I left the hotel in Mitchell Oregon this morning and my Garmin device registered at least a 5% grade from the first hundred feet through the six-mile point. I was plenty warmed up by the time I reached the top of Keys Creek Summit.
I was repaid with a nice long downhill and no major climbs the rest of the day. Most of the route led through open ranch land, with no settlements and no traffic. At one point, I felt quite isolated.
Other parts of the route led through canyons, first of Rock Creek, and then of the John Day River.
Late in the morning, the John Day Valley opened up into a more populated agricultural environment set against the mountains of eastern Oregon in the background.
Over all, this was cattle country, and I saw cattle in every position: lying down,
grazing on terraced hillsides,
and even in, shall we say, a compromising position (sorry, no photos of that one . . .).
After lunch, we headed the last 20 miles to the town of John Day, our destination for the day. The ride was dominated by the ever-nearing Strawberry Mountain, which is now just outside the door of our hotel.
You might notice a theme here: John Day River, the town of John Day, and yesterday and today we rode through the John Day Fossil Beds National Monument. There’s also the town of Dayville where we stopped for lunch, and In the town of John Day, there is the John Day Veterinary Clinic, the John Day Golf Club, and JD Outdoor & Power Equipment, to name just a few. Who the heck was John Day?
It turns out, he was a minor trapper with the Pacific Fur Company who was killed at the mouth of a small river that joins the Columbia over a hundred miles from here. People started to call the river the John Day River, and thus the minor trapper’s name has taken on monumental proportions in eastern Oregon.
Apparently getting killed (or at least ambushed) was good for brand building in Oregon in the 19th century. Part of today I rode through Wheeler County, and this plaque explained that it got its name from another explorer who was ambushed near the site of the plaque.
Tomorrow is Part 2 of Rise Up Early in the Morning, not because of an early climb but because I have to cover 115 miles and we lose an hour as we enter Mountain Time tomorrow. So I’ll leave you with today’s barn and the technical stuff below that.
The technical stuff:
68.7 miles
3,130 feet of climbing
Average speed 14.8 miles per hour
Weather: Bright sunshine all day; around 60 at the start, and about 70 by the end of the ride. Winds calm in the morning, picking up to a moderate cross or front quartering wind in the afternoon.
You can see the entire route to date here.