July 10, 2006
Day 21: To Hot Lake
I got on the road at 8:30 heading south on OR 82 which climbs 1100 feet to a divide that separates the Wallowa and Grande Ronde watersheds. The highway has panoramic views of wide valleys with mountains in the distance. Then rolling hills with a downhill trend to the town of Elgin (2716 feet elevation).
There are many irrigated farms but the river doesn't look very big. Probably the river is nearly pumped dry. The non-irrigated hills are still somewhat green but will be brown soon.
I passed many traditional family farms. Most of the farm houses are very old. In fact most of the houses in the towns are also very old. It appears that few buildings have been built in the last 75 years. The area probably has a smaller population now than it did 75 years ago when farming was more labor-intensive.
I stopped for lunch in Elgin and shared a table and conversation with a middle aged couple traveling on BMW motorcycles. Many signs and posters in town advertise the Elgin Stampede. But today there is little indication that this sleepy town was jam-packed with rodeo fans yesterday. We both took pictures of this unusual yard decoration in town.
The landscape becomes increasingly boring after Elgin. At first there are wheat fields but the last few miles to La Grande is mostly just barren scrub land.
Coming into La Grande (2771 feet elevation) I passed a large Boise Cascade particle board factory and a large RV factory. I stopped at a huge new WalMart to buy Coleman fuel. I bought a gallon, filled my quart bottle, then abandoned the can near the store entrance with a note saying it's free to whoever wants it. Probably nobody wants it because everybody uses propane nowadays. WalMart had hundreds of propane canisters and only a couple of very dusty cans of Coleman fuel.
Finally I got past the industrial zone and into the town of LaGrande. It's a large town (population 12,400) about the same size as Baker City but not as charming. I stopped to buy groceries and continued out of town on the old highway towards the town of Union.
The terrain was flat and desert-like. My destination is Hot Lake 10 miles southeast of La Grande. It's an old hot spring resort that was abandoned for several decades and is now being restored to its former glory. A few miles before Hot Lake I passed a huge marshy area that is a wildlife refuge. The marsh is formed by the runoff from Hot Lake which is fed by a 208F hot spring that flows 2.5 million gallons per day!
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I paid $15 for a tent site at the nearby RV park/campground. It has really nice bathrooms and showers. Also a swimming pool and hot tub heated by running the hot water through heat exchangers. Unfortunately there were also many mosquitoes because warm irrigation canals criss-cross the area. There was no legal place to have a soak in the natural hot mineral water.
Today was partly cloudy with a high of about 90F. Cooler than yesterday. It was comfortable cycling weather because the humidity is extremely low. Today was an easy day in terms of distance, climbing, and wind. I felt sleepy for much of the afternoon, so I went to bed early to rest for tomorrow's big climb into the Blue mountains.
Distance: 47.8 mi. (76.5 km)
Climbing: 1614 ft. (489 m)
Average Speed: 9.2 mph (14.7 km/h)
Maximum Speed: 36.1 mph (57.8 km/h)
Today's ride: 48 miles (77 km)
Total: 886 miles (1,426 km)
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