Day 77 - July 19 - Roosevelt, WA to Columbia Hills State Park, WA - Two Old Guys Take On A Continent

July 19, 2023

Day 77 - July 19 - Roosevelt, WA to Columbia Hills State Park, WA

Gorge-eous!

Ed’s Story

I mentioned in yesterday’s journal, how we were putting our tents in the brown areas where the sprinklers wouldn’t sprinkle. To be on the safe side, we put our rain flies on the tent anyway but kept the doors open.

Boy, we’re glad we did. About 10 pm I was suddenly sprayed with water….the sprinklers did wet that area. I hurriedly closed the doors. For the next several hours the sprinklers battered the tents. The starting and stopping was haphazard so you never knew when it was coming.

Lesson learned….trust but verify.

I also talked about having a tailwind….well there was, but not for us. The tailwind was at the top of the bluffs as evidenced by the wind turbines. For us bikers along the river we had a (not too severe) headwind.

There were absolutely no services along the 51 mile ride. We took extra water with us but didn’t need it thankfully.

We had a lot more climbing today than the last 2 days. Lots of ups and downs. About 22 miles from the end we came across a 500 ft climb over 1.7 miles . Needless to say this was steep.

We finally made it to the Columbia Hills State Park. We had to climb a hill to get to the turn off, and then had to ride downhill to get to the campsite. What that means is a nice climb to get out of here.

Our camp. No grass but put tents on gravel. The tents should be in the shade as the sun goes down.

It is hot here, currently 99 degrees. It is only getting down to 66 tonight so will be a warm sleep.

Tomorrow we cross back into Oregon and are staying at Viento State Park near Hood River. The ride is only 44 miles long but we have at least 3 good climbs.

So until tomorrow happy biking!

John’s Story

To amplify what Ed said about the sprinklers, I think they were really water cannons. It was so loud hitting the tent that every time it swept by I unwillingly opened my eyes. Every time the water hit the tent it came from a different direction. I thought after the first time, which lasted about 15 minutes, that it would also be the last, and went to sleep. Something roused me out of a sound sleep. I thought it was an animal trying to get into my food pannier on the bike. I opened the side of the tent where I could see the bike just in time to get blasted by a spray of water. 15 more minutes. Then later another 15 minutes. Needless to say I did not get a good night’s sleep. To make matters worse the water reeked of sulfur. I was glad to leave this morning.

Yesterday I saw a squadron of white pelicans float by on the river, and I have seen a few flying over it. I see these same pelicans around Oklahoma City in the winter as they migrate north and south. I always associated pelicans with the Gulf Coast and shows like Flipper (that ages me, doesn’t it?), but those are brown pelicans. The other pelican species in North America is the white pelican, and although it winters as far south as the Gulf Coast and along the Pacific coast, it breeds in the interior of western North America from the Great Salt Lake in Utah to Canada. It has the second largest wingspan of any bird in North America after the California condor at about seven feet. One of my favorite birds.

Things started to look more gorge-like again as we pressed west.

Ed was complaining that the slight tailwind forecast for today had not materialized. I told him to be thankful we were not riding into a 30 mph headwind the past two days, which would be the case if the weather here were typical.

As we came around a corner I thought I saw a cloud on the horizon in an otherwise clear blue sky. Imagine my surprise when it turned out not be not a cloud but a snow covered volcano! Mount Hood is 50 miles east southeast of Portland, and stands 11,249’ high. It is one of many large volcanoes that stretch in an arc from southwestern British Columbia to Northern California. The basalts that form the walls of the Columbia River Gorge aren’t related to these volcanoes, which are much younger.

The gorge is getting steeper and deeper as we head west. It will also get narrower. The winds which often scream through the gorge are at their strongest at the narrowest point, which we will pass tomorrow at Hood River. The winds are supposed to start up again tomorrow, but hopefully we will get on the road early enough to miss the worst of them, and on Friday we will exit the gorge as we approach Troutdale and the winds should subside. Fingers crossed.

Mount Hood continues to dominate the view.

Looking back to the east atop the 500’ climb above the John Day Dam.

One more (until tomorrow) shot of Mount Hood as we grow nearer.

Above the road at the top of the climb above John Day Dam I see possible evidence of a lava tube exposed by the highway construction.

Almost everywhere along the gorge the ridges are covered with wind turbines.

Explanatory road sign. I had been wondering.

Down by the river you can see the cut that was made to run the railroad tracks through this side of the gorge. They moved an enormous amount of rock to build that railroad.

It’s been a real desert of flowering plants since before Walla Walla and even earlier. Except for a few irrigated orchards and vineyards, and the occasional small grove of trees, all of the vegetation is brown as far as the eye can see

I did find this thistle, which I think is new to the journal

This plant was flowering near the river at Roosevelt.

We met Kevin, a fellow traveler, when he stopped by our camp to look at Ed’s bike. Kevin is about 5 days into a week long ride between Seattle and Portland. He brought a 6-pack of cold beer he’d purchased in Lyle, Washington, and shared it with us. Kevin is granted a Road Angel Award for his generosity.

Kevin is an organic geochemist at Portland State University. He’s also riding a Surly Long Haul Trucker like mine, but with disc brakes.

Just before I get into the tent tonight I plan to take another shower with cool water to try to make getting to sleep easier.

Today's ride: 51 miles (82 km)
Total: 422 miles (679 km)

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