Day #72-Sisters to Nimrod, OR 60 miles

Before and after McKenzie Pass.

Today’s ride, much anticipated, did not disappoint.  A cold start but clear blue skies and light winds resulted in near perfect riding conditions.  The road to McKenzie Pass is so serpentine that long vehicles are prohibited.  Good news!  No insanely long RV’s pulling stuff!  No cattle trucks! No lumber trucks!  Very few cars as there is now a quicker way to get where we’re headed. It was a gentle 2500’ climb over 16 miles to the summit.  The Belkamp eruption 1700 years ago covered the entire summit with lava.  The Civilian Conservation Corps built an observation tower, the Dee Wright Observatory, out of the rocks! It’s an amazing sight!  I took pictures from it but not of it!

Then we rode down into a lush forest unlike anything we’d seen for some time, sometimes gently sometimes rapidly, for more than 40 miles.  We felt a bit sorry for those bikers we saw heading up from the west, a much longer climb because it starts from a lower elevation.  By the way we’re below 1000’ elevation for the first time since Kansas!

We followed the McKenzie River most of the way to our camp in the front yard of a bed and breakfast.

Tomorrow we complete map #2 in our countdown. We have about 250 miles left.  We’ll be taking extra time along the way as we’re not due in Astoria until July 6th!