Day 57: CALIFORNIA Ashland OR to Yreka, State of Jefferson

August 17, 2014


When does warmth feel good on a 100 degree day?

When it is the warmth and kindness of strangers helping you out! I met three kind strangers today.

I finally left Ashland after one night at a hotel and two nights at a hostel style place called Ashland Commons. It was a really nice place.

It was hard to get motivated to get back on the road. And when I did it was brutally hot. I do not like the heat. But stranger 1 gave me some water so I didn't have to drink from a manure/pesticide/fertilizer infested river.


But I made it to California! ("Smells worse already." - Rafting guide from yesterday)

I also got to see my first views of Mt. Shasta. There is still a lot of forest fire haze. Can't see too much.



I didn't know where I would stay. There is little tree cover and it is highly developed so wild camping and stealth camping are very difficult. But fortunately I stopped at a Shell near Yreka and after talking with the owner, Frank, for a while he offered to let me stay in his backyard! His shift was almost over, so I met him at his house where Shawn, his wife, made a great home cooked meal for us. Somehow things seem to work out even when you don't have a plan.

I got to talk a little libertarian politics with Frank, which I enjoyed immensely, and I learned about the movement to form a 51st state: Jefferson.  I even got a Jefferson State t-Shirt with the state seal on it. Pretty cool.

So thanks to Frank and Shawn for your hospitality!

Day 56: Ashland "rest day" whitewater rafting

August 16, 2014

So while playing monopoly withe Zero, Giggles, Spacerace and Kentucky I saw  a brochure for rafting and decided it would be a good idea to go. So at 10:00 pm I signed up for a full day rafting trip down the upper Kalamath River.

I shamefully butchered my Monopoly game. I should have won based on the properties I had, but I lacked the cash necessary to pay off the others' properties and in the end Kentucky won.

But anyways we stopped playing at 1:00 am and I had to walk 3 miles to be at the rafting place by 8:00. Not a lot of sleep. 

But my reservation went through and I made it on time to Kokopelli River Guides on time.

I chose the trip because it looked like the most intense that they offered. I was not disappointed. However I didn't know that it was a couples' event so I got to be the 5th wheel.

We went through some intense rapids. On one such intense rapid, aptly named "Hell's Gate" our guide broke an oar. He went from being regular guide shouting simple orders like "Forward two. Forward. Stop."  to drill sergeant guide screaming "PADDLE HARDER! DIG IN WE NEED TO GET OUT OF THE OTHER SIDE KEEP GOING GO GO GO PADDLE HARDER."

Turns out if we didn't make this particular maneuver we could have been hung up on an "ego bruiser." Ego bruisers are rocks that get your either stuck on or tossed out of your boat.

After we made it passed Hell's Gate he got a spare oar from our support boat and the rest of the day was uneventful. Well, we were still going over huge roils and rocks, getting soaked and getting a fine upper body work otu all at the same time, but there were no near catastrophes.

Our guide was great, very informative and fun to talk with. So were the two other couples I was with. I couldn't ask for a better rafting experience!

After a day on the river it felt great to have a kitchen and utensils with which I could make stuffed peppers. I'm tempted to stay another day to actually rest up, but I think tomorrow I will head south for Mt. Shasta.

Day 55 Ashland Rest Day

I will be staying in Ashland an extra day for two reasons:

1. My palm is still going numb and I want to rest it more.
2. Anna is sicker than we thought and needs an overnight stay at the hospital (my bike needs extensive repairs that the mechanics won't have time to get to today.)

I made this decision rather late in the afternoon, which made finding a place to stay very difficult. The hostel was full, and I didn't want to pay a ton of money just to sleep at a hotel again.

It is move in day or orientation at the college here, and so as I watched groups of students go by, I got it in my head that I would get one of them to let me crash on their dorm floor. Unfortunately everyone was with their parents, so I never got to try this. I went to eat hamburgers to make myself feel better. 

After the burgers, I sat outside on the ground and read newly downloaded books. I looked like a bum with a Kindle. I was actively avoiding my problem, which is almost always an ineffective problem solving method.

But today I was lucky, because after half an hour of sitting a guy started talking to me. His name is Kentucky, and he is hiking the PCT. He's stuck in Ashland because someone stole his pack and gear and so he is waiting for new gear to be sent to him. He told me about Ashland Commons, which offers hostel style accomodations. The place is gorgeous and I met three other campers: Zero, Giggles, and Spacerace. They were great fun to talk to and make me want to hike the PCT.

We went out for ice cream and got ample banana split. Three scoops in that bowl. Across from me is Zero. He's from Germany.

Another day gone from bad to glad! Considering I did nothing to improve my situation on my own, I am very lucky to be in a good mood, or even have a place to stay. I owe it all to Kentucky. Kentucky is from Kentucky, in case you didn't figure that out.

Day 54: Lake of the Woods to Ashland

August 14, 2014

37 miles

Good morning from Lake of the Woods! The Oregon Lake of the Woods, to be clear.

