Diamond Lake to Odell Lake

We left diamond lake at 7:30 am after having a large breakfast and watching the sunrise over the lake.  It started raining at the same time. We put on rain gear and started pedaling. The rain was serious! We were drenched by the time we reached the hwy 97 junction. We had reservations at Odell Lake for tonight. We asked at a hotel about getting a driver. The money we gave the woman was well spent! We arrived at 11:30 am after the 37.5 mile ride in her 4Runner. It was a tight squeeze for 2 bikes and 3 people. Our good neighbors will drive down and bring us home tomorrow since more rain is promised. At least no coffee pot accident ending to this trip.

Breakfast at Diamond Lake

Sunrise.

Our cabin for the night

Odell Lake

Prospect to Diamond Lake

41 miles.  We got an early start at 7 am. We had our 2nd breakfast at 11 miles at Becky's cafe in Union Creek--a great meal plus we got a sandwich to go since there were no other food options until Diamond Lake. The next 30 miles included a lot of climbing. The summit was 5316 ft.  The weather was nice and cool. We still had Rogue River views and Mt Thiesen. Rain is forecasted for the next several days. Our goal is Odell Lake tomorrow but we will see.

Shady Cove to Prospect

23 mi. It was a short day today--riding along the Rogue River. We had up and down roads which was nice since the hotel hostess said it was all uphill. We rode by Joseph Smith State Park where we had several family camping trips. Prospect is a beautiful setting in the wooded area near the Rogue.  Tomorrow we will be at Diamond Lake. we are not riding Crater Lake this trip since we have done that twice. We will explore another route.

There are still lots of fires in this part of Oregon and California.

We are staying in the motel section but enjoying the grounds and eating in the restaurant.

Ron stopped and chatted with a man fishing. No fish being caught today.

Last night's dinner with a Rogue River view out our window.

Canyonville to Shady Cove

52 miles. If we were smart we would stop biking over mountain ranges. The first 25 miles today was pleasant, almost perfect riding. Then we hit 15 miles of uphill that rivaled two days ago. When we did not have shade it was hot in the 90s. Luckily the last over 10 miles was downhill!!! one-mile was gravel because of road construction.  That is always a challenge with road bikes. We are now south of crater Lake and will begin going back north.

Our two night stay at the casino was very nice. We had long hot tub soaks.

We passed Milo Adventist Academy

Completion of Powers to Riddle ride

67 miles. So I told you the ladies from the Powers bike ride told us there were only 3 miles of bad Hills. What they should have said was the first 20 miles from our campsite was going to be very difficult. We did not complete 30 miles until five hours of riding.  Luckily there was hardly any traffic. We got up before daylight and started riding at 7:15. It was very scenic but very remote. We really were not sure if we were going to be successful. We finally flagged a pick up and asked the driver about the route. He told us we were very close to a long downhill so that helped our spirits. We made it to riddle by about 3:30 and stopped at the first café we saw. We are staying in a nice hotel in Canyonville which is about 5 miles from Riddle. We will stay here for two nights for a rest day.

Coos Bay to "island" Campground 9/18

62 miles. We left Coos bay expecting to stay in a cabin at Powers. They called and told us it was not available after all. So we had no choice but to camp. It was a lovely campground and the weather was perfect. But sleeping on the ground is still less than ideal. We were able to have a lot of food today. The continental breakfast at the hotel was nice, we had a second breakfast in Myrtle point, and lunch in Powers. About 10 miles outside of Town we were stopped by two ladies in bright yellow T-shirts. The town hosts an annual "tour De fronds"bike ride. The employees at the store had told them we were riding so they hopped in their car to give us a pen and brochure about the ride. They were very enthusiastic and told us there were

really only 3 miles that was very tough on the ride. That made us feel better until we experienced reality the next day

Reedsport to Coos Bay

We had a short trip today. The weather was forecasted as rain. It started to rain just as we found a motel. We want to do a Powers to Riddle ride and it will require a night of camping so we are trying to "time it" for a day without rain. Tomorrow night we will stay in a cabin in Powers and likely Fri night will be camping. We may not have cell coverage either night.

