We woke up in a dark damp forest and got a fire going with the rest of the wood to warm up a little . A short breakfast later we got ready to go. Today’s plan is to ride along Columbia river before turning south. We checked in with the guy at the general store that we were on the right road (not many sign posts).
The ride to Colombia river, which borders Washington and Oregon was twisty, narrow and wooded, quite pretty. Once at the junction we opted to go west to cross the Bridge of the Gods, then continued our planned route eastwards towards Mt Hood, another large volcano in the cascades range. A bit far to make it in one day though. The Bridge of Gods was surprisingly unattractive, a huge metal grated structure, from which you could see the river far below the slats. On the other side we stopped near an old lock by the river for a picnic lunch, nice views of the bridge. Was quite windy down there.
We carried on along the freeway for about 20 miles until we came to the next bridge (back into WA), which we opted to cross to avoid freeway traffic. This road got much nicer, with light straw coloured fields, cliffs, and rock walls along the way. The road climbed so we had great views of the huge river far below.
Eventually we crossed back to Oregon and headed south through quiet valley roads, lots of wheat fields and small farming settlements. We made it to our destination, Maupin, right as the sun had sunk below the hills. We decided our intended campground (found on google maps) wasn’t that nice, so we drove a mile back to a small, primitive camp right on the river.
The place was a haven for fly fishers; we saw many of them through the river gorge. We set up our tent in a small rock free area, then headed back to town to see about food. After riding through the very small farming village we ate dinner at the one open restaurant, a very ‘country’ style place. Pretty good food though, and wifi! Then back to a cold night to sleep by the river.
-Zoe
Oregon ! One step further down south ! Blue skies on every picture meaning the weather is getting better already.
Looks like the roads are pretty trafficless here too.
If you pin your tent next to a river you’ll certainly will have a cold and damp tent T!
Why don’t you sleep in the open meadows?
C u later Z&T
Hugs Mum
Here I am, a bit late but it’s Sunday!
Zig-zag, slowly down the map, a bit like upwind sailing, but heading South nonetheless.
It’s all about the roads, the curves, the vistas, the pictures you take and the ones that go straight to your memory.
Oregon pine trees, there should be a lot of them.
But no more wildlife? The will be more in the big cities down South!
Baci on Sunday