I had no food except for a little jelly and ramen and I'm almost out of fuel. So I rushed into Ashton as fast as I could. It was really slow going, but then I realized why: I've been climbing.

For the first time all trip I got a motel room. I wanted to be able to update the blog, which would require later hours than the library had. The motel is physically between the Holiday Inn and the Best Western, but when it comes to quality, it is far below either. While taking a shower, if I was standing in the tub and touched the water faucet, I could feel a strong electric charge going through my hand. 

Also, the woman next door is having a bad day, from what I can guess based on what she is screaming into the phone. And her car alarm goes off every time she starts it.

So aside from the electrocution by bathtub, it's a nice room.

Day 53: Chiloquinto Lake of the Woods

August 13, 2014
51 miles

I forgot all the rules for mood improvement while bike touring: eat carbs, drink coffee, clean chain, pump up tires, eat carbs.

I woke up still in a foul mood from taking the wrong way. Then I remembered to eat drink and clean my bike, and after I did that I realized it doesn't matter if I get lost because I have all summer and getting lost just means you have a chance to see something unexpected.

3000 mile landmark! Hooray for me!

And so I guess it all worked out because the timing worked out where I hit 3000 miles right as I approached this nice little lake, where I got to celebrate with a pb and j and banana sandwich. So hooray for me! A sign claims that Lake Kalamath is the biggest freshwater lake west of the great lakes. I looked it up and there are tons of other freshwater lakes bigger than it. Not sure what they're talking about.

If I hadn't taken a "wrong" turn, I also would not have ended up at this splendid little lake that they call Lake of the Woods.

Afraid of running out of water again, I ate dinner here, camped on the opposite side of the road in the wilderness, and then came back in for breakfast in the morning.

Day 52: Chemult to Crater Lake to Chiloquin

August 12, 2012
83 miles

Accomplishment of making it to Crater Lake was overshadowed by cold and rain at the lake, and then by going the wrong direction down the mountain.  I had already descended 20 miles from Crater Lake, and then passed the next junction by over 10 miles so that I ended up 15 miles out of the way.

But before all that happened...

I woke up with little water so I drank the onion/garlic flavored water from last night's pasta. I gagged a little. Then I remembered I would have water in about an hour. Hydration could wait until then.

As I was about to leave, a fawn spotted me from about 10 meters away. It stood still and stared at me as I went to get my camera, and then moved in position to get a good shot of it.

Eventually it went away, but it's mother was nowhere to be found. How far do fawns normally stray from their moms?

Later on the highway I saw another deer amongst the trees. I could see its ribs. Must be a rough year for deer!



The ride had some unbelievably long straightaways, which was a psychological battle for me. At one point it is 12 miles of strait road. Past that is more climbing, but it is more interesting and fun.

Made it!

Crater Lake is known for being very blue in color, but it was cloudy today so the water was also gray. Bad luck! Still majestic.

I tried to recreate the photo from the touring website. How'd I do?

My stubborn self tried to out wait the rain and clouds in hope that I could get a good view of the blue water that the lake is famous for, but it got to be late enough that I decided I should get going. Looking back at the mountain, I think I made the right choice. Got out of the clouds and into the sun.

At the junction, I turned the wrong way on highway 62. I never stopped to check the map because there was nothing to check it against, and I was enjoying the downhill. By the time I suspected something was off, I had already gone 20 miles downhill, too far to be worth going back.

I ended up almost 100 miles away from where I can rejoin my route. I was mostly frustrated because I was looking forward to spending some time in Prospect updating my blog and maybe even going river rafting on the rogue river.

I decided to cheer myself up by eating a burger, so I stopped by the nearest bar and got two patty melts.

As I was leaving, I started talking with a man (I need to start asking for people's names). He has done motorcycling trips across the country, and was interested in my trip. Another Wisconsinite was with his party, and they offered to pay for my meal. I really don't need the money, but they insisted and told me to pay it forward. I really like that, so I will make sure to pay the favor forward and help someone else.

So many thanks to the bikers for being so supportive and helping to make a rough day a little better.

Day 51: Elk Lake to Chemult

August 11, 2014

Another anxiety inducing day with no water refill at the end!

This is my proud creation for the day. Lunch was curried red lentils, onion, and ramen noodle. Cooks up fast and is a complete protein source! And it tastes better than my average camping meal.

I stopped by this lake for lunch, but I was sad because there was no good swimming spot!

I pedaled a little out of the way in order to make it to Crescent Lake, which had a nice beach area for me to swim in.

I ended the day with only a bottle of water, which is a stretch to make dinner with, hydrate overnight, make breakfast with, and then have enough to stay hydrated to the next water source. I had to pour my pasta water, which has some nasty onion and garlic shrimp scampi flavor to it, back into the water bottle so I have enough. It will could be gross.

I finally met some touring cyclists on this route! One group was northbound, and then I passed another doing a week long loop through Oreogon. I hope I start seeing more soon! It would be nice to have a riding buddy.

Made it close to Chemult, which puts me in range to make it to Crater Lake tomorrow!