Day Five: Lakeview, Oregon to Virgin Valley Campground (Humboldt County, Nevada)

June 14, 2019

I slept very soundly in my room at the Fremont Inn. There appeared to be few, if any, other guests in the large hotel. I was the first - and only - person at the breakfast at 6:00. Because I'm not eating meat anymore, I've been eating a lot of eggs, but this morning I found a giant piece of shell in the scrambled eggs, and was briefly revolted by the very idea of eating chicken eggs.

I got everything on the bike and rode a few hundred feet to the Safeway, where I bought sunblock and bug spray. I was 200 miles from the next town large enough to have a supermarket; I was entering an extremely remote part of Oregon now.

It was flat and easy the first five or six miles out of town. Not a lot to see, but pleasant.

I like squirrels, so I was not pleased see this. My mother-in-law detests squirrels, but I'm not sure even she would be alright with poisoning them.

I started the first of several big climbs of the day. The routine I've adopted for these is to slowly grind it out and not push myself too hard. My fear is that if I overdo it I might get the muscle cramps which plagued me on rides last summer. I can't let that happen when I'm this far out in the middle of nowhere.

There was great, super-scenic descent all the way to the Adel Store. I pulled over for a few minutes and talked to a guy who was walking/hitchhiking across the USA, then continued on down.

I wasn't expecting much from the store in sparsely populated Adel, but it was great: An old, but clean building with a cafe, bar, pool table, bathrooms (not the usual outhouse) and a limited selection of groceries. The TV on the wall was tuned to ESPN with the sound off. So much better than a blaring cable news channel.

I had a leisurely lunch at the store. A few locals wandered in and out, and, as is my habit, I idly listened to their conversations. Occasionally a traveler would drive up looking to buy gas, then decide to have lunch there.

The bearded walker/hitchhiker I'd talked to earlier appeared; someone had given him a ride the four or so miles down the store. We talked again briefly, although I was not able to determine exactly what he was doing on his journey. It sounded like he'd spent much of his life crisscrossing the country like this.

I filled up my water bottles from the tap, then purchase bottled water and Gatorade and strapped one on to my rack and stashed the others in my panniers. After I passed a marsh a few miles from the store, It was at least 60+ miles to the next source of water, at a spring in a wildlife refuge area.

Entering a very empty, dry, hilly section.

Last water for more than 60 miles. And I'm not carrying a filter.

The first climb was up to Blizzard Gap. It took me a while.

After that was miles of downhill and the flat riding in a basin. It was hot. Occasionally a vehicle passed me, but traffic was light all day on OR-140.

I knew there was one more major climb of the day, and I could see the start of it from miles away.

This was "Doherty", as locals referred to it later. (Upon hearing of the route I'd taken, all of them asked me what I thought of it. The owner of the Fields Station store told me that his wife, who was from Nebraska, was afraid to drive down it.)

It was a winding, steep, steady grade, carved into the side of the mountain. No guardrails, just a soft shoulder, from which I looked over the increasingly high drop-off. It was intimidating.

I slowly pedaled up and tried not to wobble too much at 3.5 mph. I avoided looking over the edge, except to take a picture or two. Cars passed me slowly. One tractor trailer inched down about as slowly as I was riding up.

When I was almost at the top, Ipulled over to an unpaved road that leads to the Doherty Hang Glider Launch, and got a good view of how far I'd climbed.

After that, it was miles of downhill, some flat riding, and another little climb or two. Traffic had dropped from light to virtually nonexistent.

Around this time I noticed a strange noise emanating from the bike that I could not identify. I stopped and looked multiple times, but could not figure out what was causing it. It was getting late now, and I still had miles to go, so I rode on, hoping the bike wasn't going to fall apart.

I entered Nevada, and did a short climb to the last summit of the day, and what I think was the highest elevation: 6,349 feet.

I was relieved to finally see a pit toilet, at a minimal "rest area" several miles into Nevada. A family at the rest area offered me a couple of bottles of water, which I gladly accepted.

Just past the rest area, I turned onto a gravel road and in a few miles reached the Virgin Valley campground. The big attraction at this rustic campground was the Warm Spring swimming hole and shower house.

The people there were friendly, but the presence of so many people meant that I was not going to be able to go to sleep at my preferred pre-dusk time.

I hadn't set up the tent for a long time, so that took forever. Once I lay down I couldn't fall asleep for hours, as dogs barked, people conversed, children played loudly, etc. etc. At about 10:30, almost everyone had gone to bed except for one guy who kept wandering the campground calling for his cat (!?)

Finally, I drifted off to a fitful sleep.

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Today's ride: 92 miles (148 km)
Total: 433 miles (697 km)

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