Day 1: Grande Ronde river excursion

September 6, 2023

I still have my car because today's bike ride begins at Hilgard Junction State Park at an I-84 exit 9 miles northwest of La Grande. The state park is in a canyon alongside the Grande Ronde river and I-84.

Today I pedal 24 miles upstream along the Grande Ronde river, then backtrack to the car. I have only one lightly loaded pannier because this is a day ride, but there are no services on today's route. I'm not quite in car-free mode but I'm very much in bike touring mode.

The state park has an interpretive sign kiosk about the Oregon Trail. This is where Oregon Trail emigrants turned away from the Grande Ronde river and started climbing the Blue Mountains. I will follow the Oregon Trail route tomorrow, but today I pedal west and south, up the Grande Ronde river into the central Blue mountains.

Oregon Trail interpretive kiosk at Hilgard Junction State Park.

The canyon is mostly forested around Hilgard Junction State Park. The bottom of the canyon is more forested than the hilltops.

I first saw the Grande Ronde river on May 30 when driving to my Riding the Snake bike tour. At that time the river flow was huge with snow melt. The flow is much smaller now because this is the end of the dry season.

Grande Ronde river at Hilgard Junction State Park.

I pedaled 12 miles on OR 244, upstream alongside the Grande Ronde river. Traffic was very light. Maybe 1 car per minute.

Most of the surrounding land is privately owned. Flat open valley areas are mostly pastures and hay fields.

After a few miles OR 244 follows the Grande Ronde river in a narrow canyon. No farms, no houses, no crossroads. Continuous uphill but the grade is never more than 3%.

OR 244 is mostly gradual uphill but it climbs high above the river a couple times, giving more expansive views of the river.

After 12 miles on OR 244 I turned left onto Forest Service road 51 to continue upstream along the Grande Ronde river. Suddenly the traffic drops to about 1 car every 10 minutes. Nice. The sky became gradually more cloudy as I gained elevation.

The National Forest has more of a wild character than the private land along OR 244. Eight miles of the river has been "treated" with thousands of logs in the riverbed to improve habitat for beavers and fish. Now it's impossible to paddle the river during spring runoff.

In the National Forest the river bed is strewn with logs to improve beaver and fish habitat.

Today's route has 3 US Forest Service primitive campgrounds, plus a state park with more deluxe camping facilities. I stopped to rest at a vacant USFS campsite.

Rest stop in a National Forest campground.

Forest Road 51 only crosses the river once. There are a few logging roads, but I didn't notice any logging roads crossing the creek.

Rare crossing of the Grande Ronde river.

I enjoyed the gentle climb and lack of traffic. I pedaled as slowly as possible to conserve energy for tomorrow's big climbs. 4-8 mph going upstream and 10-15 mph going downstream. The turnaround point is about 1050 feet higher than the starting point.

After climbing in a canyon I entered a wide valley. This is my turnaround point, about 4050 feet elevation in the Blue mountains. I started at 9:30 and reached the turnaround point at 2:30. Slow and easy. The return trip will be much faster.

This high valley is a private in-holding in the national forest. I was surprised to see that livestock have unfettered access to the river.

A valley opens up above 4000 feet elevation.

My turnaround point was kind of an anti-climax, nothing special. Forest Road 51 continues another 45 miles through the Blue Mountain to the quaint town of Sumpter. I bet it's a great back country route across the Blue mountains. I pedaled to Sumpter from the opposite direction in 2006.

After turning around I had the double benefit of going downstream and having the sun on my back, but also a brisk headwind. I still enjoyed it. The temperature was about 70F.

FS 51 and Grande Ronde river. About 4000 feet elevation.

The Forest Road has a cattle guard about every mile. I've never seen a Forest Road with so many cattle guards. I only saw livestock near the turnaround point.

I crossed a cattle guard about once per mile on the Forest Road.

I saw almost no evidence of human habitation in the national forest. I stopped to look at a very old ranger station building and a not so old former store.

I enjoyed the occasional giant Ponderosa pine trees near the river. The trees have to be quite old to develop cinnamon colored bark. I'm still getting used to the contrast between the green canyon bottom and brown hills above.

My flasher projects an otherworldly glow on the guard rail.

I enjoyed the long gradual descent. Great views with the sun on my back. Perfect weather, no traffic.

OR 244 close to the Grande Ronde river near Hilgard Junction State Park.

I got back to my car at 5:30 PM. Today's excursion took 8 hours. I drove back to La Grande and had dinner on the patio at Mamacita's sorta Mexican restaurant. I enjoyed the evening sun on the patio but wasn't impressed by the food. I had never eaten at that chain before.

It was past sunset after dinner, so I didn't spend much time taking photos of downtown La Grande. Just two pictures of Granada Theatre and the Texaco station photo that I posted yesterday.

This is the newer of two theatres in downtown La Grande.

Today had below normal temperatures but still great weather. High of 75F. Sunny most of the time, north wind. No complaints. Overall it was a good start to the bike tour.

La Grande has a population of 13,190. It's the county seat of Union County and the second largest city in eastern Oregon. La Grande is somewhat cosmopolitan thanks to Eastern Oregon University which has an enrollment of 2800 students. The town may seem quaint to most visitors but it's a big city compared to my town of 950 people. It's relatively prosperous and has a surprisingly diverse economy considering the location in the middle of nowhere.

Distance: 49.6 miles
Average Speed: 8.6 mph
Ascent/Descent:+1244/-1244 feet

Today's ride: 50 miles (80 km)
Total: 50 miles (80 km)

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