Day 13: Cascade Locks, OR
Journal for 2016-09-24 | Published on 2016-09-24 19:05:12Day 13: Cascade Locks, OR
Well as expected the motorcycle group turned out to be extremely loud and rude. You know you are a hardcore when at 11:30pm you’re belting out singing to Taylor Swift and rolling your motorcycle around the campground revving the engine really loud. Needless to say it was not very restful night even with earplugs. Because of this, and we knew today was a shorter day, we didn’t end up leaving the campground until 0900 or so. Just before we left we stopped by the store and, unsolicited, the owners apologized for the noise and refunded our money for the site, also saying it wouldn’t happen again tonight.
Once we rolled out it was straight into a climb; we wound our way up Forest Road 90 to Curly Creek Road, which turned out to be a pretty steep uphill climb. But the weather was nice, mostly cloudy, with some blue skies peeking through and cool temps to keep us from getting too hot. We climbed and made it an entire 6.75 miles before we hit a viewpoint and decided it was time for second breakfast.
From the viewpoint we should have been able to see Mt. St Helens volcano, but it was mainly covered in clouds. Matt set up the camera for a time lapse video and we settled in for 30 minutes hoping it would clear up, and ate. After the time lapse was done the volcano still wasn’t visible except for small sections, so we pushed the button and ran another time lapse. We decided then to just have lunch and enjoyed the view of the clouds slowly burning off. We watched the birds flying and the clouds lifting, and even spotted a bald eagle flying over the valley. Finally, right at the end of this 30-minute segment the full mountain came into view it was perfect.
Rested and full we climbed back on the bikes and ground the rest of the way up to the top of Oldman Pass, a relatively small 3050ft high. Then it was 5 beautiful miles down; these were some of the best miles we have ever ridden. Recently repaved road surface still slightly damp in the shade from yesterday’s rain, speed limit of 35mph due to the curves going back and forth, and sweet smelling air of the pine forest as we raced down the mountain. It was just perfect.
At the bottom of the significant decline we settled in to a very slight downward trend over the next two dozen miles, punctuated by some light climbs. We saw plenty of birds flying around, and even passed by a flock of turkeys on the side of the road! It was nice to be on flatter ground and pushing out 14-19mph. Even with the better terrain we still are feeling it in the legs, 7 days of riding that included a significant amount of climbing is taking its toll. Along the way we crossed the Pacific Crest trail for the third time.
At last we rolled through the small town of Carson, which was not much to see, then on to Highway 14 which was quite stressful. After days of riding in sparsely trafficked forest roads, it was a bit of shell shock to be on a busy highway with sections of no shoulder and high speed limits. We pushed on and enjoyed the brief detour of Highway 14 in Stevenson. At this point we could see the Columbia River and Oregon beckoning to us on the other side of the river.
A short climb up and we found the Bridge of the Gods, and again met up with the Pacific Crest trail, our brief chance to ride on the same route as the hikers. Riding across the bridge was an adventure, you are high above the Columbia river (100ft?) and the narrow railing looks awfully frail, the bridge decking is metal grating that you can see through, and there is a lot of car traffic. We made our way across, found that there was no toll for the bicycles in the south direction, and proceeded into the town of Cascade Locks.
We need a break so we checked in to the Cascade Locks Motel / RV Park / Cabins / Laundromat which is surprisingly nice. We’ll spend two nights here letting our legs rest up before heading on to Hood River.
Distance: 43.51
Average: 10.3
Max: 37.5 finally a proper downhill!
Climb: 2684ft
Time: 4:12:51
A few totals thus far:
Climb: 31,883ft
Distance: 607 miles biked.
Misty morning, clouds above and more forming from all the rain burining off everything on the ground
Mt. Saint Helens
Rain drops on the pine trees
A peak of the Bridge of the Gods
Sounds wonderful. The bridge you describe reminds me of one we used to cross called Deception Pass bridge. Very high, narrow, but spectacular. Not for the faint of heart!
We've actually ridden across that bridge, too! Whidby Island, right? Yep, both spectacular, and literally breathtaking. Don't look down!
Hello Matt and Pam! I am enjoying following your adventures. So happy you are able to see Mt St Helens. It is amazing, the changes that have occurred since it's eruption. It sounds like the weather will be improving. Enjoy the waterfalls along the Columbia Gorge, it's spectacular! Hood River is beautiful, my favorite place to visit. Enjoy Hwy 35. Packer Orchards has yummy cookies! Take care.
Thanks for following along! And also for the heads up about the cookies. It's always a good time for cookies, right? ☺
Hope the weather has improved so you can see th he beautiful scenery!
It's been just about perfect! One rainy day, but then it cleared up and it looks like we have a good week ahead of us. This has sure been a beautiful ride!
Oh Pam, I'm tearing up!! What a beautiful day, and that downhill and this route are getting to the top of my biking bucket list. Wow wow wow!! Love the video and your journaling. Technology really adds to touring.
Ah! Thanks, Heidi! We're having such a great time, and getting to see some beautiful parts of the country ☺ Some of these sections are definitely up there on my favorite ride list! I'm loving getting to see all these volcanoes.
CLIMB 31,883 FEET!!! 607 MILES??? WOW YOU GUYS, PRETTY AMAZING!!!!! Nice job on the pictures? Hope you're both feeling lots better, and Pam your leg is better after a few days rest. Bet Matt can't wait for you to take back the extra cargo. Keep saf Even~