Day 1: John Day To Austin Junction-ish

Take one hard-fought winter, add a couple badass ladies who cycle, find a route taking the roads less travelled, and top it off with a holiday weekend... that, my friends, is how lifelong friends are born.  I biked about half of the Old West Scenic Bikeway last year and I was itching to go back to do the whole thing.  I've slowly gathered my tribe of bikepackers and bike tourers and so I was pleasantly surprised to wrangle my good friends Ani, Michelle, and Kate to join me on this tour.  This would be Kate's first fully loaded tour!

The pre-trip explosion of gear in the Kam Wah Cultural Center's parking lot (photo credit: Kate). 

We were surprisingly efficient in getting our gear loaded, bottles filled, and water in-water out.  About an hour after our meeting time, we slathered ourselves in sunscreen and set out to crush the first 30 miles and find somewhere to camp somewhere after the Austin Junction.

The Prairie City rest area overlooks the most scenic church in all the land.

We are kind of awesome... and happy to mostly be done climbing up this darn hill!

And as always, climbs are always worth it.  The Strawberry Mountains in all their glory.

And more climbing.

We reached the summit in good time, took a short break, donned some layers, and then went screaming down the other side of the mountain.  We coasted into the restaurant/mini-mart at the Austin Junction to use the restroom and fill water... until the hostess reminded me there was a lovely fresh water spring just a mile down the road.  A nice gentleman was filling jugs with water when we arrived and wished us well as we pulled out all our water bottles.

Michelle trying to make filling spring water look sexy.

By this time we were exhausted.  Michelle and I had worked a half day and then made the drive out before we started cycling.  We all agreed that we would stop at the first good camping we saw.  Of course, the first place we rolled by was every bike tourists nightmare... an RV park with concrete pads.  Hell no.  Tired legs or not, I was determined to find something more quiet and, well, RV-free.  And then it magically appeared.  A little two track trail just a mile past the RV park led to a gorgeous flat dispersed campsite next to a stream with a little waterfall.  There was a little rock fire pit and we were well off the road.  We quickly threw up our tents, donned long sleeves to deter the mosquitos, and made dinner before passing out.

Kate and Michelle ride down the trail into our campsite.

Success!

A few tips for cycle tourists:

• Everything you need to know about his route is on the Ride Oregon Ride site.  

• Once you hit the Austin junction, you are in National Forest land which means you can camp anywhere so long as you are 20 feet off the paved road.  It is worth it to bike past the Bates campground to find lovely free dispersed camping.  Also, Highway 20 is quiet and mostly car-free and truly a cyclist's dream!