Hog Canyon

February 2, 2022

The end of a journey still always comes as a surprise to us. It feels unreal somehow that this is our last ride on the road before really heading north. starting tomorrow we’ll just drive north up the coast for three days and then we’ll be back in Portland for a month watching the weather hopefully for breaks in the rain.

So for our last ride here, what do we choose? We’re going back to where we started in Paso Robles: up Hog Canyon. There are other enticing rides to take here, but this is the right one for conditions today - windy, blowing from the east. It’s even colder this morning, down to 28; but somehow no matter what the temperature is when we wake up by 11 it’s about 50 and time to ride. And for the first time, we’re finally just leaving right from the motel.

We pick a different route this time on our way out to the canyon, and this time it’s an out and back so Rachael’s got more control over her options if it gets too windy or hilly for her liking. We see a different cross section this time of the country in close to PR, but it’s all pretty similar until you get deeper up into the canyon - endless rolling hills blanketed with vineyards.

So, country like we’ve just seen recently. Still, there’s always something new to make you pause: a longhorn, an odd bird. Best of the day is a quartet of young deer running along a slope above us as we’re racing downhill and with the wind at our backs. I don’t see them at all until I hear Rachael shouting over the wind from behind me. For some reason Rachael is a much better deer spotter than I am.

They’re up at the crest of the ridge working their way east, but a fence is in the way. One of them takes the lead working the line looking for an avenue across, and finally finds it. It must be a tight fit, because we can hear the twang of the fence as each of the four of them squeezes under before they all race up the hill.

There’s always a reason to get out the door. There’s always something new, no two rides are ever quite the same.