Saturday, July 2, 2011

Up, up, and up

Friday, July 1
51 freakin' miles!!!!!
Maupin, OR



Longest day yet. Most uphill miles, too. An 8 mile climb. Followed by a 4 mile climb. But finishing the day off with a 26 mile nearly all downhill. And the headwinds were minimal. Enough to keep us cool but not to hold us back. That is one great advantage to headwinds. The cooling factor.

Saw a couple of ghost towns today. There are a lot of them scattered throughout Oregon. Towns that boomed during the gold rush and are now deserted. Some, like Shaniko, try to survive as a tourist destination. It was really cute with the old storefronts and wooden boardwalk. And lots of old wagons and cars. Every chance I get, I climb up into the old wagons to imagine how difficult it must have been coming all the way out here in one with your husband and children. And I thought that newly traveled road yesterday was bad when it went on for 10 miles.

Old western wooded buildings spot the landscape everywhere. And sage brush. The ground's been quite hard and prickly for camping. If it's lush and green, you can bet there are sprinklers.

We have a new thing to add to our list of stuff to avoid when picking a campsite: boat launch. Thus morning they were putting in around 4am!!!


Pedal on, Pedal on

Saddle BagLady

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