Saturday September 8

One of the reasons I signed up for this trip was for the opportunity to climb some of the classic mountain passes.  First up is McKenzie Pass on day 3.  Despite all the wringing of hands at dinner last night, just about everyone rode the whole thing - yay!  It was long, but not terribly steep.  And - we had a beautiful day for it.

We were at a bit of a mom & pop motel last night, so our amazing chef Sue prepared a scrumptious breakfast for us.  It had us longing for more lodgings that don’t supply breakfast!  As an aside, chef Sue is one of 4 Sues on the tour.  I believe we have 4 Ann/Annes, 3 Marys, and a few other multiples.  We’re all of the same era!

Onto our bikes and the start of 30 miles of uphill.  Gentle at first.  At mile 7.7 we turned off onto OR 242, headed for McKenzie Pass.

The climbing remained fairly gentle until about mile 12.  But - before we got there we passed this yard of some very creative people.......

Nice to know we’re welcome here........

The road was lovely.  Beautiful strip of pavement through a forest of tall trees.  

I believe this photo was taken at about 22 miles into today’s ride.  Not sure what year the fire went through, but it took out a lot of trees.

And then (at about 27 miles, I think, or about 2 miles from the summit), the lava fields began.  Belknap Crater is significant since this was one of the main sources of all the lava over 1000 years ago.

Two (north and middle) of the Three Sisters were visible to us on the way up.

And before we knew it - we were at the top!

Then a little hike up to the Dee Wright Observatory.

This is such a cool structure.  Built entirely out of lava rocks, it has little windows all around allowing you to see just one mountain at a time.  This particular one is Mount Washington.

On the top floor is a terrace with an engraved podium pointing to all the surrounding natural features.  

Great views of (2 of) the Three Sisters, as well.

And then...... 14 miles of downhill.  Weeeeeee!!!

Another great day!!  First big climb under our belts.  Rest day tomorrow in Sisters.  Life is good!

Stats for the day:

71 km / 44 miles from Rainbow OR to Sisters OR

4532 feet up, 2370 feet down 

Temps 8C - 25C.  Climbing mostly in the shade.  Sunny after that.  Tailwind (again!). Good visibility and not much smoke.