Another awesome day in the books! Today we finally reached the point where Oregon looks like what Oregon is supposed to look like! But not before Sheena suffered another flat.
We ascended McKenzie pass, THE LAST PASS OF THE TRIP! Unbelievable. It was a 15 miles climb that was relatively gradual. When we reached the top we could see all the surrounding mountains, including Mt. Hood, Mt. Washington, and the 3 Sisters (I thought we hit those earlier, but I was wrong). We also were in the midst of the lava fields, which looked like another planet, or maybe Hawaii at least.
After reaching the peak, we stopped for a while at the observatory. It was freezing up there. Unfortunately it was cloudy so we didn’t get to see the mountains too clearly.
The descent was absolutely amazing. We were surrounded by forest and greenery. The road was windy and curvy, which could’ve been a recipe for disaster, but there was no traffic so we were okay. It felt like we were in a fairytale. And the feeling continued into our camp in McKenzie pass. The camp we’re in is right by a river and looks like it was plucked out of a fairytale. Absolutely stunning. I’m definitely a fan of central/western Oregon.
Right now we’re sitting around a campfire reminescensing about the trip and having some good laughs.
Emilie Bikes and Hikes 