Day 5 Viento to Mary Hill State Park

We all slept well despite the trains that run through every 30 minutes or so. Here we have electric so we make coffee and hot oatmeal. We get started around 8 am and ride to the little town of Hood River, the windsurfer town on the Columbia River. We find a great coffee shop with wifi and chat whilst Tom updates the crazyguyonabike.com website. We chat with a fedx driver and decide to take the scenic trail over the hill from town which is a section of the old Historic Columbia River Highway. It is closed to all but bike traffic and we have a nice quiet ride for about 16 miles with bikers and joggers and scenic views. We work our way back onto a two lane road up to Rowena Crest on top of the gorge cliffs. Here the wind is really blowing hard and we have to be careful not to get blown over the edge or into traffic. We then come down through canyons with strong tailwinds for over 10 miles, coasting most of the way. We stop at an organic cherry orchard and get some cherries to munch on at stops and for later at the campground. Lots of cherry orchards here and some apricot with an occasional winery along the way. We meet Suz at the Dalles grocery for soup and sandwich and purchase more groceries for dinner and breakfast. We ride the next 20 on the side of the interstate which has a nice shoulder but the truck and traffic noise is loud. We come into Biggs OR and cross the Columbia on a suspension bridge in high winds, a little worrisome with the trucks and winds. Just over the bridge is the Maryhill Campground, very nice lawns and we are not allowed to pitch the tents on the grass......maybe too nice. Shower need quarters again and I am first to the showers and find that the quarter just turns on the hot water, so after your quarter runs out, the water goes ice cold........what a wake up after the hot road. This campground is right next to the river at the base of the gorge cliffs. We notice that the temperature is climbing during the day and not as cold at night. The conifers are giving away to broad leaf and we have young spruce in leaf around the campground. We have a view of the road snaking up the side of the cliff to the top of the gorge , a constant reminder of tomorrows immediate climb straight up. The grass here is green at the campground as they water it but the grass on the Field and prairie is all brown now. Hills are smooth and contoured up on top of the gorge. We turn in at dusk and decide on an early departure. We meet another two young guys also following the Lewis and Clark trail to Missoula, they may stay at some of our stops along the way. Today we road 55 miles, Avg speed 13.6 mph.

Jim, Suzanne and Beau