August 7, 2013
Day 7: To Maupin city campground
The temperature only got down to 65F overnight. Much warmer than nights in the Cascades. I got on the road at 8:20 after a huge breakfast at the cafe 200 yards from my campsite.
The day's ride started with a short ride past Pelton Dam. Then a steep climb to get out of the canyon followed by a gentle descent to cross the Deschutes river at the "town" of Warm Springs. The no-traffic county road ends at US 26, where I turned left (northwest). US 26 is busy because it's the main route from Portland to Central Oregon, but it does have a shoulder.
There isn't much of a town at Warm Springs. Casino, gas station, restaurant. That's about it. The residents seem to mostly live in the countryside. But the tribe has a lot of economic activity with a huge lumber mill, industrial park, tribe-owned utilities, etc.
On highway 26 I saw two loaded recumbent cyclists going the opposite direction. After 4 miles on busy US 26 I turned right (north) on Agency-Simnasho highway, also known as Indian Road 3. This road goes through the middle of the Warm Springs Indian reservation. I was surprised that it has a decent paved shoulder even though traffic is light and there is basically no development. The road climbs a big hill overlooking the town, then descends north to cross the Warm Springs river in a scenic canyon.
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I never saw it, but 1.5 miles downstream from my river crossing is the large and luxurious Ka Nee Tah hot springs/casino/golf resort.
A very big climb begins after crossing the Warm Springs river. First, climbing past Mutton mountain. Then continuing to climb through Indian Head canyon which is unfenced and has a large number of semi-wild horses.
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The landscape looks very volcanic and more red than most areas in the Cascades.
Today I had my first views of Mt. Hood during this tour. Air quality improved greatly as I traveled north. Smoke isn't much of a problem now.
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I took a long lunch stop in the village of Simnasho, a remote Indian village with about 150 residents. The store's billboards advertise a deli, but they didn't have a deli. So I had a frozen burrito. The shade and air conditioning were much appreciated.
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After Simnasho is another climb, this one so big that it's forested with junipers and a few pines near the 2800 foot summit. Fortunately the sky became partly cloudy, so it wasn't extremely hot. During the descent I had my first view of Mt. Adams.
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The no-traffic back road ends at the village of Wapinitia, connecting to highway 216. I turned east on highway 216 towards Maupin. 10 miles to Maupin with a strong tailwind and not much traffic. I got groceries in downtown Maupin which is 200 feet above the Deschutes river.
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I camped at the Maupin City Park campground which is across the river from the town. $28 for campsite, shower, and tax. My campsite was only 20 feet from the Deschutes river. Unfortunately my campsite was adjacent to a noisy group of young Girl Scouts. In the evening I had a long conversation with a couple visiting from Illinois (where I lived before moving to Oregon). A couple of trains went through during the night, directly across the river with wheels squealing alarmingly on the sharply curved track.
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Today was a long difficult day. High of 95F with basically no shade. Headwind when going north. Longer distance and more climbing than any day of the tour so far...
Distance: 64.9 miles (104 km)
Climbing: 3680 feet (1115 m)
Average Speed: 9.4 mph (15 km/h)
Today's ride: 65 miles (105 km)
Total: 358 miles (576 km)
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