Bend to Forest Ranch

Summary

My trip really began in Bend. I knew better what I was into, and was excited about getting to Lava Beds National Monument in particular. I spent nine days riding, with a "rest day" in the park. The terrain went from high desert pines to the Klamath Lake basin. On to Tule Lake basin and the buttes of the Medicine Lake shield volcano. Through low mountains to the Pit River valley, over more mountains to Willow Creek and then Big Valley, more mountains to Eagle Lake, more mountains to Susanville, and finally, over and through the mountains to Forest Ranch. Thank you Zack (and Jill and Lee) for convincing me to take the dry route South. It's been wonderful. You can see pictures from the whole trip thus far here.

As I travel, I'm learning a bit. I carry too much food and not enough water. Scenery and music are my best distractions from pain, though growling sometimes helps (Jon taught me this at Emma Long). I carry too much anxiety about the unknown: upcoming weather, strange people, and things that go bump in the night. I have a healthy fear of getting run over, but the rest of it I need to let go. Still, I relish travel, and finding out what lies down the road.

As I meet people along the way, I become more convinced that people are good and act in a kindly manner. This includes especially Don the driver to Bend, the ranger in La Pine, the woman at Dawson House lodge, the construction workers southeast of Klamath Falls, rangers Tom and Amy in Lava Beds, Robert the flight attendant, Jim et al. at the Canby Hotel, and the Eagle Lake fisherman who gave me water and told me the rest of the days ride would be easier. I know that's a laundry list, but each of those poeple went out of their way to be friendly or helpful, and they deserve recognition.


Daily Notes

11/5

Out of Bend to La Pine State Park. A short day's ride, maybe 32 miles. The bike computer eats too much battery. Also, it's not as entertaining as it is demoralizing, and so I go without. The terrain is slightly uphill, with long flat hills. The roads are hemmed in by modest sized ponderosa and lodgepole pines. The scenery is somewhat tedious. La Pine SP is much the same, though with more wildlife than I've seen so far. An abundance of chipmunks and squirrel, and no shortage of raptors, including a bald eagle. At around 18 degrees, this was my coldest night. I sing Tom Waits "Cold Cold Ground" to myself - well, the chorus at least - again and again.

11/6

Ice inside much of my tent this morning, I'm happy the campground has hot showers. Slow going, I ate a big breakfast and fell back asleep in the sunshine, tent and bag drying out. I got a late start and took backroads out to 97. Stopping at the general store, I talk to the locals, and see Stecher's predictions fulfilled. They talked about neighboors so strung out on meth for days on end that they can't put a can in the recycling machine. They ask me if I'm carrying heat, fearing for my safety from "beasts on two legs". Rode slightly uphill, hemmed in by pines. As the day went on the scenery started to get interesting, ridges on the left and Mt. Thielsen on the right. I was feeling good, and pushed another 20 miles, turning my planned short day into an average one - 48 miles.

11/7

Staying at the Dawson House Lodge was a good idea. Homemade coffee cake and many scones came with the room, and fed me throughout the day. I planned a long day's ride to get South before the weekend storm arrived. The first 25 miles flew by. Collier State Park on the Williamson River was the first change in scenery in a while. The ground dropped to the river, then I followed the river into the Klamath Lake basin. There were great views of the mountains across the lake. I rode past sunset, over six hours in the saddle and over 70 miles. I talked to Elise for a while on the phone. It was good to catch up; I miss my sister.

11/8

I started the day riding a bike path through Klamath Falls, along the canal. Many domestic and stray canal cats wondered what I was. Talked with some construction workers a while on the other side of town, and they were very encouraging. Flat farmland and Mount Laki on my left, the scenery kept getting better. Garlic harvesting made my tummy rumble. I motioned this to the farm workers, rubbing my belly, and they smiled and laughed.

This was an incredible day. I was off US 97 for first time in days, taking back roads. The weather was sunny and in the 60s - perfect. I crossed into California, and took Hill Rd along the west side of Tule Lake. Gillem's bluff, basalt block faulting covered in orange and green lichens, was on my right. The lake on my left. I rode into Lava Beds, and then up and uphill at end of a 50 mile day. I stopped frequently to check out the crazy lava formed terrain, e.g. Devil's Homestead. Several times I stopped to rest, and marvelled at the peace of desert solitude. How I love it. Near sunset, I made it to the Visitor Center. Ranger Amy indicated the campsite with the best view, and stopped by later to chat. I asked Ranger Tom if he had any firewood in his truck as he was driving around. He went back home and provided me wood for two nights' fires. I offered my fire to my nearest camper, Robert, driver of the technomadic offroad van that passed me earlier in the day. He came by with a bottle of wine and we shared stories, campfire, and stars that only the desert can provide.

11/9

Many cars and RVs drove into the campground over the night and morning. The Pathfinders were enjoying an annual gathering at the park, bringing folks from all over Northern California. No more solitude at the campsite, I quickly got out about the park to explore. I rode out to and hiked up Schonchin Butte. On the top, I stripped down to my shorts and did Sanchin kata several times. It felt good, and satisfied my sense of verbal irony. It was good to get to the top of things and have a look around. I explored three caves, delving into lava tubes for the first time. They were ok, but somewhat dry as far as caves go. The surface landscape was far more impressive. Buttes abound. Lava flows stretch across the land, dotted with holes that are cave entrances. It's like nowhere else I've been, and yet has so much of what I love about desert landscape.

11/10

I rode out of the park in gray light, ominous clouds dropping over the mountains to the Southeast. The crosswinds were strong. A sail would've carried all 300# of me and Ziggy and our supplies up the gradual grade on 139. Ah yes, a new road, smaller than 97, bigger than the backroads to and through the park. The land was again ponderosa pines, though with more grasses and hills. It started to rain in a misty way. I put on the Chemical Brothers, Underworld and Roni Size. I was cold and wet, but my hands and feet only got to a certain amount of discomfort and then got no worse. I rode on. My campground at Howard's Gulch was closed, and having talked to a local NFS employee, I was hestitant to camp there. I rode on to Canby, and discovered the Canby Hotel, a diamond in the rough.

