Is Eastern Oregon a Desert?

8/27/2006: Day 8, 45.0 miles; Total 281.7 Miles

At Cimarron the Trail Boss’s insistence I got up early and out the door by 8:15 AM—not early enough it turns out. He made me a fried egg sandwich and I was gone with two bottles of Conquest in the bike holsters. It was 58 degrees at 9 AM. Out onto I-84 and up the road I went walking at first, as there was a hill for about half a mile. I began to pedal at about the ¾ mile mark. It was an interesting change of terrain as I am out of the Gorge and into rolling suede looking brown hills with no sign of it ever having rained. In fact I saw on the morning news rainfall for the month so far in this area (27 days) has been 0.01 inches. That sounds more like sweat! The early traffic count was about 500 cars per hour, but it is Sunday morning. However, I suspect some of the difference is the distance from Portland. The road goes onto Boise and Salt Lake City; however, we saw little traffic when we drove it Westward last week. I think they built the road to get the Wagons off the Oregon Trail.

At 20 miles there was a roadside rest with free coffee--donations only. I pulled in and had half a dozen cookies (white and chocolate) and three cups of coffee and then realized I had no money. This is not a rare event for me but usually Millie is here with the cash. As I begged off and made my apologies, in pulled the Trail Boss to bail me out with a donation. I then loaded up with some cash, as I can’t see a 61 year old traveling the country penniless! It was about 10:15 and the temperature was up to 86. I soon pulled out and again there was a change in terrain to flat with the beginnings of irrigated farms here and there for which eastern Oregon and Washington are famous. On the other side of the river there were hills as high as 1000 feet and irrigated green farms inside the suede that may have been Washington Apples. On my side at lower elevation was beautiful Bermuda hay and probably sugar cane. It smelled nice.

At Exit 168, 168 miles from Portland, I exited I-84 onto Oregon 730 toward Umatilla. A truck driver at the rest stop had advised I stay off of 730 as “it has narrow shoulders especially at turns.” He could not have been more inaccurate. The road had no hills, the shoulder was as wide as the interstate, much smoother, much less debris, and the traffic count was 100 cars per hour—almost like no vehicles at all! The farm fields were beautiful with the irrigation going full blast and at 11 AM the temperature was at 95 degrees. I stopped at a small town gas station and had some hamburger and noodles in red sauce and a quart of 1 percent Chocolate milk worth 760 calories for $3.16. I rested sitting on the curb near my bike in the shade for 10 minutes and may have dozed off a minute. When I pulled out the temperature was 104 degrees and I took the accompanying picture of my cycle computer to prove it. About a half mile down the road the TB came along and wanted me to stop for lunch. Since I already had lunch, I stopped for a cold soda and was on my way for the last 8 miles to Umatilla. The maps had indicated it would be a 50-mile day, but it turned out to be just exactly 45.0 to the motel he picked; and that was enough for me. With this heat, we just can’t stop at 2 PM and not have air conditioning; and I can’t go much longer. Today I drank somewhat less than yesterday, but I think I was hydrated; however, today after stopping I had some minor muscle cramps in hands and feet indicating some dehydration or electrolyte imbalance. I wore a bandana under my helmet and over my ears as the ears got sunburned yesterday. The bandana might have kept some of the sweat (what there is of it in this dry land) out of my eyes, but probably didn’t allow my head to cool so well through the helmet ventilation system.

Our good friend Candy Lady, of Appalachian Trail Fame, suggests there is some information that naming of the bicycles is a good luck charm. So I have named the bikes. The Bianchi Strada is made in Italy and is now the Italian Stallion, or Stallion for short. It is an appropriate name for this bike's characteristics. It is sleek, responsive, sometimes has a mind of its own and over responsive, quick to speed, light and a comfortable ride. The Raleigh spare bike is made in England and will be called the English Nanny, or Nanny for short. It is small, soft, comfortable, stable, a little over weight, reliable, somewhat slow, and takes extra energy to get up to speed. The Stallion and the Nanny will keep me on the road.

Tomorrow we go out of Eastern Oregon at the 18-mile mark and into the southeastern part of Washington as we head to Idaho on Route 12 through Walla Walla, WA, at the 52-mile mark. Walla Walla is tomorrow’s goal; however, Route 12 includes hills and the same heat so we will see how that goes. The weather forecast is for the same heat tomorrow but 10-20 degrees cooler for the following three days. That should be helpful.