July 22, 2006
Day 33: To Deer Creek
It's Saturday, it's unusually hot, and I'm in the mountains near a big city. Those factors combine to result in something unwelcome to a bike tourist: traffic! Today I was amazed how many people drove to the mountains. Cars, trucks, and motor homes, often towing boats or off-road vehicles. Most rural highways had maybe 1 or 2 cars per minute. But today I was being passed by 10 or 12 cars at a time.
I got on the road at 9 AM. It was unusually warm, humid, and hazy. This time of year Oregon is usually very dry. It stayed overcast and humid until 2 PM. Then the sun came out, but it actually seemed cooler because the humidity was lower.
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The first 10 miles were downstream alongside the Breitenbush river to the town of Detroit (1580 feet elevation). I ate breakfast #2 at a cafe in Detroit, then continued south on highway 22 along the shore of Detroit Lake.
After a few miles the reservoir gives way to the North fork Santiam river.
The road climbs gently alongside the river for more than 20 miles. Then it climbs more steeply to 3750 feet elevation and connects to US highway 20. I pedaled west (downhill) on US 20 for 4 miles, then turned south onto highway 126. The area has many lava fields from volcanic eruptions. It's fascinating to see how trees manage to grow in the lava over time.
Most of the time the nearby big hills obstruct the view of the larger snow-capped mountains of the Cascades. But highway 126 has a great view of the 3 Sisters in one place.
Highway 126 took me past Clear Lake, the headwaters of the McKenzie river. After Clear Lake the road follows the McKenzie river, steadily downhill. I had to stop to see impressive Sahalie Falls where the McKenzie river abruptly drops 100 feet (30m) across a lava flow.
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And then the McKenzie river drops 70 feet (21m) over Koosah falls.
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After the waterfall stops was another 10 easy downstream miles to my destination - Deer Creek hot spring (1920 feet elevation). I turned into the campground 2 miles before Deer Creek road but the campground was completely full. So I went on to Deer Creek road and found an excellent free campsite. There were no facilities but I would rate it as one of my best campsites on the trip. Like having my own private forest and river. And it was noticeably cooler in deep shade next to a cold river. The hot spring is on the opposite side of the river, a 5 minute walk away.
Today was hot but the afternoon wasn't as humid as yesterday. The heat was more tolerable today. Fortunately the route is all forested so it's easy to find shade. Today seemed easier than yesterday, maybe because of the lower humidity in the afternoon.
Distance: 63.4 mi. (101.4 km)
Climbing: 2890 ft. (876 m)
Average Speed: 9.1 mph (14.6 km/h)
Maximum Speed: 45.2 mph (72 km/h)
Hiking: 1 mi. (1.6 km)
Today's ride: 63 miles (101 km)
Total: 1,535 miles (2,470 km)
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