Day 7: To Tumalo State Park

June 26, 2006

I got up at 7:40 AM when the sun heated up the tent. I got on the road at 9:30, heading back to US 97. Unfortunately I needed to turn south for 6 miles to get to the La Pine post office. My wife mailed a replacement stove to me. I picked up the stove and then ate an early lunch at a pizza place in Wickiup Junction, just north of La Pine. Then I finally started heading north, towards Bend.

The first stop is at the Lava River Cave. It turned out that the Lava River Cave is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. But there were several cars and a school bus parked just outside the locked gate. I biked around the gate and pedaled to the entrance to the lava cave. The cave entrance was not locked, and people were able to go in and out of the cave at will. So I grabbed my Petzl Tikka XP headlight and walked down into the cave. It was a chilly 41F inside, so I walked very quickly to keep warm. My headlight was barely satisfactory to navigate inside the dark lava tube. The diameter of the tube varies from about 30ft to 50ft. I hiked as far as I could, until the tube was mostly filled with sand. The end is one mile and about 200 feet lower than the entrance. I was very cold by the time I got back to the entrance. The hot sunshine was really welcome after an hour inside the cold lava tube. I highly recommend visiting the lava river cave when it's closed. No admission fee. No waiting for a scheduled entry time. No obnoxious stinky Coleman lanterns. But you need a good light.

Entrance to the 1-mile long lava cave. I hiked to the end. It was a chilly 41F inside.

It was mostly downhill from the Lava River Cave to the city of Bend. The last several miles is an expressway with a good shoulder. Getting through Bend was not pleasant. It's by far the largest town I cross on this tour. I stayed on US 97, probably not the best bike route across town. And I got a flat tire riding on the debris-strewn shoulder. My first flat tire on this tour.

Bend is the largest city I passed through on this tour.

On the north side of Bend I exited onto O.B. Riley road and pedaled the last few miles to Tumalo State Park (3200 feet elevation). I wandered around the day use area where people go tubing on the Deschutes river.

Tubing on the Deschutes River in Tumalo State Park, north of Bend.

Then I went over to the campground and set up at the hiker/biker campsite. There was already a family there who pedaled from Boise, Idaho on a triple bike and a single bike. The Vogel family was near the beginning of an epic bicycle tour.

I camped here once before on a bike tour in 1998. It's a popular place. The park has a huge shower building with solar heated water.

Hiker/biker site at Tumalo State Park. I wish I got a picture of the triple bike the Vogel family was riding.

This guy's packing method is slightly different from mine.Shoes hanging from the handlebar???

Today was an easy day because the 3100 foot net elevation drop more than made up for the slight headwind. The weather was sunny all day with a high in the upper 90's F. Hottest day of the trip so far...

Distance: 63.6 mi. (101.8 km)

Climbing: 715 ft. (217 m)

Average Speed: 12.4 mph (19.8 km/h)

Maximum Speed: 39.7 mph (63.5 km/h)

Hiking: 2 mi. (3.2 km)

Today's ride: 64 miles (103 km)
Total: 307 miles (494 km)

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