Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Day 3 - Kahnatee Indian Reservation, Oregon - June 21st, 2006
Weather: Early overcast to sunny afternoon skies. Temperatures ranged from mid 50s to low 70s
Location: From Welches, Oregon to Kah-na-tee, Oregon
Miles per day: 66.4, Average miles per hour: 11.93 (slow due to a 13.2 mile climb through Mount Hood park)
Top speed: 35.00 MPH
After we were given the itinerary at last night's 'route rap', I found sleeping a bit of a challenge. All I could think of was the casual mention that we were starting at 5:45 AM and there was 11.2 mile climb to an elevation of 3990 feet with a total 2500 foot climb. Following that, there were repeated ups and downs. My only objective of each day is to avoid the 'sag wagon' and enjoy the day. Today, I managed both.
It was a long day. As we circled around Mount Hood, I was distracted by the increbibly stunning views and wildlife. One woman saw two bears. There were wild horses and once on the Indian Reservation, free roaming cattle as well as dogs chasing bikes (my greatest fear on this trip). The good news about being last in the group is after chasing 50+ bike riders, the dogs had no energy left to chase me.
In the distance, across the plains, you could see the Mount Jefferson and Mount Washington, stunning snow capped mountains. The scenery has started to change from dense Douglas Fir trees to open plains with rolling hills. The temperatures are starting to rise.
As we were gazing into the distance and began racing down hill into Box Canyon towards Kahnatee, our conversation turned naturally to Old Western Movies as the views reminded us of any number of them, particularly City Slickers and True Grit.
Another glorious day!