Yachats to Reedsport

48 miles. We have ridden this route several times. We remember the area around sea llion caves as being very steep. What surprised us was how hilly the rest of the ride was. Weather was better than yesterday. The Sea views are phenomenal. We plan to turn east tomorrow. All is well--we feel very blessed!

Depoe bay to Yachats, Oregon

40 miles. Today we had typical Oregon coast weather. That means windy--unfortunately it was a headwind. Combine that with hills and we decided to do a shorter day. This is a nice community. We are staying at the Ocean Cove inn. We give it a great rating! We had a great seafood dinner at the Luna Sea Fish House--another great rating. Also found a cafe with a wood burning oven and exchange "secrets" with one of the bakers.

Home to Depoe Bay Oregon

67 Miles and two flat tires. The weather could not have been better.   Many whales are performing here in the bay.

Abrupt end to ride!

We were getting ready to start our 10th day of riding about 6 AM today. Ron was making coffee in the hotel. The glass coffee pot broke while he was holding it and cut his right hand. The doctor who examined him found the flexor tendon was severed. He will need the attention of a hand specialist. So no more riding at the present time. He actually feels fine and this will just be a slight bump in the road.

We rented a Tahoe SUV in Boise Idaho and Sharon drove is home with our bikes in the back. We arrived home about 9 o'clock this evening. 

Day 9: Halfway, Oregon to Cambridge Idaho: 58 miles

We got an early start--we were on the road by 6 AM. We had 25 miles x 8 a.m. Then we hit the dreaded Hillclimb and the heat. It took us five hours for another 30 miles. But we are safe in Cambridge Idaho. 

We met a couple of riders going west. We have never seen bicycles loaded more heavily.  They had heavy canvas bags packed with who knows what loaded many upon many. They were older than we are -- surprise surprise. they average about 10 miles per day! For my sister Fran I would say that is fully loaded! 

We were sad when we realized were in the time zone change and it's one hour later. We will miss that one hours sleep tonight. The Brownlee Dam area of the snake River was very beautiful. 

Day 8: Baker city to Halfway Oregon 54 miles

 We were up early today because the forecast was for hot weather. We went from being cold to being hot with no transition. The hotel we stayed in had a restaurant that opened at 6 AM. Breakfast was included and we were given the option of three meals. Worried that the meal would not be enough we also had a short stack of pancakes. Ron left Sharon to pay the bill and gave her money to do so. the total was four dollars since we only had to pay for the pancakes. Sharon told the waitress we did not need any change and gave her the bill that she thought was five dollars. I told Ron to leave one more dollar when he got back but the waitress said we had already given her enough. It was miles later when we realize that it was a $10 bill! We are very generous tippers. We actually had more food than we could eat.

Most of our ride today was in Hells Canyon. It was scenic. We had no towns 44 miles so we had a picnic along the river when our huge breakfast wore off.

The day was not done until we had conquered the hill. It was 4 miles uphill and we could see the switchbacks clearly. It was hot with a headwind at times.  We are very happy to reach the summit and begin our downhill into Halfway, OR.  It was probably 90° when we arrived.  Tomorrow we leave Oregon and enter Idaho.

Day 7: Sumpner to Baker City, Oregon: 30 miles

It was a relatively easy ride into Baker city this morning. There was a little drizzling rain definitely not as cold as yesterday. We took the time for café breakfast before we left. We got  a replacement tire at the bike shop and did laundry. Clean clothes are a special treat! Last time we took a rest day on Baker City and saw the Oregon Trail Interpretive center which is quite impressive.  We decided a 1/2 day rest will do us for now. One of the nice hotels here had a ayce soup lunch that was great--but it is no longer on the menu. We must have eaten too much to make it profitable. We had a very good nacho and salad lunch.  Tomorrow's destination is Halfway, OR.