Bikepacking Overnight: Apoc-eclipse

I never understood eclipse chasers until I saw the eclipse on August 21, 2017.  Despite the media frenzy that led all of us in Central Oregon to believe that the world would end when a million eclipse chasers would descend upon us, our bike tour to the epicenter of the dark side of the moon was lovely, mostly sans traffic, and otherwise just a good time.  My good friend Michelle and I braved the predictions, spent time with some of the finest scientists in the land, and experienced the ephemeral dream of fire and darkness with a 360 sunset highlighting Mount Jefferson and Mount Hood.  We refused to drive, so why not bike?  I was even interviewed by The Oregonian for choosing an alternate mode of transportation for the eclipse.

The backroads to Madras were soooo crowded...

My dad is the best... I arrived to Madras to a cooler full of cold beverages!

A little corner of paradise, full of scientists a la Harvey Mudd and CalTech.

Sunset over Mount Jefferson.

In an abundance of caution, we left Bend at 8 am and made it to Madras by 2 pm.  We had plenty of time to relax, socialize, and prepare for the big event.  We relished a catered dinner put on by the folks organizing this private eclipse festival, and ate an inordinate amount of watermelon.  Shortly after sunset, I crawled into the tent and passed out.  I slept a solid 9 hours before stirring the next morning.

My Dad decided to make a pinhole eclipse viewer... recently, he showed some kiddos how to make viewers at a reservation in Yakima so they could enjoy the eclipse.

Oh wait, you'll let us look at the sun through your solar lens? So cool to see sun spots!

The sun... (photo credit: Joel Naumann's dad... our gracious neighbors with the solar lens for their camera!)

Just a couple of cycling dorks waiting for the eclipse.

The world's most innovative pinhole eclipse viewer...

This solar telescope is a little more high tech... my dad checks it out.

Aaaaand, the eclipse finally started!

I highly recommend surrounding yourself with astrophysicists and other science PhDs for celestial events such as this one.  Not only do you get access to the best telescopes, binoculars, and other knowledge, but you get to know lovely folks such as Joel and his father, who traveled from San Jose, California to grace us with their presence.  Joel's father shared images of the solar sun spots as well as his meticulous eclipse "to do" list.

Our neighbor had a strict schedule for solar eclipse photography... I'm glad he spared a minute to "look around".

Totality.  (photo credit: Judd Rook, father of my dear friend Erin Rook, who shot this from Terrebonne.)

And then, it was done, altogether too fast.  We took a minute to bask in the afterglow of the totality of the eclipse, and then off went, to get back to Bend in time for dinner.

Detour on the backroads to escape backed up traffic on the Culver highway... would have been fine, but this section didn't have a shoulder.

Highway 97 in all her glory.  Traffic was at a standstill and we just trundled along.

A few tips for cycle tourists:

• This route passes through the towns of Tumalo, Redmond, Terrebonne, Culver, and Metolius... lots of chances for resupply!

• Here is our route... it was lovely, traffic-free, and beautiful!

Bikepacking Overnight: McKenzie Pass 4.0 (Ladies Ride!)

A bike tour over the McKenzie Pass seems to have snuck its way into my life again (see 2014, 2015, and 2016).  After lamenting a lack of women on the road, I decided it was time to do something about it.  My friend runs the local chapter of the Outdoor Women's Alliance and so I reached out to her and offered to put on a presentation to introduce women to bike touring and bikepacking.  We had about 30 participants and a lot of stoke, so I decided to lead an overnight bike tour for those who wanted a safe way to experience a bike tour.  

After a false start due to rain and snow, we finally were able to do it.  It wasn't a complicated ride as it started and ended on Highway 242.  We biked from Sisters Middle School to the Limberlost Campground and back again, with a lovely detour to the McKenzie Bridge General Store. It was too hot for hot springs so in lieu of hitting up Belknap or Cougar, we braved the icy cold water of Lost Creek nestled right next to our site instead.  

Day 1: Windy Point, looking like a respectable group of bike touring gals.

Day 1: Badass bike touring gang...

Day 1: Bikes get the best parking spots at the summit... time to explore the Dee Wright Observatory!

Day 1: Victory!

Day 1: Legs still have enough juice in 'em for a little summit acroyoga.

