Day 10: To Umatilla

August 10, 2013

Today I start and finish in Oregon but most of the day will be spent in the state of Washington.

It will be a hot, shadeless, and very long day. About 85 miles to the next lodging in Umatilla. I don't want to camp for the next couple days because the weather is too hot in the mid-Columbia river valley. I'm far from the cooling influence of the Pacific ocean and the elevation is very low. Today I start at 235 feet (72m) elevation in Rufus and end at 322 feet (98m) elevation in Umatilla.

I got up at 6:30 and was on the road at 8 after calling my wife to wish her happy birthday.

Early morning view through the window of my motel room in Rufus.

I crossed the US 97 bridge into the state of Washington and turned right on highway 14 east which promptly climbs several hundred feet. The view is unobstructed because the vegetation is short.

View from the US 97 bridge looking northwest towards Mt. Adams.

Looking back, now in Washington with Oregon across the river. A final view of Mt. Adams on the far right.

I climbed 2 miles in Washington before I got to this sign!

After the big climb the road is gently rolling with frequent panoramic views of the Columbia river. The road passes high above John Day dam with an unobstructed view, but looking into the sun.

Looking back at the Columbia river and highway 14.

Today I saw 12 westbound touring cyclists all wearing matching green jerseys. A group of 7, a group of 3, and a group of 2. Early in the morning I saw an eastbound cyclist who got on the road an hour before me. I spoke to him 2 days later in Dayton, WA.

Highway 14 and Columbia river, now a lake behind John Day dam.

Traffic was moderate and the road has a wide but rough paved shoulder. Frequent tire debris to weave around.

I will follow the Lewis and Clark trail east to the Continental Divide.

I had lunch and signed the cyclist log at the restaurant in the little hamlet of Roosevelt. They get cyclists every day because it's the only restaurant on this hot shadeless 85 mile segment of the Lewis and Clark bike route.

Later I stopped to rest and cool down at the Paterson store. The temperature was 94F early in the afternoon, but then it became cloudy and the temperature dropped into the 80's. Thanks to the late afternoon clouds it wasn't quite as hot as expected. That's good because there is no shade and the river is inaccessible, far below behind a fence.

The mid-Columbia river is too wide and too flat because it's all reservoirs. I prefer smaller, more accessible rivers with water features like waves and ledge drops.

The hills get gradually smaller. It looks almost flat across the river.

After about 40 miles the terrain becaomes much flatter. Flat road and few surrounding hills. The river seems to get wider.

Today I was almost never out of sight of giant wind turbines and giant power lines. The power lines were built for the hydroelectric dams, but they also make it easy for new wind farms to connect to the grid.

The Adventure Cycling map directed me to cross the river on a bike trail on the east side of the I-84 bridge with an unobstructed view of McNary dam. After crossing the bridge (back into Oregon) I turned left towards McNary dam. The route goes in front of the dam, past the entrance to the fish ladder's underwater fish viewing area.

Unfortunately I had to backtrack 4 miles to find a restaurant and motel in Umatilla. Umatilla is the most economically depressed town I've seen in Oregon. Many vacant buildings. Most of the inhabitants are Latino farm laborers. Few businesses for a town its size. All the businesses must have moved 5 miles to Hermiston, closer to I-84.

Today I passed two campgrounds and both had full signs at the entrance. That doesn't matter because I don't want to camp after such an exhausting day. I got a $65 air-conditioned room at the Umatilla Inn.

I appreciate the wide open views in the mid-Columbia valley but the scenery is not quite spectacular. The TransAmerica bike route through the John Day river valley has more climbing but is more scenic and not as hot. And the John Day river is much more accessible than the Columbia river. I'm on this route because I've never seen it before and I already pedaled the John Day river route once before.

Distance: 93.4 miles (149 km) longest day of the tour
Climbing: 2797 feet (848 m)
Average Speed: 11.1 mph (17.8 km/h)

Today's ride: 93 miles (150 km)
Total: 524 miles (843 km)

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