Brian Richardson

One of my favorite parts of a trip like this is being able to watch the land change at the speed of a bicycle. Earlier this week, we were in the foothills of the Cascades, riding through Cedars, Hemlocks, and Douglas Firs, and getting rained on every day. As we climbed up Santiam Pass, the rain turned to snow, the rocks and soil turned igneous, and the trees thinned to a sparse few gnarly sub-alpine firs. Then in the span of minutes, we descended East into a new biome with Ponderosa Pines, Bitterbrush shrubs, and about a twentieth the annual rainfall of the Western Cascades. Between Terrebonne and Prairie City, we alternated between grasslands and desert scrub, sometimes with miles between trees.

Wet roads and thick foliage, two days ago in the Western Cascades

Dry roads today, in the high desert East of the Cascades

Our ride today began with a 1500 foot climb up Keyes Pass and then descended along Mountain Creek, which has carved out a winding canyon through the desert. This section of HW 26 is called the “Journey Through Time Oregon Scenic Byway.” Here the road passes through the John Day fossil beds, where a layer of exposed basalt rock offers up millions-year old fossils of plants and animals.

Usher and Friend finish the descent from Keyes Pass

Where Mountain Creek runs into the John Day River, we took a 2-mile detour to see Sheep Rock and the Fossil Beds National Monument museum.

Friend (left) and Sheep Rock (right)

Two-horned rhino skull and other fossils at the John Day National Monument

A few more miles got us to Dayville, where Doug’s cousin (remember Doug, who we met in Vida on day 2) owns the Mercantile. Doug had said that his cousin would give us some free food here.

The Dayville Mercantile, Dayville, OR

Doug’s cousin Scott was in fact there, and he more than delivered on Doug’s promise. Scott hooked us up with homemade peanut brittle and a “King Slab” of beef jerky (approx. 3 square feet), then drove us up a dirt road in his 4x4 to see a fossilized dinosaur tail. This kind of unexpected and delightful kindness from strangers is another one of my favorite parts of bike travel.

King Slab (left) and Friend (right)

Fossilized dinosaur tail, somewhere outside of Dayville, OR (the exact location is apparently a local secret)

From Dayville, we had another 45 miles, trending uphill, to Prairie city. A steady tailwind, a big lunch and a quick nap in Mt. Vernon got us to town in time for dinner. Tonight we’re camping at a quaint RV park on the edge of town. Tomorrow we have three passes between us and Baker City, where we hope to take our first break day.

Friend takes a post-lunch nap in the Mt Vernon town park