9/28. Elk lake to Bend, OR

Coming into Bend I went past Mt. Bachelor but the clouds were looming over the top so I didn’t get a view.  I passed lots of cyclists riding up the hill as I was going down.  Most of them were way too serious to wave back when I greeted them with a wave and a ‘good morning’.  Don’t forget to smile!

Bend is a beautiful town of around 80,000 people.  It was very clean and beautiful.  Lots of breweries.  The Deschutes rivers runs through town.  Bend is also known for 300+ days of sunshine every year.  I could definitely live here.

I stopped for some tea at one of the many coffee shops downtown.  This one was hidden in an alleyway.

I picked up some fuel for my stove and a dry bag at the REI in town, then met up with Zach Nordby for some food and drink across the street.  It turns out Zach was related to the owner of the coffee shop I went to.  I guess I have good taste.

I found a place to stay through Warmshowers with John and Audrey on the east side of town.  John retired at 55 and is the most fit 57 year old I have ever seen.  Both John and Audrey have done lots of bicycle touring and had tons of great stories to share.  They are planning a tour with these things called elliptigos.  They are like elliptical machines that are bicycles.  You can google it.  They looked wild.

They were very hospitable people and it was a pleasure staying with them.

Apparently this is the only picture I took today.  I am invincible in my shiny pants.

Ride time: 4ish hours

Distance: 42 miles

9/27. Chemult to Elk Lake along Cascade lakes scenic hwy

The ride was beautiful and traffic was at a minimum.  I biked pasted numerous alpine lakes.

This lake had a natural spring next it. It's at the bottom of the picture

Today’s ditch score (and there are lots of cool things you can find in ditches)

Ride time: 7 hours

Distance: 69 miles

Avg: 9.9. Max: 31

9/26 Crater Lake to Chemult

38 degrees at 8 am this morning.  I was wearing almost all of the clothes I brought with to bed.  I stayed warm.  It rained all night and I was a little worried my tent was going to start taking on water due to the poor drainage of the soil.  My MSR Hubba Hubba tent has a surprisingly water-tight bottom on it.  Worth it! 

My gear and my bike that were near the picnic table all had a nice layer of ice on it.  The rain had frozen over night so the temps were lower than 38 at night. 

On the way up to Crater Lake I spotted a cool mushroom the size of a softball.  I don’t even think it’s reached its final form yet. 

I finally got to see Crater Lake for the first time ever.  It really is beautiful.  The vibrant blue water surprised me the most. 

I hiked up to a viewing thing as well.  I have more pictures but I need to stitch them together with Photoshop.

Wizard Island

I met another touring cyclist just as I started heading downhill and just as it started raining.  He was from Portland, heading south.  I had a really light setup with next to no gear and a light frame on his bike.  His wisdom as we talked about last night’s bitter cold – if you’re not wearing all of your clothes to bed on the coldest night, than your sleeping bag is too heavy.

I am camping at a ‘mushroom camp’ in Chemut.  From what I understand, everyone is here to find matsutake.  The season only lasts a few weeks.  There were several of these camps in town.  They all looked like shanty towns with makeshift tarp structures as the dominant camp design. 

Most of the people I have seen in these camps look Vietnamese or Hmong.  I could be doubly wrong on that though, just a guess.  They were all very pleasant but not a whole lot of English happening.

Trying to find a person that ran the place, I asked a guy and he told me to ask somebody in a neighboring trailer.  Knock knock.  Two very odd guys (read: trashy hillybilly’s) answer the door and seem to have just put down the crack pipe.  There were some strong hillbilly and meth-y vibes in the air.  They basically shrugged and said, sure camp wherever.  No mention of payment so another free night in the bag.

Ride time: 4 hours 15 mins

Distance: 47.6 miles

Avg: 11.2  Max: 36.8

9/25 River Bridge Campground to Mazama Village

You don’t get any photos for today 😛

Mazama Village is in Crater lake national park and they had a hiker biker site for 5 bucks!  Score!  I guess national parks can’t turn away anyone traveling by foot or bike, it’s some sort of rule I think.  Just one more reason to bike!

Ride time: 3 hours 49 mins
Distance: 26 miles
Avg: 6.9. Max: 42.2

9/24 Whiskey Springs to River Bridge Campground

It rained all day and all night.  A constant pattering.  I watched the Goonies on my tablet.

I saw this guy on the road. He was alive but not looking too good.

Ride time: 4 hours 17 mins

Distance: 44.6 miles

Avg: 10.4. Max: 33.4

Everywhere I have camped so far:

http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/gmap4.php?ll=41.847452,-121.880347&z=8&t=h&label=on&q=http://www.mappingsupport.com/p/recreation/max/bike_trip_2014.txt

9/23 Emigrant Lake to Whiskey Springs campground

This morning is became more apparent how the landscape changed so quickly after crossing the border into Oregon.  There is a larger variety of plant life, seamingly more life due to more water.  It’s still drought conditions though.

