Tag Archives: USARoadtrip11

roadtrip, travel, USA

To Boise

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A nice big long drive today has brought us to our fourth state capital – that of Idaho, Boise. My perceptions of Oregon were shattered as we drove west from Bend through the High Desert – there were hardly any trees (lots of short scrub), it was pretty flat & the roads were stretched straight ahead in to the shimmering haze of the horizon.  After a couple of hours & gassing up at Burns things started to get a more scenic as we climbed a little & went past a lot of volcanic rock outcrops.  I soon saw that we were following the route of a long since gone railroad down – so we must be getting close to somewhere.

The land usage slowly became more developed – first just big fields irrigated it would seem for hay.  Later the cropping & irrigation became more intensive  as the valley widened & we passed what sold itself as Onion Country of the USA.  Before long we were into Vale – which played up to its position on the Oregon Trail (it’s some time since we were on that back in Nebraska) with a lot of murals.  I got a much needed haircut as Valerie wandered around in the heat.  Oh, it got up to a hundred today – quite nice to have a bit of heat.  Especially as I wasn’t trying to ride in it!  But if I hear someone complainingly tell me again that it’s hot, when it’s not really that bad I’ll be less than pleased.

Hitting the Interstate (hurrah, rid of Oregon’s annoying 55 speed limit) we were quickly in to Idaho.  I was disappointed not to see potatoes straight away, but I didn’t have to wait too long.  We had a quick trip in to the center of Boise to hunt out bike parts – it’s quite nice & there were plenty of people around (particularly around some open air concert).  We’ve lost an hour going back to Mountain Time as well.

Stop Press:  I typed all that up while we were doing the laundry & after finally getting those annoying Juicy brake pads in.  Just down the road was a diner & we were hungry, so we went in.  It was completely the Fifties in there & all the waitresses were on roller-skates – it was hilarious.  With the shiny black & white checker floor, the tunes that the old DJ (he was a Korean vet) & all the other memorabilia it was great.

bikes, GPS, MTB, roadtrip, travel, USA

Wanoga Sno Park ride

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All the people I asked yesterday to suggest a ride for today recommended Wanoga Sno Park & the Funner Trail. OK – that was only two people, but one of them did happen to own Cog Wild (the premier MTB guiding outfit in town). Trail maps & gpx files proved difficult to find online, but the a trip to the information center showed that once you found the trailhead it would be very hard to get lost.

I started riding a little earlier than I had intended, as Valerie had to drop me & then get back near town to go horseback riding. Funner started out rather flat & not all that interesting. It was nice & dusty up this way too. As the trail continued it did start to drop off nicely & there were a lot of trail features to play with. One particular log ride was pretty neat. In amongst all the dust, groups of big volcanic rocks would appear all of a sudden. Riding by myself I quickly became annoyed that I wasn’t quite confident enough to ride all that I should & could have – that potential freak accident in the back of my mind. Still, it was a fun little downhill.

I had a good yarn to a couple on really old rigids – they’d been in Bend three years, only been skiing once & this was their first time out riding. Crazy. Shortly after Funner ended & I started riding up Tiddlywinks to the parking lot. This trail is much longer than Funner, so I expected the gradient to pretty easy – but most of the altitude was gained quicker than I thought! On a little rest break a local rider, Chris, caught up & we took it in turns leading up & up. We didn’t make it to the trailhead as Chris knew a side trail to Kiwa Butte & then further on. Following someone became a bit of a problem as one couldn’t see through all the dust. Mostly we climbed to 1700m & could finally see something other than trees – Mt Bachelor. The ski hill on the north (right in the picture) slope was open this past long weekend – I should have carried my skis around for 16000 km (unlikely).

Turning around, I was rather weary & led for a little but then let the local go ahead & literally leave me in his dust. It was little wonder that I had an instant tan at the bottom. Going down Tiddlywinks was actually funner than Funner – for me anyway. There was a neat section with big bermed corners & lots of jumps & doubles – not that I could clear any of the doubles. A good outing all up, I just need to make sure I have some new brake pads & regrease my bottom bracket before I head out next. We’re off to Idaho tomorrow – unplanned – to go riding with Miles (from Fruita & Moab rides) before we come back to Oregon (which I’m still loving).

bikes, GPS, MTB, national park, roadtrip, travel, USA

Crater Lake National Park & first Bend ride

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Back on the national park trail we left Medford & headed north towards Crater Lake. Driving through a few small towns there were a few extra flags out lining the main streets & many firework stalls as well – as you’d expect on July 4. More scenic driving continued along rivers (the Rogue – another great name) & beside forests – a brief interlude was stopping to see a natural bridge. This one was a little different to the ones we had grown used to in Utah – made out of an old lava tube. The outer of the flowing lava cooled & solidified while the molten lava kept flowing, leaving a tube that the river now runs through since the lava has long since stopped running. With the river running so high, the river didn’t disappear completely (all that water couldn’t fit down the tube) – but you could see where the water was coming out of the tube with quite some force. A different interesting little diversion.

