Second day, time to search the pudding for the proverbial proof. As it turns out the previous day is the most mileage I've done in a single day; so today proved to be an interesting litmus test of how hard I could expect to go. I said goodbye to Chuck and Doris and rolled out of Eugene towards the McKenzie river, which I would follow the whole day. On the way I crossed the Willamette river; it was tiny compard to what it becomes before joining the Columbia at Portland.
Once I turned West I soon made a navigational misjudgement (i.e. a wrong turn). It cost me 15 miles to undue my mistake, but I did get to see the little farming community of Mohawk, where some locals got me straightened out. Eventually I reached the McKenzie and followed it the rest of the day. The McKenzie river is one of those small rivers that is just the perfect size for fly fishing, rafting, kayaking, or just listening to the white water.
I stopped at Walterville when I saw this little place offering fruit smoothies. It was so good it was impossible to keep from drinking too fast and getting an ice cream headache.
Shortly thereafter I startled a doe and her two fawns trying to cross 126. I hope they made it; traffic was pretty fierce.
There was an art gallery along the way, what story does this remind you of?
As I passed through Blue River my body was telling me that maybe I should stop. Approaching McKenzie Bridge I saw the sign for camping next right and happily wheeled the bike around, thinking that I had reached my destination. It turned out to be a RV park, which really wasn't what I wanted. I made my mind up to keep pedaling until I came to a better campground. It turns out there was another one just a quarter mile down the road. By that time I had gotten geared up to ride farther so I almost passed it by. I'm glad I didn't though 'cause it turned out Helen was staying there after a day hike in the area. We had planned to meet in Sisters the next day so this was a bonus!
The campground was spare (no showers) but cozy. We cleaned up in the McKenzie, which is mighty cold. Here is the view of the McKenzie river from the Mckenzie Bridge campground.
Since we had an evening to kill (and Helen's car) we decided to go to the nearby Terwillinger hot springs. They are a very nice hot springs located near the Cougar resevoir. Left the camera at camp, which is too bad because the Cougar resevoir is very impressive. It is empty right now as the corp is building a new outlet system that will allow them to control the water temperature that they release into the Willamette basin.
McKenzie pass tomorrow.
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