Hood River to Biggs Junction

(A view of the Columbia River)

Well, I found out that the 1.5 mile climb we did yesterday, to stay off the I-84 as long as possible, was at 18-20% grade at some spots! A mini Highlander hill! Our dinner last night was prepared by the family of one of the ladies on our tour. They cooked us fresh salmon and steel head with Minnesota wild rice and salads. It was wonderful! She is a storyteller so she told us some of the legends of the area. It was a very fine evening.

We started out early again to beat the heat and headed out of the hotel around 7 AM. We immediately got the blood moving in our legs by having to climb out of Hood River to get onto the Historic Columbia River State Trail. It is the remains of the old state highway and is for bikes and pedestrians only. The trail is paved and in excellent shape. We had beautiful views of the Columbia River below and huge rock outcroppings and lush forests above. The trail wound through some tunnels and ended on the Old Historic Columbia Highway that we were on at times yesterday. We climbed for about nine miles (3-5%) and reached a viewpoint called Rowena. Besides being very windy, the view was breathtaking. The wind was blowing pretty steady around 20 miles an hour but it was a tail wind! We stopped at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center and Wasco County Museum. We spent about an hour there learning about the geology of the area and the Oregon trail and Native Americans of the area. It was a lovely place. We could feel the temperature rising as we entered the city limits of The Dalles. We stopped at a place called Country Cousin, a place recommended by our guides for the cinnamon rolls. They were huge so we split two among four of us. Our two guides had been out shopping for our dinner tonight, joined us, and also ate off those same cinnamon rolls-very tasty! Up to this point it was a wonderful day, but alas we had to get back on that blasted I-84 again for ten miles. There were four of us and we covered that ten miles in record time without any flats! So tonight we are in Biggs Junction and are heading into the high desert. The terrain has changed to rock and scrub bushes. We are staying at The Three Rivers Inn across from a big truck stop - not fancy but clean and they have free WiFi. Today's stats: 46.7 miles for a total of 131.16 miles. Tomorrow is a 90 mile day. Happy Tailwinds

(The view from my motel tonight!)