My Summer Vacation

NOTE: this is a repost of one of my first posts from September 2010. At the time I was still learning the finer points of placing and sizing photos and wrapping text. Since then something seems to have gone wrong, and the post and some photos went missing, except in draft form. So there they are again, because I miss the sun.

Klamath River

For my summer vacation this year I went away to Bicycle Mechanic School in Ashland, Oregon. I took the train to Klamath Falls, and then rode my bike on Highway 66 to Ashland. At both ends of the ride there is a hard, winding climb of about ten miles, then it's about sixty miles through the mountains, most of it through national forest where there are no houses, rest stops, convenience stores or Starbucks. Not even very much shade, and I picked the hottest day of the summer to ride (as of the last week of July) - the temperature got up to 103F. At mid-day I was getting a little sick from the heat, weak, dizzy, creeping along at 4-6mph. Luckily I came to a store in Mountain View, about twenty-five miles away from Ashland and a bit before the Green Springs Summit. They had a big, beautiful freezer in back, stacked with blocks and bags of ice. I bought an eight pound bag and sat out front of the store hugging it, holding it on my lap, rubbing lumps of ice on my face, neck and head. I slid chunks down my back, in my bra, in my shorts, trying not to look utterly shameless while reveling in the coldness.

Emigrant Lake, near Ashland

The ten mile downhill, almost all the way to Ashland, was a screamer. It's a winding two-lane road without much shoulder, but not much car traffic either, and lovely views of the valley. I was worried that on my hybrid bike with thirty pounds of baggage I would get going like a cannonball and not be able to stop, but I never got above about 33mph and I wasn't even riding the brakes all the way.

Some high points of the ride

Last public restroom for 65 miles

The return trip, riding from Ashland to Klamath Falls, was easier. I started earlier in the morning, and the temperature only got into the mid-80's. The downhill from Hayden Mt. summit isn't as thrilling as from Green Springs to Ashland, but it still made me forget all the climbing. At the bottom I stopped to rest at the Klamath River crossing, where pioneer caravans crossed the river in ox-drawn wagons.

The historical marker there tells about one group who were delayed when an ox became mired in the mud, then had to abandon a wagon after it broke a wheel. To make the climb up to Hayden Pass they had to double-team the wagons, using two ox teams to pull one wagon up, then returning to pull the one left behind.