Day 82 - July 24 - Scappoose, OR to Hudson-Parcher County Park, OR - Two Old Guys Take On A Continent

July 24, 2023

Day 82 - July 24 - Scappoose, OR to Hudson-Parcher County Park, OR

Rainier And Rainier

John’s Story

Anatomy of a Subtitle

Rainier: Today it rained on us for the first time since July 1, the day we left Yellowstone National Park. It was rainier today than it’s been for a good while.

And

Rainier: Today we passed through Rainier, Oregon, and it is the closest town to where we are camped tonight.

We were confident it would rain today, perhaps most of the day. We didn’t want to hit the road early with so few miles to ride today, so we waited until after 9:00 AM to leave. The rain caught us only about 30 minutes out of camp. It was heavy enough that I donned my rain jacket, but never heavy enough to make me want to put on rain pants. The road was wet, and there was a lot of spray from the traffic, but for the most part we had a wide shoulder to ride on.

Traffic was halted where a train was crossing the road.

A moment later the train was right next to us on an elevated grade, and traffic started moving again.

The rain stopped before we reached Rainier. Hmm…🧐

We found a tavern with outdoor seating to stop for a beer, so Ruger was able to join us. The place advertised their famous crab sandwiches, but they had no crab. It’s delivered on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and they were out.

Dorothy and John are granted Road Angel Awards.

We’ve been thinking for a while about the climb between Rainier and our campground for tonight. By all expectations it was supposed to be very steep, something like 560’ over a little more than a mile. Ed was expecting to drag his bike to the top as a pedestrian, with grades expected to be 10% or more. That there was a cafe at the bottom of the hill called Hill Climb Coffee added to the drama.

I was not particularly worried about the climb because it rose obliquely across a very steep hillside. I figured that like so many time before the GPS was imaging the steep hillside, not the road. And so it was. That’s not to say it was an easy climb, but it was not the horror it could have been.

We were almost at sea level at the bottom. No snowcapped peak this.

At the turn to Hudson-Parcher County Park. Because it is dry here now, with occasional sun peeking through the clouds, it is indeed Rainier to the right.

Hudson-Parcher County Park is almost empty today, save for the hundred-foot tall trees. The camp host told me there were 300 people camped here this weekend, and they had been here for five days. They cleared out yesterday. So much the better for us.

I went foraging for blackberries around the campground, but it seems they are not ripe yet here. The high elevation?😄 I did find some thimbleberries, which I will put on my oatmeal in the morning.

I also found a potential hobbit hole in the trunk of a tree. Further investigation will have to wait.

Ed’s Story

Short day so not much to say.

Riding unloaded was a blast, going faster than we have for a while. Right now we have 3 more full days to ride naked (of gear, that is).

We are looking at Friday’s last ride into Portland for a place we can meet John and Dorothy and get our gear. That would give us only about 9 miles to ride loaded to the bike shop.

Again today’s ride was uneventful. There was rain and I did don my rain pants. I sit at a different geometry than John so my shorts would have gotten wet.

Shortly before reaching Rainier we stopped at Trojan Park. This park is managed by Portland General Electric and used to be the site of Trojan Nuclear Plant. The plant operated from 1976 to 1993 when it was shut down.

The reactor vessel and steam generators were shipped by barge up the Columbia River for burial at the US Ecology commercial low-level waste site located at Hanford near Richland, Washington. The containment building was demolished and the cooling tower imploded.

The grounds are still locked as 34 dry casks of spent nuclear fuel are stored on a concrete pad on site. Enough nuclear history for today.

These buildings could possibly be in use for monitoring the dry fuel storage.

Implosion of the cooling tower…pretty cool.

Rain pants came off at the tavern; the jacket shortly after I started the climb. Just another steady grind got me to the top.

This is a very quiet campground with lots of trees. The sun is peeking through so I rinsed out some clothes. If they don’t dry before bed, they can finish drying in the camper tomorrow.

Tomorrow is about 56 miles. We are headed to Ft. Stevens State Park via Astoria OR and the beach where the Pacific Ocean meets the Columbia River.

The spit at the end…the state park is near Warrenton.

Until tomorrow, happy biking.

Today's ride: 30 miles (48 km)
Total: 242 miles (389 km)

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