Mitchell to Prairie City – 84 miles
The day started out cool, but not as cold as
yesterday. We had a 6 mile climb right
at the beginning, which seemed to go on and on.
It’s hard to start the day off that way, but we made it. Then we were rewarded with a fantastic
descent down the other side, through the John
Day Fossil Bed National Monument.
It was quite a sight, a gorge cut through multiple layers of lava, which
were laid down over a period beginning about 30 million years ago. Many fossils are found here from the early
ages of mammals. We went down, and down,
and down…it seemed like we were headed back for sea level, after going to all
that effort to get to the top. It was a
magnificent ride, but by the time we got to the bottom I was chilled to the
bone. After about 40 miles we got to a
small town that had a café, and stopped for a pancake breakfast. Soon Sue came by and was able to join
us. From there, it was mostly a level
ride, but gradually picking up elevation the rest of the way to Prairie
City. The good news was we had a gentle
tailwind so we traveled pretty quickly.
The bad news was the wind seems to have brought in some threatening
clouds and a light drizzle has been falling the past hour or so. But we are nicely set up at a RV campground,
which even has hot showers for only $1.75 – what a deal! Hot water is a welcome treat. The views around here are amazing. The higher mountains still have a lot of snow
on them. Tomorrow will be a real test. We have about 70 miles to go to Baker City,
but there are three passes at over 5000 feet we have to climb. In Baker City, our plan is to take a recovery
day. We have been going strong for six
days, tomorrow will be seven, without a
rest. So Saturday will be R&R and
town chores. I’m looking forward to
sleeping in.
(Reported by Jerry)
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