August 9, 2009
Day 31: To Spanish Creek campground
It was another cold night. 40F at 6AM. Marilyn and I got up at 7 and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. She brought blueberries, cantaloupe, and real milk. What a treat. Marilyn brought her bike with her to do a day ride in the Sierra valley. We got on the road at 9:30. 1.5 miles later she turned east on Hwy 70 and I turned west on Hwy 70/89.
Highway 89 is narrow with no shoulder, but there was very little traffic. After a few miles of valley pastures the road climbs 600 feet into the forested hills.
At the top of the hill I crossed from the east slope of the Sierra Nevada (streams flowing east into a basin) to the west slope (streams flowing west to the Pacific). Then the road descends 1000 feet to the town of Graeagle, an upscale real estate development at the foot of forested mountains. I had lunch at the cafe.
I took the next picture at the park in Graeagle. It shows two additions to the rear of my bike. I found the flag on the roadside while climbing Monitor Pass. I picked up the water jug much earlier, at the Onion Valley campground. I fill it when I expect to camp at a site that doesn't have water nearby.
From Graeagle the terrain is rolling hills with a downhill trend to the town of Quincy. The weather was much warmer today, in the upper 80's. I definitely needed shade when stopping. I napped on a table in a highway rest area. Later I took another long shade break in a park in Quincy.
The town of Quincy sprawls more than 5 miles along highway 89. After Quincy is a 250 foot climb followed by a long downhill to the Feather river. Then the road follows the Feather river downstream.
The Feather river is probably most famous for the adjacent Western Pacific Railroad. The railroad was completed in 1909 and features numerous tunnels and large trestles.
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I camped at the Spanish Creek campground (National Forest), at an elevation of only 3200 feet. My site overlooked the creek, on an empty loop at the top of the bluff. I hoped it would be less buggy than the crowded loop down by the creek, but the mosquitoes were still bad at dusk. The campground is nice, but the $20 fee is too high considering that it has pit toilets. The evening was very warm, 75F at 9PM. I'm accustomed to the cool evenings at higher elevation.
Today my average speed was much higher than usual. Since leaving Lake Tahoe I've been gradually descending out of the Sierra Nevada mountains. This is the lowest I've been in 14 days. Tomorrow I start climbing into a different mountain range, the Cascades.
Distance: 59.2 mi (95 km)
Climbing: 1973 ft (598 m)
Average speed: 12.1 mph (19.4 km/h)
Max speed: 39 mph 62 km/h)
Today's ride: 59 miles (95 km)
Total: 1,379 miles (2,219 km)
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