Summer Has Arrived!

Yesterday was another rest day.  I slept in until 8:48!  Can't remember the last time that happened!  Quite a few of our folks went up McKenzie Pass yesterday; most of them early to beat the heat.  A very hot day yesterday.  Cleaned my bike and walked around town - cute little western-themed touristy town.  Ate way too much, including a great piece of pecan pie baked and brought by Fiona's brother Ian.  Same guy who brought us shortbread at Crater Lake; sweet!

Back on the road today.  Still in the heat wave, so everyone was keen to get going.  By the time I got to breakfast just about everyone else was already gone.  Let me just say - I'm on time and they're all early.  We started out on US 20 again.  Lots of traffic again, including a lot of trucks.  The shoulder was only about 2 feet wide and there was a crack down the middle - didn't make for fun riding.  Nice forest scenery, though.  Had this good view of Mt. Washington on the way.  Large forest fire dated from 2003.

Only one significant climb today; from mile 12 to mile 19.  Pretty gentle grade.  Either that or we're just getting used to it!

The shoulder did improve after the first few miles (the crack went away), but still wasn't great for much of the day.  It just means that I spend more time looking down and hanging on when the big rigs go by.  For a big section in the middle of the ride, there were huge grates which took up the entire shoulder.  I didn't want to see whether or not a tire would actually get caught in them.  Luckily I was able to dodge them all.  A task made more challenging by the fact that many were covered by shade and were only visible at the last second.  Oh well - at least it was a quick ride.  Just that one section of uphill and then the rest of the day was pretty much downhill of some description.  We saw lots of beargrass after the pass, some lava fields, and crossed the PCT one more time.

We had a lovely view of Mount Jefferson ahead for a while (although it didn't show up so swell in the picture), and the Santium River on our left for quite a while.

We lost quite a bit of elevation today, so our forests became more mixed.  As we approached Detroit we started to glimpse views of Detroit Lake.  I might go out and take a better look after dinner tonight.  We're staying at a nice little motel.  Detroit's population is about 300 in the summer; less in the winter.  Not sure where they would have put us all if there had been thirty on the trip!

Funky little restaurant on the corner.  Across from the ice cream & hamburger joint where we all stopped for food after we rolled in shortly after noon.  Another great day!

Stats for the day:
92 km / 57 miles from Sisters OR to Detroit OR
2455 feet up
4076 feet down
Weather:  Hot & sunny!  Started out about 18C and made it into the low 30sC.  Luckily we were going almost due north through tall trees so got a lot of morning shade on the road.