I walked into the Hotel, through the restaurant into the bar, where everyone was sitting watching UCLA v ASU. Here I am, rain pants, day glow vest, probably with my helmet still on. The bar has maybe 7 guys, mostly in camo. All become silent. An old man sits in a recliner facing the bar and TV. He's the owner, Jim Tavernetti, and he quickly puts all at ease giving me a room for the night, clasping my shoulder and asking pointed questions about my trip. Others become interested. I go upstairs to change, and come back down and shoot the shit with the guys. Mostly I talk with Jim and with Keith, a hotshot firefighter. An excellent bacon cheeseburger - something that'd been on my mind for several hours in the rain - and several beers and I'm ready for a nap. I got up later for dinner and the USC/Cal game, and had an excellent prime rib. Met another local who'd spent time in Antioch and had his kids train with Alan Dollar. We knew someone in common - a small world after all. I talked with Matt and then Michael a bit, connecting with friends I've left behind. I finished The Agony and The Ecstasy that night/morning. That was a good read; thanks Tim.

11/11

After taking pictures of the Canby scenes, I started the day with the best biscuits and gravy I've had. Did I mention that the food at the Canby Hotel, a modest establishment in many ways, was surprisingly excellent. The biscuits and gravy were from scratch, the sausage broken up and fried first. With eggs and potatoes, this was what I needed to start my day. Over Packers manhandling the Vikings, I ordered a short stack of pancakes less than an hour later. "Where are you going to put it?" the waitress asked. I get so hungry on this trip. The cakes were good dessert for my breakfast. Jim and I were the only ones in the bar that morning, watching the football game and talking about football and listening to his tales from the pass. Occasionally he'd step into the kitchen to work on the elk stew he was making. Wish I could've stayed for that. I rode out of Canby around noon, through the Pit River valley a little ways, and then up mountains and over Adin Pass. Big Valley and Adin weren't too far away. The mountains were rugged and not much higher than the surrounding land, making for interesting but sometimes difficult riding. I stopped at the general store and should really have taken Keith's advice and picked up a sandwich for later. I rode out of the valley and mostly uphill for hours, following Willow Creek to my guerilla campspot. Drinking cold water left me chilled. I wasn't hungry, having had a late breakfast and having snacked a bit on the way. Finding cat scat near my tent, I spent a cold windy night a bit restless, in my sack for most of 12 hours.

11/12

Red sky dawn was a bit ominous. Multigrain porridge with apricots and blueberries helped. This was my hardest day's ride. It was cold, gray and windy, around 40 degrees with 10-20mph cross and headwinds. I wore my skullcap for the first time riding. Still going uphill most of the morning, I was tired and cold. The land opened up into several flat basins, with more cows than belong in the desert. After about 25 miles I made it to Eagle Lake. I was ready to give up, and yellow blaze again - i.e. hitch a ride. A little Toyota truck passed me twice and then stopped and the man inside offered me water. Woohoo! I was running low, thinking about filtering some lake water through my washcloth. He bailed me out and then told me the rest of the ride to Susanville had one hill to climb, a couple miles of flat and then I could coast the rest of the way in. Well, that wasn't exactly true, but it did serve to motivate me. Of the 20 miles left that day, there were two climbs totalling maybe 6 miles. There was a 1 mile descent where I howled like a wolf to keep the deer from crossing in front me. A long flat stretch of 5 miles in another high basin full of cows. After the climb out of this, there was indeed 7 miles downhill to Susanville. Enchiladas rice and beans, a hot bath, then Kung Pao Chicken and MNF helped ease the pain. I felt like I accomplished much this day, making it when I felt for so long like giving up.

11/13

Mexican breakfast fueled my climb out of Susanville to Fredonyer Pass, the highest point in my trip at 5700' and change. The weather turned nice again. The piney mountains were nice, but the little hills leading to Chester were frustrating. The road, 36, wasn't the best. There was often no shoulder, and the road was crumbling along the edges. Trucks blew me off the road several times - better this than swerving back into the road following the pressure wave, uncertain of what's following the truck. I went to several campgrounds on Lake Almanor, only to find them all closed. It was a bit too populated for me to want to guerrilla camp again. The lake was low, and I had barely any view of Mt Lassen through the low clouds. So I moteled it at a place where I could cook my own food and cut some more weight from my load. It was a good days ride, but I was certainly worn from the days before.

11/14

I expected the ride down Deer Creek Valley to be a bit more downhill. I got on 32 from 36, and rode the winding road through the mountains. I did get some wicked descents, covering many miles faster than I could spin in my top gear. I spent most of my time though in my low range, climbing from one valley to another, following a ridge line for a while, down and up and down and down. It was the most scenic mountain ride so far. The ponderosas were soon mixed with fir, then live oak and maybe chestnut, with increasing manzanita in the underbrush. I stopped for a views and granola from time to time. I had the end so close, that I willed myself up some of the mountains, trying to forget how drained I felt, how sore my ass and lower back were. I left the creek sooner than I expected, again having to meter out my water. 1.5L over 52 miles with several thousand feet of climbing loaded isn't much, but it proved to be enough. I made it to the Benanders before 3pm, ate and napped. I caught up with Betty, and then we went out to meet Doug at the Sierra Nevada Brewery and Restaurant. Again, it's great to be around folks who are like family, having known me since I was a wee thing. I'm going to rest here in Forest Ranch for a couple of days, and enjoy the company of the Benanders while I can.