Day 13 - August 12: Cambridge OR - Halfway OR

57 miles.  3556 feet up, 3563 feet down.

Well, after yesterday's ride anything without a lot of traffic would have been classified as a stellar ride today.  This one went beyond stellar; it was stunning. Not a particularly long or tough ride, and we changed back into the Pacific Time Zone, so there was absolutely no rush to get through it.  Mom and Pop hotel last night, so Emily made breakfast for us this morning - in the dark and in the rain.  Wait, what, rain??  Yes indeedy, and it was nice to see.  Although - hopefully the lightening didn't spark any more fires.  It moved through pretty quickly, though, and our 7am departure was delayed for less than a half hour.  I think I was one of the last to leave...........

Nice light as we started out on State Route 71.




We started the day out riding N/NW and encountered a bit of a headwind.  After so many days at the start of the trip with a tailwind, the headwind (or even no wind at all) can be a bit discouraging.  We also had about 25 km of a steady climb.




Then - the top!  Just an elevation sign...........


And then comes the fun part!



Oh my!  Such a beautiful and traffic-free descent.









And then.............  the views opened up to the Snake River below and the Brownlee Reservoir.  Fabulous!










Brownlee Dam.




We crossed the Snake River at about 29 miles and were back into Oregon.  Last state border for us, so last margaritas tonight.  So - in the interests of reducing waste, I bring my own cup for margaritas.  The upside of doing that is that it is at least twice as big as the plastic glasses they use for everyone else, and the guides fill me up to the brim.  The downside is that the guides always make too much and freely refill everyone's glass.  I rarely drink, so I'm a pretty cheap drunk and it doesn't take much to make me tipsy.  Tonight I should have passed on the refill (but didn't.......)  



We rode right beside the Snake River for about 11 miles before climbing up above the Oxbow Dam and heading cross-country on State Route 86.  So sweet!











Onto 86 and an easy (but uphill) 17 mile spin into Halfway OR and the lovely Pine Valley Lodge.  So cute!  However - less than a week ago they were being threatened by a wildfire.  In fact we can still see plumes of smoke coming from a hillside not too far from the lodge.  

What a fabulous dinner Emily made for us - salmon, roasted cauliflower, salad and brownies.  Once again I ate waaaay too much.  And now I have to haul it up the hills tomorrow.









The Ride:

Garmin:  na.  It didn't turn back on after 60km SAG, but appears to be working OK now.  Fingers crossed.

RWGPS:  93.5 km.  1363 m up.  1,364 m down.

Temperature:  Started at 18C, went down to 15C for a while.  Climbed as high as 33C by the 60K SAG stop and then it felt much warmer after that, but no Garmin data.  


The Route:


Halfway OR.  Population 351

The community was named for the fact it is roughly halfway between Pine and Cornucopia.  In 2000, about 28% of the population lived under the poverty line.  In 2017 the three largest employers were the school district, the power company, and the US Forest Service.     






Comments

  1. Lynn CAugust 14, 2024 at 8:08 AM

    The terrain looks beautiful! The Brownlee Reservoir looks surprising full given all the heat and dryness experienced out West...

    ReplyDelete

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