19 - August 19, 2009

Mitchell to Prineville, OR - 46.6 miles & 2,249 feet of climbing

(back to beginning of week 3)

It was cold again when we started and those of us who were staying in the Oregon Hotel could have a large muffin for breakfast if we wished so 8 of us decided to skip Linda's breakfast at the Sky Hook and thus not ride up the hill we walked up for dinner last night. I also left early as I left at 7 o'clock and breakfast wasn't until 7:30. We turned right out of the Hotel onto Highway 26 and stayed on 26 all day. We only had one pass today and the climb up started at mile 4 and continued to mile 16.2 then we descended the rest of the day except for a few rollers. The temperature reached 100 degrees today, but fortunately I was into the descent by then and there was a slight headwind which gave me some relief from the heat. The heat radiating up from the dark asphalt is always several degrees hotter than the ambient temperature.

Garmin chart for today

3 views of individual Strawberry mountains

the summit for today

Day 20 - August 20, 2009

Prineville to Sisters, OR - 42.6 miles & 1,151 feet of climbing

(back to beginning of week 3)

It was a little chilly this morning but not as cold as it has been, and I didn't wear my winter gloves. It was a very easy day with only two short climbs of any length--both were less than one mile and the first was more intense as the grades were higher. However today we had to pay attention to our cue sheet as there were several turns. We started early because another 100 degree day was forecast and we wanted to get in before the temperature climbed in the afternoon. I left at 6:30 and got in before 11 a.m. Naturally our rooms weren't ready so I rode back into the town of Sisters (we are staying just outside at the Best Western Ponderosa Lodge) with 2 others and had lunch then we went to the local bike shop. When we returned about 12:30 our rooms were ready!

Jim's Junction

I love dogs so this wouldn't be a bad occupation

Mt. Jefferson

elevation 10,497

2 views of the 3 Sisters - also known as Faith, Hope, and Charity - elevation 10,358 10,047 & 10,085

Mt. Hood

elevation 11,249

Day 21 - August 21, 2009

Sisters, OR - REST DAY

(back to beginning of week 3)

The town of Sisters derives its name from the three prominent Cascade peaks that grace the southwestern skyline, collectively known as the Three Sisters.

The town was officially christened when the post office at Camp Polk closed in the 1880s. Area residents were invited to submit names for the new facility. Local farmer Jacob Quiberg submitted the name Three Sisters. The postal service dropped the “Three” and the handful of wood frame buildings at the junction of the Santiam and McKenzie roads became known as Sisters.

http://www.sistersoregonguide.com/sisters.htm

or http://www.el.com/to/sisters/

I didn't do much today except sleep in, work on my computer, clean my bike, feed the llamas, and feed myself.