A cold morning (35 degrees) at Ponderosa State park:
We packed up and headed to Hell's Canyon. Here's the reservoir above the Brownlee dam on the Snake River:
And the dam itself:
It was a lot of windy driving to get to Hell's canyon. Not quite sure it was worth it, but we got some good photos.
This is the Hell's canyon dam.
And the area below it:
We stayed at the Union Creek National forest campground, and it was COLD! 31 degrees in the morning. Here we are warming up, and preparing the shoes for wearing (I wore sandals and wool socks until the shoes were ready):
We were the only ones in the tent camping area.
The sun was warm over the reservoir -- unfortunately our campsite was in the shade.
We packed up after breakfast, and headed off to Oregon. In Cambridge, Idaho (population 360) we stopped for lunch.
I looked in the window of a storefront senior center, and saw about 50 seniors having lunch. There was a piano. I debated for a while, then walked in and asked if they wanted some music. I ended up playing for about 40 minutes for the best audience I've ever had. Sorry, no pictures!
Here's Lena at some town in Idaho or Oregon.
Today is a strength-training day, so we had to find a high-class workout center with special ergonomic exercise equipment:
This is typical Central Oregon topography:
Next stop was the Ochoco reservoir. Here's breakfast time:
We always wake up before dawn, although we wish we could stay in the sleeping bags until it warms up a bit.
The geese knew better, and were heading south.
We had a great view of the reservoir -- here we are packing up.
Prineville, Oregon, waking up as we drive through.
The final stop for our trip: Crater Lake! You can't capture the unusual blue color of this lake in photos, but here's a shot of our first view of it:
My next job was to ride around the crater on Rim Drive. Work, work, work! I started at the Visitor Information center, rode clockwise, and then headed down to the Mazama campground to meet Lena, who spent the afternoon drinking coffee and setting up camp.
The ride was only about 40 miles total, but all up and down -- no flat riding at all. Total climbing: 3,000 feet. This was a lot tougher than my earlier "ride my age" trip. I thought it might be harder because it was at 7,000 feet, but I didn't notice any difference from regular sea level riding.
The hills weren't very steep (about 7% grades), but they went on for miles. It was disheartening to look up and see where the road was going ("Please don't let that be my road!").
Pictures taken when I was still fresh.
Tons of great views and not much traffic...
The trip took about 3.5 hours with stops at overlooks, and the final downhill to the campground was cold but nice (I finished at 5 PM). Everyone who has the chance should do this ride -- one of the best in the world.
I found Lena and the campsite only after riding through six different loops of sites -- I was getting worried that we wouldn't get together, since we didn't have cell phone coverage here.
Dinner was two rib-eye steaks, grilled to perfection.
Mazama campground is at 6,000 feet elevation, and that night it got COLD!
Here's our thermometer at 5 AM when we woke up: 28 degrees Fahrenheit.
I got a big fire going, then slipped back into the sleeping bag. The stars were incredible, and I looked up just at the right moment to see a meteor.
After letting the fire grow for 20 minutes (more for warmth than cooking), it was breakfast time:
Our standard breakfast: bacon and eggs, often with cheese and peppers added.
This is how one eats when it is 28 degrees and dark. It tastes better this way than at home.
On top I had polypropylene long underwear, Swedish wool long underwear, wool shirt, fleece top, and a Northface jacket. Notice the cold left hand.
The moon was shining through the trees just before sunrise.
This was our final campsite of the trip (sniff, sniff).
We took off and got home in the early afternoon ("Borta bra, men hemma bäst").
Total trip miles: 2,376
And finally, you guys are going to love this: At Walgreens they used to sell 2 oz packs of macadamia nuts for 99 cents. That's a great price, and even cheaper than the big 24 oz tins that they no longer carry at Costco. Unfortunately, Walgreens is now selling 1.25 oz bags for 99 cents. But, if you go to Walgreens, and look behind the 1.25 oz packages, you can usually find a few 2 oz packs! So, we stopped at all the Walgreen's we passed in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho (about ten), and here's our total take (less the packages we ate while driving):
Hope you enjoyed the photos!
Until next trip,
Al & Lena