Day 1: Lunchtime at Proxy Falls on the green jungle-y side of the pass.

Day 1: 95 degrees + sweaty 6 mile bike from camp + cold beer fridge = beer fridge selfie.

Day 1: The infamous Mr. Ed on his hog outside the McKenzie Bridge General Store.  Wooing the ladies as always.

Day 1: No fire ban?  Well then, surely we can carry a bundle of firewood back to the campground.

Day 1: Happy hour.  The flamingos are getting out of control.

Day 1: Our neighbor.

Day 2: Double the climb, double the fun!

Day 2: Flamingos getting a free ride up.

Day 2: Butterflies at the summit seemed to love us.

Day 2: Post-ride "we made it" portrait.

A few tips for cycle tourists:

• I've done this tour so many times that I don't know what else to add... except that for the shorter more "beginner-friendly" version of the ride we did this year, Limberlost is a gem.  It has 12 reservable sites and 2 walk-in sites.  It is not particularly suited to RVs and so there were none when we were there.  We had site 9 which was lovely and right on the creek so we could listen to the water at night.  I highly suggest reservations in the summer on the weekends as the whole place was booked out (but we did grab the last site just two weeks before the tour)

Day 6: Newcastle Island To Vancouver City (16.9 Miles)

I woke up waaaaay too early... the first ferry off the island wasn't for hours.  So I went for a walk to see the island in the morning light while everyone except the wildlife slept.  It's amazing how different a place can feel in the calm of dawn.

Morning!

Deer running amuck as the humans sleep.

One of the infamous raccoons... this one was dragging a bag of marshmellows bigger than him for a while.  He feasted, then jetted off.

I decided to pack up and head to the ferry a bit early and there was already a line!  Luckily, the line consisted of two other bike tourists, who attended the wedding the day before, but had decided to arrive by bike.  Simon and Bridget have a lot of bike touring under their respective belts, including Peru!  Also, Simon and I immediately bonded since we have almost identical bike touring set ups... Surly Trolls with the same exact Marathon Mondial tires and Brooks saddles.  We managed to fit the three of us onto the same ferry and made it to Nanaimo on the second ferry of the day (we let a group of wedding folk and gear take the first ferry).  Simon and Bridget invited me to join them for a second breakfast at a cute cafe on the waterfront, and the Simon took off to bike up the island to continue his bike tour, and Bridget was heading back to Vancouver City.  We ended up buddying up for the entire trip back to Vancouver City and Bridget even offered me a place to stay there!  I thanked her profusely but already had a hotel lined up.  So instead, she gave me her personal copy of the Vancouver City cycling map so I could navigate back more easily.

Look at all those sexy touring bikes!

Bridget and Simon... lovely couple from Vancouver City.  Bridget actually just got a new job on Vancouver Island and Simon was getting ready to bike to an interview for a job there as well.

Lovely gift from Bridget.  I passed it onto my friend Stu who will be bike touring Vancouver Island in September!

Since I hadn't really explored much of Vancouver City and I had some time to kill, I decided to really enjoy the ride back.  West Vancouver and the route into downtown Vancouver is much nicer than heading out the south side of the city to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal.  Clearly, this is where all the money is, the houses built for views, and the fancy shops are.  This is also where cute farmers markets are and it took all my energy not to eat all the things... So I tasted a few things and then bought some local strawberries to munch on and bring back to share.  I intended on spending some time in Stanley Park, which boasts a really love set of car-free multi-use trails, but I missed the turnoff somehow, and was too tired to go back.  So I headed to the hotel, took a luxurious hot shower, and enjoyed the hotel.

Yay farmer's markets!

Mmm, fresh strawberries.

The bridge into Stanley Park... it was so cool riding over this bridge!

Views of Stanley Park and its amazing car-free mult-use path from the bridge.

More views on the way into downtown Vancouver.

A welcome change to my bear poo littered pullout...

A few tips for cycle tourists:

• It's important to check the ferry schedule from Nanaimo to Vancouver City and arrive at least 20 minutes early!  There are tons of amenities on the other side (unlike the Tsawwassen ferry terminal) and Marine Drive, the alternate to the highway leaving the ferry, is just fine to bike on.  While the shoulder isn't always great, it is a popular place for recreational cyclists (I saw a few bike clubs in pace lines) and so cars are used to going slow or around cyclists.

