Day 23: Troutdale to Scappania County Park

September 7, 2011

Route from Troutdale to Fort Stevens State Park, days 23 and 24. Terrain view looks best.

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I'm west of the Cascade range now. Today I cross the Willamette Valley and climb into the Coast range.

The ride starts with 30 miles of urban cycling to get across greater Portland. Portland is famously bike-friendly. Nearly every major road has a bike lane. I went through Gresham on Halsey street, then across Portland on Burnside street. The Burnside street corridor is thriving thanks to a light rail line that runs down the middle. Approaching downtown I pedaled through miles of upscale Craftsman-style homes. I should have taken some pictures. Getting across the city was safe and easy. The only annoyance was having to stop often at red lights. I've seen very few traffic lights during this tour.

I crossed the Willamette River on the Burnside Street bridge on the north edge of downtown. Other than the train stop at the beginning of this tour, I had never been to downtown Portland before.

Downtown Portland seawall from the Burnside street bridge.

Across the river from downtown is the floating portion of the East Bank Esplanade. Also the basketball arena, I-5, and the convention center.

Old Town is immediately north of downtown.

My route to the REI store gave me a grand tour of the Pearl District north of downtown. The area has recently become quite urban with high density mixed-use development. The south end borders downtown and Old town, and has many converted warehouses. The north end is mostly new development.

Lovejoy street in Portland's Pearl District.

The Willamette river isn't especially beautiful in north Portland. It is a port, after all, and port facilities aren't made to be beautiful

Double-deck I-405 bridge north of downtown Portland.

I left Portland following a route shown on the Columbia Gorge bike map. Vaughn street took me over a hill to St. Helens highway which is an industrial strip along the Willamette river. Giant oil tanks, pipeline terminals, chemical plants, grain elevators, trucking and shipping companies. 90F with no shade among the sea of concrete. At least it's flat and easy.

St. Helens highway eventually merges with US 30, a busy divided highway with a wide shoulder. A wreck diverted all traffic up the access ramp to the St. John's bridge. So I saw the bridge from up high instead of from down below.

The elegant St. John's bridge is the last bridge over the Willamette river before it flows into the Columbia river.

I continued on busy, boring US 30 to Scappoose and stopped for ice cream at Dairy Cream. The temperature was 90F and there was no shade on the road.

A heat wave has started. That's not good if it persists when I get to the coast. A heat wave inland always causes dense fog on the coast.

On the north edge of Scapoose I turned left onto a county road called Scappose-Vernonia highway. It was a relief to get away from busy US 30. Now I begin the first big climb in the Coast range. The road climbs along forested Scappoose creek, topping out at 1300 feet elevation. A "big climb" in the Coast range hardly compares to a big climb in the Cascade range.

Then the road descends through lush forest to the headwaters of the Nehalem river. The area is all tree farms, unpopulated.

I camped at Scappania county park at 600 feet elevation along the east fork Nehalem river in a cool shady canyon. I had the campground to myself. Pit toilet, sulfury piped water. It felt good to make a shower in the warm evening. I filtered water from the river rather than drink the awful piped water. My campsite was across a footbridge, not visible from the campground road. Several cars drove through the campground during the night and probably didn't even notice I was there.

Distance: 57.5 mi. (92 km)
Climbing: 2194 ft. (665 m)
Average Speed: 10.7 mph (17.1 km/h)

Today's ride: 58 miles (93 km)
Total: 1,098 miles (1,767 km)

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