Day 4: Pendleton to Milton-Freewater

September 9, 2023

I got away from Motolodge Pendleton just after 11 AM. The parade was still passing by the motel. But 4 blocks east traffic was unusually light. Most people were either in Pendleton watching the parade, or avoiding driving near Pendleton because of the parade.

I passed Pendleton Woolen Mills again while pedaling out of town.

On the edge of town I turned left onto Wildhorse Road which goes northeast in remote Wildhorse canyon. The busy state highway is south of the canyon. Today's route avoids the highway most of the time.

On Wildhorse Road I crossed the Umatilla river for the last time. The river originates high in the northern Blue mountains and flows generally northwest to the Columbia river.

Final view of Umatilla river looking upstream.

The city of Pendleton has many irrigated trees. It doesn't really look like a desert. The landscape suddenly gets more barren when leaving town.

Outside of town the landscape is mostly golden grass stubble.

Today's route is 28 miles gentle uphill, then a descent to Milton-Freewater which is slightly lower Pendleton. Fortunately the maximum grade is 4% and the grade is mostly less than 2%.

Rare irrigated field in Wildhorse canyon. Road lined with goathead vines.

Today I saw vast numbers of goathead vines on the side of the road. I consciously tried to avoid rolling a tire in the light colored stuff on the edge of the pavement, but one time I got about 10 thorns on the front tire when I stopped to take a picture. I spotted the thorns and pulled them out before they got deeply embedded in the tire. No flat tire today...

Today's back roads take me to three small farm towns that are bypassed by the main highway. The first and smallest town is Adams, population 392. It has a beautifully manicured softball field, a couple of businesses, and a beautiful old school.

Just outside of Adams I stopped to look at an old building that was probably once a school house. Again it was amazing to see how the landscape becomes barren when I leave the irrigated farm town.

This appears to be a former school house.

Unfortunately I had to pedal on busy OR 11 for 3 miles between Adams and the next town, Athena. It's reasonably safe with a usable shoulder and a properly placed rumble strip, but the traffic is heavy. It's the main road connecting Pendleton and Walla Walla, Washington.

The next charming farm town is Athena. Much bigger with a population of 1211. It has many Craftsman style houses and an actual business district. Very clean and very well preserved.

The weather is getting warmer. High of 85F today. The next couple days will be even warmer.

The route from Athena to Weston is on a back road that climbs to a prominent hill top, then descends to Weston in a deep fold. Same as in the Palouse, where the towns are in deep folds and the farms are on surrounding hills.

Descending to Weston. Looks like the Palouse.

The final little farm town is Weston, population 708. Still very charming but it's not quite as remote, being only 6 miles from Milton-Freewater.

I think Weston should reconsider this slogan and spell out Blue Mountains.

Weston has a charming little business district with the cutest library I've ever seen. All 3 of today's farm towns are amazingly clean and tidy and they seem to be prosperous. They resemble farm towns I have seen in central Washington, and are much cleaner than farm towns in California's central valley.

This area strongly resembles the Palouse region which is a bit farther north in Washington. I appreciate how the short golden stubble reveals every contour in the land. A sea of undulating golden hills, with occasional green areas in the folds.

Soon after Weston the back road merges with the main highway and I pedaled 6 miles steep downhill to Milton-Freewater. Traffic was heavy and loud. It was the 5 PM rush hour.

On the edge of Milton-Freewater I turned right to do an 11 mile round trip detour into the Walla Walla river canyon. The canyon has very low traffic. It has many old farm houses and a few new wineries. I enjoyed the view pedaling into the canyon with the low golden sun on my back.

I pedaled just past the river forks to a pioneer school house near the North Fork and to an old school house near the South Fork.

South Fork Walla Walla river has most of the flow.

Turnaround point in the Walla Walla river canyon which threads into the Blue Mountains.

The ride out of the canyon was fast going downstream, but the view wasn't very good looking into the setting sun. Milton-Freewater is located where the Walla Walla river canyon spills out into a big valley.

Walla Walla river exiting the canyon in Milton-Freewater.

Home for the next 2 nights is Morgan Inn, the only motel in Milton-Freewater. I arrived at 6:45 PM thanks to the 11 AM start. Dinner at the Mexican restaurant across the highway. Milton-Freewater has many Spanish language businesses catering to farm workers. From my motel window I could see two Mexican restaurants and two Mexican groceries. The motel location is good. A Safeway supermarket is only a block away.

I thought today would be a boring ride in the barren low desert but it turned out to be very interesting because of the 3 small farm towns. The back roads route is longer and hillier than the main highway, but it has almost no traffic and goes through 3 charming farm towns that the highway bypasses.

My pressure altimeter wasn't accurate today. Milton-Freewater is 60 feet lower than Pendleton, so the descent should be 60 feet more than the ascent. Milton-Freewater is the lowest overnight destination of the tour, 1020 feet elevation.

I'm glad I had the time and energy to do the 11 mile Walla Walla canyon excursion. I'm ending the long day feeling satisfied, but very tired. Tomorrow is a rest day.

Distance: 46.1 miles
Average Speed: 8.7 mph
Ascent/Descent: +1709/-1668 feet

Today's ride: 46 miles (74 km)
Total: 163 miles (262 km)

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Kelly IniguezIDK if you have a Mexican grocery in your area. We have several. They are great to pop in and buy veggies on the way home. In our area, a meat counter is the main area. I like to buy what I call taco meat, which is stew meat chopped smaller. It's great in a variety of dishes, and is cheaper than any type of beef at the gringo grocery.
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