Day 26: To Shelton County Park

July 15, 2006

I got on the road at 8:30 AM after filtering water to fill the water bottles. Another sunny day. A few miles down the road I saw Kimberly orchards and went in to have a look. I bought a big bag of Rainier cherries and they gave me a few over-ripe peaches. A few more miles later I saw an apricot tree on the side of the road and picked 5 ripe apricots. So I was well stocked with fruit. The cherries are good for snacking while riding. It's fun to spit out the pits while riding.

The road stays close to the river with good views. The north fork and the main fork merge in Kimberly. Now I'm on highway 19 and there's only one John Day river flowing towards the Columbia river.

I ate lunch at a cafe in the tiny town of Spray (1921 feet elevation). After Spray the road stays close to the river with frequent river access. Every place was already crowded with people. It is Saturday, after all. Families with swimming kids and many people fishing. I finally found an uncrowded spot and had a long swim.

Volcanic layers over the John Day river.

Each layer represents a different volcanic eruption.

The road turns away from the river at the "town" of Service Creek which is nothing but a store/motel. I bought ice cream at the store to give me energy for the upcoming big climb.

The landscape becomes forested after 500 feet of climbing. That's a nice change. I haven't seen many trees the last couple days. The temperature was noticeably cooler thanks to the increased shade and higher elevation. I camped in the forest at Shelton Wayside county park. The elevation is 3300 feet. After yesterday's experience with hot ground I decided to wait several hours to set up my tent to allow the ground more time to cool. The mosquitoes were bad for a short time at sunset but not for very long. I can handle that. In the evening I made a shower (no showers here), then went for a 2 mile hike through the campground. My part of the campground was mostly deserted but the campground was crowded down the hill near Service Creek.

Today was another easy day. Moderate distance and moderate climbing. The high temperature was 95F but it was already cooling down by the time I started the 1400 foot climb to Shelton Wayside. It's nice to camp in a forest again.

Distance: 40.0 mi. (64 km)

Climbing: 2090 ft. (633 m)

Average Speed: 7.2 mph (11.5 km/h)

Maximum Speed: 32 mph (51.2 km/h)

Hiking: 2 mi. (3.2 km)

Today's ride: 41 miles (66 km)
Total: 1,131 miles (1,820 km)

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Charmaine RuppoltWhat is the name of your portable shower that you use to make showers? Just curious. How much water does it hold and does it work good?
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2 days ago

Wayne EstesTo Charmaine RuppoltDuring this 2006 tour I used an old REI water sack and shower hose attachment. The plastic water bladder tended to acquire pinholes as I carried the heavy water bag through the brambles to a secluded shower spot. It takes longer for the sun to heat up a leaky bag because of evaporative cooling of the wet leaky bag. The last few years I used a Sea To Summit portable pocket shower which uses a more conventional rubber-coated roll-up 10 liter dry bag. It is more durable and less leaky, but is an ounce heavier. I liked it a lot, but haven't carried a shower since I quit camping. 2-3 gallon capacity was plenty for me to wash from head to toe including my hair.
https://seatosummit.com/products/pocket-shower
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2 days ago