• It would be worth it to figure out how to get onto the bike paths in Stanley Park.  Had I not been on a bit of a deadline to meet up with David, I would have loved to spend some time here.

• Having a copy of the cycling map of Vancouver city was super helpful as neither Maps.ME nor Google Maps did a great job of identifying the best way to get into the city by bike.  The cool thing about Vancouver City is that it has a pretty great network of bike paths, bike lanes, and bikeways... so even though it is huge, it doesn't feel so bad to bike there. 

Day 5: Summit Before Fourth Lake To Newcastle Island (34.9 Miles)

I woke up with the sun at 5 am after a glorious bear-free sleep and was happy to see my food pannier still in tact and hanging from its spot down the road.  After a huge breakfast, I attacked the rest of the summit while the air was still cool.  It's worth looking back every so often to see where you've come from, and in the morning light, I admired a waterfall I had missed in my misery the day before.  And then just a short hour later, I had made it to my last big summit!

Taking a break to admire the waterfall... photos never really do the experience justice.

Even enough energy for a crooked summit headstand!

The maps showed that eventually, the gravel was supposed to give way to a secondary paved road and then it would be sweet pavement all the way into Nanaimo.  It was mostly right.  The gravel gave way to a gravely sometimes paved road that looked like had seen better days.  Regardless, it was pretty smooth sailing.  My GPS tried to take me a funky way up and an exposed crumbly dirt road and after some investigation, there was a longer paved way that I decided to take and I was happier for that.  I passed by a  mountain bike trailhead where I saw locals heading out for a day ride and resisted the urge to drop my panniers and ride... I was exhausted and ready for some real food and maybe even a beer.

Yup, a Nanaimo coffeeshop sign nails it.

This cute place owned by an aging granola hippie was a lovely lunchtime stop.  It came complete with really a really nice gentleman who wanted to know all about my tour and gave me some tips on where to relax on Newcastle Island, my destination for the evening.

Craft beer and salmon tacos with a huge spinach salad?  Yup.  Thanks.

I didn't linger too long after lunch because I wanted to have some lazy time since the last few days were fairly hard.  I found my way to the passenger ferry for Newcastle Island and managed to roll right on board and be off right away.  The lovely thing about Newcastle Island is that it only has passenger ferries, which means it can only be explored by foot or bike.  It boasts a small campground, cycling trails, hiking trails, and lovely beaches.  It is just a hop and a skip away from Nanaimo, so many folks just head there for the day and then magically, the daytrippers disappear and it is pretty peaceful at night.

I'm on a little boat!

I finally got to admire one of the infamous totem poles of the area... I had been in such remote areas, I didn't see as many as I thought I would!

When we reach Newcastle Island, some law enforcement officers were escorting a drunk man off the island... in the polite way possible.  Turns out he had crashed a wedding ceremony and unfortunately for me, his wife and sons were occupying my campsite and looking a little bewildered and overwhelmed by all the gear they had to break down.  Even though it was well past the checkout time, I felt for her and so I told her to take her time and decided to explore the island for a few hours.

Beaches!

Boo, no bikes past this point so I parked and continued on foot.

Amusing myself.

I could see the big ferry that would take me to Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver from Newcastle Island.

Enjoying a dip!

At long last, my site was vacated, I was able to settle in, read my book, write in my journal, and otherwise just relax in my hammock.  I splurged on a shower and called it night early!

Cozy amongst the trees.

A few tips for cycle tourists:

• The campground on Newcastle Island sells out on the weekends, so book your reservations in advanced if you are arriving on a Friday or Saturday.  The quietest sites closest to the beach are 15, 16, 17, and 18.  The ferry runs about every 30 minutes, but just know they might get full for the first and last ferries each way.  It is a good idea to doublecheck the ferry schedule since it does change seasonally and it is important to note it does NOT embark out of the same dock as the ferry to Vancouver City.  Since bikes take up extra space, you might have to wait for the next boat.

• Bring your own food as I did not see any sort of restaurant or cafe (although I thought I had read there was one there seasonally...).  Make sure to use the food boxes at the campsite.  No, there aren't bears, but there are very determined and brave raccoons that will steal anything!