River exiting the tube

Ordinarily, the river would flow completely underground here

We hit the snow line at about 1500m as we continued towards Crater Lake. It got thicker & thicker & at the Visitor Center, it was two to three metres high in parts. With an above average 16m of snowfall last winter & a late spring, it was still very white & only one hiking trail was open (& that only for the long weekend). Crater Lake is actually in a caldera of an old volacano that collapsed on itself. I was expecting the lake to be beautiful, but this was something else – perhaps the most jaw-droppingly amazing thing we’ve seen yet on our little drive. With water only entering the lake as rain or snow & no rivers or streams exiting the caldera, the water is brilliantly blue. With the shelter of the caldera rim as well, there was no wind to cause even a ripple on the surface. Add to that the clear sunny day & the snow around the rim – the sum was something fantastic. Here are a few pictures – more here.

With a bit more driving on Valerie’s part we eventually got to Bend late afternoon. After settling in to the motel, I couldn’t resist getting straight out & hitting a trail in what is one of the top MTB towns in the States. As it was getting late & there were fireworks to go to later, I found the Mrazek trail on Garmin Connect. It was close to town & as an out-and-back I could make it last as long as I wanted – fitted the bill nicely.

It was a great introduction & a lot of fun. Mostly a (very) gentle climb on a nice wide dirt trail (bit of a shock to be back riding in dust after the previous snowy rides!). There was one section that had a few switchbacks that were markedly steeper & there were some technical rocky step-ups to negotiate; but I dug deep into the recesses of my riding brain & remembered all I’d learnt in Colorado & Utah & cleared them all. I continued steaming up the trail in a high gear until I figured I had better turn around at seven o’clock.

As I expected all the way up, going down was neat. I don’t think I realised how twisty it was as I was climbing, but I quickly found that I couldn’t go as fast as I’d imagined I would. Still, not having to pedal as much is always good; although I did spend quite a bit of time in the big chainring – it’s not often that happens for me on singletrack. My short little evening ride turned out to be 24km – but it didn’t take long, so there was enough time to get home, shower, grab a meal & then find a good place to watch the July 4 fireworks.

Launched from a small hill just east of the center of town, the show didn’t start until ten o’clock. After a rather monotonous first five minutes (it wasn’t bad, just all the same sort of firework), a bit of variety was finally introduced & it turned out to be a really good display. At over twenty minutes, it was also quite long for a Bend-sized town. Finishing with a flourish it was well worth having headed out to see them – plus we got to sift around various street parties with fireworks going off all over the place.

roadtrip, travel, USA

Into Oregon!

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Somehow, we ended up spending twenty-five consecutive nights in California.  That was rather unintentional – but I suppose California is just so much more populated than the previous states we’d been through & so in some cases there is more to see & do.  Our day today was rather uneventful, after a late start after watching the Wimbledon final & me finishing another Poirot (I finally picked one early – Peril at End House) we hit the road north.  Driving up the coast there were the usual alternating periods of brilliant warm sunshine & really dense fog as the road was either almost in the Pacific or just back a little in the hills.  We saw some curiously named places today – we went to Samoa (didn’t know you could drive there, did you?), Trinidad (or there), Crescent City (I suppose it’s better than Spanner City or Wrench City) & in Oregon – Wonder.

Just north of Crescent City the road left the coast & headed through many more acres of forest towards Grant Pass & the Oregon border. I was still loving the beauty of the large NorCal virgin forests & most of the road followed & crossed the Middle Fork, Smith River (the most boring place name of the day). A much smaller & less wild river than we’ve seem for some time, with its deep green colour & small falls it was stunning under a clear sky. (Speaking of rivers, it turns out that the day we went to Yosemite was the second highest day for water flow all season [a week after the highest]. We definitely lucked out there!) We had a very pleasant lunch by a calm part of the river.

It was quite a thrill to be going to a state that I’d never been to before for the first time since our one hour in New Mexico at the end of May. Over the border there was the obligatory “let’s put as many signs up as possible to explain our unique road rules” fever. Strangely, the double yellow lines seem to be a foot apart. It was as I expected – more trees! But they were subtlety different – not quite as tall & some plantation ones too. So far I’m loving Oregon – there’s no sales tax(!); the middle grade of gas is better (higher octane) than the premium gas in all the other states we’ve visited; the window brushes at the gas station actually have proper length handles (not twelve inches); you don’t have to prepay gas; & they have to pump your gas for you. Can you tell we filled up tonight? Plus, the riding here is also supposed to be brilliant.

Tomorrow we head for Crater Lake National Park – deepest lake in the country – & then to Bend to see some July 4 fireworks.