Deschutes SRA (4)

There are consequences to controlling the weather using supernatural sunglasses. Remember how there was rain and lightning the morning after Richard put in his dark lenses? Well, those lightning strikes set off a bunch of wildfires all over the place. One of them was smack dab in the middle of the bike path section we both wanted to ride. Moving to the next campground, Richard decided he wanted to take on the challenge of riding the whole 56 miles while I towed to The Dalles to pick him up. The plan was proceeding nicely and our spirits were up. I was happily singing to music in the car as I headed east on 84 and noticed a faint haze in the sky. Californians can discern smoke from clouds quite skillfully, but it looked to me like it was coming from a small, possibly controlled burn. I kept going and planned to look it up when I was stopped. I pulled in to the parking lot of the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Museum, ready to hang out, blog, and do internet things, but my plans changed immediately.

A quick googling told me that the fire was centered around Mosier, right where that section of the bike trail is located, and that it was serious enough to cause emergency evacuations. I knew then that Richard was not going to be able to get through, but I also started worrying about whether 84 might get closed, preventing me from getting through to get him. I texted all of this intel and got back on 84 going west, hoping to get in front of any closure. I could see the fire now crossing over the ridge and heading down toward the highway. I was pretty alarmed, but kept on going until the staging area at Viento. There I waited for Richard, knowing that at least we were both now on the same side of the fire zone. He rolled in after about a half an hour, somewhat disappointed about losing the challenge opportunity, but in good spirits.

We made it back to Deschutes campground without any road closures. We did see many fire fighting planes grabbing water from the river to dump on the fire. It sounds like they got it out pretty quickly, but the skies were now filled with smoke and the trailhead at Mark O Hatfield was definitely closed. We consoled ourselves with a really great grilled dinner of Shawarma chicken served with Tzatziki potato salad with roasted pepper and green onion, and garlicky tomatoes. Wow, this one was really good and easy to put together. The only esoteric ingredient is the tzatziki, but the Safeway in Troutdale had it.

After dinner, we went on a loop hike up the Deschutes River Trail up to Fairy Springs. Our actual purpose for the hike was to earn enough calories that we would be able to then drive to Shannon’s for ice cream before they closed at 9. Shannon’s is very much worth the effort, but I really had to book it up the trail if we were going to get back in time. Few things will motivate me to hike that fast uphill, but the memory of those fresh waffle cones kept my feet moving, in spite of all the sweat and whining.

I am happy to report we made it. I earned a double junior scoop of their homemade cherry swirl and chocolate hazelnut. They also sell about a dozen Tillamook flavors, but their homemade stuff has been something we’ve looked forward to since we made the reservations back in February. It was everything we hoped it would be.

The day set aside for biking the last segment of the bike trail had to be repurposed because the trailhead, even if it was open, sounded like a bad idea. Instead we again drove back to The Dalles, where Richard got his bike some TLC at the SPR Bicycle Shop. The owner was great. He redid the handlebar tape, found and repaired a loose headset, and gave Richard some great intel about a different ride we could do along the river.

While we were waiting for the bike, we went over to the Discovery Center and checked out the exhibits. I had forgotten, but we had done this place before. I remembered as soon as we went inside and saw the beautiful floor with the inlaid stone set in the shape of the river. There are tiles placed to show the locations of the towns, and the river ends at a huge floor to ceiling window, showcasing the river view. It is an absolutely exquisitely designed building. The exhibits are very well done and this time through I learned a little more about how the gorge was formed. Short version: receding ice age floods.

We got the message that the bike was ready, so we went back to pick it up, got in another round at Shannon’s (I had the apple crumble with caramel swirls), and then went and parked at the Lewis and Clark park. We assembled our bikes and rode six miles along the river on a paved bike path. The trail ends at the Discovery Center, and we could have taken the trail from there, but it was stupid windy. Like so windy. We chose to face the headwinds heading west and benefit from the tailwind on the way back. It was a nicely done trail with most of it overlooking the river. There are parts that take you through a more industrial area, which had an unpleasant and unidentified aroma.

We stumbled upon a Google placard at the gates of the largest industrial complex and figured it must be a data center. We googled it and confirmed. It has massive tanks of water and super industrial sized cooling pipes to keep all those hard drives nice and chill. All of your internet search history is stored in The Dalles. Now you know.

The last thing we did was walk up the Blackberry Trail along the Deschutes River at the day’s end. We got a moment of excitement when a snake crossed the path right in front of me. It was slow and uninterested in us, which gave me time to get a picture and note the rattle on the end of its tail. After it was in the grass and off the trail, we went by and for sure heard it rattle at us. No mistaking that! Picture ID says it is a Western Rattlesnake, and for all the hiking we’ve done in rattlesnake territory, that’s the first one we’ve encountered. Super cool!

So we end anther visit to the Columbia Gorge. We were thwarted from completing the bike trail challenge, so we’ll have to come back. I think it would work best to camp at Memaloose next time. That would be ideally located in proximity to the Mark O Hatfield section. Richard has done it before, but I would like to see it some day. Once again, I have to remark on how much that e-bike has increased the camping joy for both of us. It really has been a game changer.

Total miles from Ainsworth (with a double back to Viento): 119.4, 18.1 mpg. Site A32 hookups. Great cell service, finally!! No dump.