Day 3: Corvallis to Sweet Home (34 Miles)
Started by running half of our infamous I-5 and back run we did freshmen year-pretty much the only run I've ever legitimately hallucinated. Crossed I-5 and went to Lebanon where we dined at the Peacock East. Finished the 14 mile stretch to Sweet Home by alternating pushing duty every 2 miles and switched sides of the road to stay in the shade. Stayed in our first warm showers visit with the Hoys, a great family about 1 mile off the road. Amult, the German mother, left us with the message "The Destination is the Journey"
Day 4: Sweet Home to House Rock (28 Miles)
Our first venture into the Santiam Pass started with a discovery that "All-American Pies" contained 450 calories a pop and they soon became a staple for breakfast. Climbs on this day were pretty gradual with some tight turns. The non-pusher would run out ahead to try and warn cars of our presence. It was very tempting to jump into the Santiam River at several points but we found our way to the campground by early evening. We weren't expecting the rain that came that night so we made an emergency midnight "Get stuff into the tent and get the rain fly on" trip.
Day 5: House Rock to Lost Lake (22 Miles)
Here was the climb! House Rock = 1800 ft, Lost Lake = 4,100ft. Our normal practice of switching shifts every 2-4 miles devolved into every 1/2 mile to mile. We navigated the tight turns safely and succeeded to climp up to 4,000 ft only to be dropped back down! All of our hard work wasted! We took an hour or two for lunch at the 126 junction and resumed the climb at the 22 junction to the top of Potato Hill. We were greeted by a motorist in the turnout with cold drinks while his wife made a phone call. He was a supervisor for the Foster and Green Lakes dam-I shared my experiences with PGE.
We descended a mile into Lost Lake and the thousands of mosquitoes who'd found dinner. We bathed in the lake, and then in Deet. I could see in the distance the top of the pass we had to climb in the morning.
Day 6: Lost Lake to Sisters (28 Miles)
After climbing the pass, the descent offered amazing views of all the Cascade volcanoes. The awe I had always experienced upon this sight while in a car was greatly magnified by being on foot. We had earned the right to be amongst these giants.
After Black Butte Ranch, we turned to a shortcut provided by our hosts for the night-Jim and Jill, who lived a couple of miles north of town. The views of ranch land leading up to the Three Sisters and Broken Top were spectacular. Upon arrival to the doctors' dream home, we got a ride to town where we ate at a Mexican place and devoured a box of Snickers ice cream bars in front of Ray's Grocery Store. The evening was spent over great conversation and Jim's homebrews.
Day 7: Sisters to West Powell Butte (28 Miles)
Rest was on the horizon and I needed it! My right knee was in quite a bit of pain and was super stiff. I couldn't wait to get today over with and spend as much time as possible at Mary and Dave's. I wanted the stroller for all of today and I used it as a walker. Having my mom's cousin Misha run with us from Redmond was a very welcomed sight as it marked an 8 mile to go mark.
We arrived to our temporary home and ate, ate, and ate. Mary, my great aunt, had cooked and baked for days leading up to our arrival. After several hours icing my knee, we watched 4th of July fireworks from Bend to Redmond from the top porch of their home.
Day 8: Rest at Mary and Dave's
My knee felt like someone had smashed it with a hammer over night. Rest and stretching would serve it well. The vast majority of the day was spent lounging on the back porch looking over the Cascades from Bachelor to Mt. Jefferson. This view would be sorely missed as we head east the next day. Don't think I could've run today.
Day 9: West Powell Butte to Hwy 26 Milepost 36 (31 miles)
The knee had recovered well enough to trek on. There were 13 miles to Prineville, another 9 to the Ochoco Reservoir, and 9 to our campsite on the side of the highway to split the distance to Mitchell. After our Dairy Queen stop, we walked through town and struck up conversation with an Aussie riding across the country who'd passed us on the descent into Prineville. We caught back up with our new friend Daniel at the reservoir where we passed the heat of the day. It would have been nice to stay, but we had to keep on for another 9 in the evening. We made plans to race to the top of the Ochoco Pass Summit the next day. Late in the evening we arrived at a decent spot on the side of the road. Our first unofficial site!
Day 10: Milepost 36 to Mitchell (30 Miles)
We won the race to the summit where we built a monument of rocks, pinecones and dirt drawings to celebrate our victory over Daniel. A 5 am wakeup did wonders. About 3 miles down from the summit, after passing through a construction zone, we heard "you bloody insane f***ers, I'd thought you'd slept in and I passed you!! How....?" With 13 miles to go, we promised to meet our Aussie friend in Mitchell in about two hours.
These 13 miles ended up being the hardest of the trip so far, despite them being completely downhill. Despite a nice downgrade the whole way, the heat was blistering and dehydration was becoming an issue for Sam and I. Two miles out of town, we met our first cyclist finishing the trans-America route-I was more excited for the day's end than the conversation.
We set up camp in the city park, then head to the diner for burgers and milkshakes. Daniel joined us for our last meal together as he was headed to Dayville. I was hoping he would've stayed with us, as he was great company, but I suppose I should start getting used to these frequent goodbyes with the new friends I make.
There came a point in Mitchell while lounging around after forcing down another serving of Mac and Cheese with cheese that came out of a foil bag, where I realized this really wasn't fun......no longer was there novelty dealing with sore joints, sunburn, and preemptive stages of heat stroke while doing dishes in a stream-this was my life for the foreseeable future. The running felt like a 9-5 day job that exhausted me too much to enjoy the rest of life. Maybe I'll call it after Oregon-that's still an alright feat. We crashed at 8 pm with ease in anticipation of a 4 am alarm.
Waking up was the best feeling of any sort I'd had in a long time. Despite the early morning-the discouraging thoughts had been slept off enough. We attempted the climb out of Mitchell begrudigingly but had very smooth sailing to our original intended campsite-the Highway 19 junction at the John Day River. We spent five good hours under the bridge there, sleeping, cooking and swimming-we were officially homeless. I spent the past few years of school learning to design bridges, and here I was already living under one. Swimming in the river canyon was one of the more surreal experiences of the trip. I was amazed I had never heard of all the beautiful geologic features of the John Day Fossil Beds. At about four, the canyon walls cast enough of a shadow to do the 7 extra credit miles to Dayville. While buying drinks, Sam discovered the Presbytarian Church had unlocked doors for thru-travellers to stop, shower and rest. This amazing hospitality restored my faith in the journey.
The store at the gas station cooked us a pizza with enough leftovers for breakfast the next morning. Although the church stayed quite warm, I slept like a rock-ready to tackle the 20+ miles tomorrow to Mt. Vernon. The trip was fun again, and Dayville is a wonderful town.
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