I forget what town this is

I'm 87% sure this is Mt. Shasta

Oops! Someone must have tripped while eating their cereal and taking their morning insulin shot on the side of the road

This morning I had a short ride into the town of Ashland, OR.  Population of about 20,000.  I was a very nice town.  Coming closer to town I passed many hobby farms and vinyards.  It just so happens that when I roll into town there was farmer’s market.  It was about 30-40 sellers.  Fruits, veggies, honey, pastries, jams, the standard mix.  I grabbed some cookies and a pear turnover from one lady and she offered the goods for free after we chatted about my trip.  So nice of her!  I then found a man at a food trailer.  I seemed to interrupt him as he was shaving thin slices or gyro meat from a spinning stand of meat.  He had these little breakfast bowls that were in a large muffin tin.  The crust was dough, and inside was cheese, pepper, spices, and egg.  It was tasty.  I found the grocery store and stocked up on some more food, maybe too much. 

I climb a very steep hill for about 11 miles, gaining 3000 ft of elevation.  It was very steep.  There were lots of breaks.  Lunch gave me a nice view and a fresh bean burrito.

I found camp at a closed USFS campground called Whiskey Springs.  All to myself!

Ride time: 5 hours 12 mins
Distance: 51 miles
Avg: 9.8  Max: 44.8

9/22 Mt. Shasta to Emigrant Lake (Oregon!)

I crossed the border into Oregon! 

Tasty Bites are so tasty!

Nothing too exciting today.

Ride time: 7 hours 9 mins

Distance: 80.4 miles

Avg: 11.2. Max: 44.3

9/21 Burney Falls to Mt. Shasta

This one made me stop and laugh for quite some time

This is the posting area of the Mt. Shasta Organic Foods Market

I bumped into and older englishman in the campground as I was leaving.  He was touring on a Bike Friday, which is an interesting foldable bike that some people tour with.  He said the wheels get worn out faster because of the small diameter.  He also had on of those internal shifter hubs, his was made by Shimano.  I guess a German company makes the best ones, I’ve forgotten the name though.

It wasn’t a very scenic ride so I don’t have much for pictures.  Approaching Mt. Shasta was beautiful because you can see the mountain 30 miles away.  The road points right towards it.  30 miles outside of Mt. Shasta i saw two young guys sitting on the side of the road, so I stopped for a chat.  They both looked younger than I, both wearing camo, one had some dirty dreads, the other was more clean cut.  They were hitchhiking/backpacking.  Thier plans was to take the PCT to Mexico and sneak in because they didn’t have passports.  I asked their names and one of them said ‘Spiral’, and the other was something like ‘Quantum’.  You may have guessed it, yes, they were coming from Mt. Shasta.  They had a dog with they as well, she was cute and kind and apparently pregnant.  Will they make it?  I doubt it.  They will have quite a tell to tell though if they can remember it.  Hash affects the memory.  Hash affects the memory. 

Also, pop-tarts are my new jam.  They are carb-filled and yummy. Great for any camping occasion really.

ride time: 5 hours 16 mins

Distance: 56.9 miles

Avg: 10.8  Max: 36.1

9/20 Lassen to Burney Falls State Park

Again, nothing too exciting.  I bumped into a few more cyclists.  Burney Falls was neat.

It was the weekend so the state park was busy, but nothing like it would be in the summer.  They had hiker/biker sites which were $5 a night, plus you don’t need a vehicle pass to enter the park if you walk or bike in.  It was a really good deal because they put me up in a regular campsite, not the hiker/biker site because there was an incident with a lone PCT through-hiker and a mountain lion.  Neat!  I want to see one of those.

Ride time: 3 hrs 13 mins
Distance: 45.8 miles
Avg: 14.2. Max: 37.4

9/19 Child’s Meadows to Lassen National Park and Forest

Lassen National Park is a volcanic region.  I was surprised at how few people were in the park.  Very little traffic.  The park itself was beautiful.  I must have stopped every few minutes to get the camera out for a picture.

How’s this for a lunchtime view!  This was overlooking Lake Helen.  I shared the table with a nice couple from the midwest, Kansas I think.  The gentlemen had was wearing a Brian Reagan t-shirt so we had something to chat about.  Then they gave me a bag of Jelly Bellies, or whatever those jelly beans are called with all of the flavors.  I guess they toured the factory.  They were surprised that they only got to sample like 5 jelly beans.  I ate them how I imagine most people do.  One at a time, carefully checking the key on the package to see what favor they are about to try.  Maybe eat one without looking at the chart and try to guess.  How about eat one without looking at the jelly bean, then try to guess the flavor.  That entertained me for about 60 seconds, they I just started shovelling them into my mouth, because they are just overpriced jelly beans.

The trail to the peak of Lassen was closed about halfway up so I couldn’t do that hike.  I found another hike that seemed interesting, though not volcanic in character.  It turns out the Kings Creek Falls is beautiful!

Ride time: 4.5 hours

Avg: 8.9. Max: 35.8