Day 6: To Pelton Park, Lake Simtustus

August 6, 2013

Today I leave the TransAmerica route and start a 3-day segment going north along back roads east of the Cascade range, roughly following the Deschutes river downstream to the Columbia river. The route avoids busy US 97 as much as possible.

My original plan was to go up the Metolius river and over a mountain with 20 miles of gravel to get to Lake Billy Chinook. But the entire Metolius river area is closed because of wildfires. After more than 40,000 miles of bike tours, this is only the second time I've been forced to re-route because of fires. The first time was in 2008 in Idaho. It seems like the new late summer "normal" in the western U.S. is frequent road closures due to fires, and unhealthy smoke in vast areas downwind.

My alternate route is shorter, has less climbing, and is all paved. First I went east 4 miles on highway 126, then turned left onto Holmes road which is a signed "Scenic Bikeway".

Looking northwest at Mt. Washington, Black Butte, and Mt. Jefferson. Brown horizontal bands of smoke are visible.

The open fields offer unobstructed views of all the volcanoes to the west. But wildfire smoke ruined the view. I could barely see the mountains through the smoke. The smoke wasn't blowing in my direction, so the local area had good visibility.

Looking west at what *should* be a stunning clear early morning view of South Sister, Middle Sister, and North Sister. Very hazy because of a big fire near the town of Sisters.

The pine trees are long gone now. Uncultivated areas are mostly brown grass and sagebrush, with scattered junipers.

Holmes road between Sisters and Terrebonne.

Holmes road connects to Lower Bridge road which meanders down to the Deschutes river with no good river views. But the road has great river views when climbing out of the canyon.

Alpaca farm with a smoky view of the Three Sisters in the distance.

Lower Bridge crossing the Deschutes river.

My back road connects to US 97 just north of Terrebonne. I detoured half a mile south to have lunch at the only restaurant.

Then 5 miles north of Terrebonne I took a long stop at the park overlooking the Crooked River gorge. The old highway bridge is now a pedestrian walkway. Upstream from the walkway is the new road bridge. Downstream from the walkway is an old railroad bridge. The canyon is 400 feet deep.

Old and new highway bridges at the Crooked river gorge.

View of the new bridge from the old bridge which is now a pedestrian path.

North of the Crooked river gorge US 97 climbs a hill, then begins a long descent towards Madras. Traffic is heavy but the road has a good shoulder. Partway down I exited onto Culver highway which descends steeply to the little town of Culver. A couple miles past Culver I turned left on the road to Cove Palisades State Park. The park is at the bottom of the canyon. I don't want to go to the bottom-I just want a view of Lake Billy Chinook. I descended 250 feet to get the view, then climbed 250 feet up to the canyon rim.

Marina at Cove Palisades State Park. All the boats are out on the lake.

It turned out that the county road on the top of the rim has several informal overlooks of the lake. The road has no traffic and I was alone at every overlook.

Lake Billy Chinook panorama. On the left is the confluence of the Crooked and Deschutes rivers.

The last overlook is at Round Butte Park, a tribal park that is closed on Tuesday and Wednesday. I walked around their fenced compound to get a glimpse of the dam and the canyon.

Round Butte Dam from the Round Butte viewpoint.

The road is level and close to the rim for several miles. But eventually it climbs a big hill and descends steeply into the canyon. The grade had to be at least 10%.

This sign means that a very steep winding descent is ahead, back into the canyon.

Once in the canyon the road climbs a couple more steep hills overlooking Lake Simtustus. Still no traffic. I had a hard time finding the entrance to the Pelton Park campground. All the visitors come from the north (from US 26), so it wasn't signed when coming in from the south.

The Pelton Park campground is huge, occupying 1.5 miles of lake shore. $19. Showers, marina, store, restaurant. The campground is owned by Portland General Electric which operates the hydroelectric power plants on the Deschutes river. My large sloping campsite has a level tent pad only 20 feet from a street light. What were they thinking?

Sunset on the canyon wall at Lake Simtustus.

The temperature was 50F early in the morning, but warm and sunny most of the day. High of 92F, still 80F at 10 PM.

Today I left the forest behind. The change of scenery is invigorating. I live in a forested region, so the arid climate seems more exotic. And now laundry dries quickly and the tent will be dry in the morning.

Today I descended from 3000 feet elevation in Sisters to 1600 feet at Pelton Park. It definitely feels hotter. The next several days will be at low elevations with predictably hot weather.

Distance: 65.7 miles (105 km)
Climbing: 2409 feet (730 m)
Average Speed: 10.9 mph (17.4 km/h)

Today's ride: 66 miles (106 km)
Total: 293 miles (472 km)

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