Steens Mountain

Frenchglen

It's been about 10 years since we visited southeastern Oregon. We thought it was time to go back so we loaded the car and drove to Frenchglen, not too far from the Nevada border. Population, maybe 30. Frenchglen has an old hotel, a mostly empty mercantile store, a couple of gas pumps, and that's about it. The big draw is that it borders Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, a migration stop for thousands of birds in April, May, and September. It's also at the doorstep of Steens Mountain, which stretches about 50 miles north to south and summits at 9,733 feet. And not too far away is the Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge. The birds are a nice touch but we came to ride up Steens, which has the highest road in Oregon.

If you turned a horseshoe upside down, the left side of the horseshoe would be the north road going up Steens, and the right side of the horseshoe would be the south road going up Steens. The entire horsehoe is gravel road of about 50 miles. Connecting the two ends of the gravel road together is a paved road of about 10 miles. This is the road that runs through Frenchglen, which sits at the base of the north-gravel road.

Frenchglen Hotel

Steens Mountain - South Road
Due to snow it is possible to drive the entire Steens road (the gravel horseshoe) only 2 or 3 months of the year. The BLM has a series of 5 gates on the road and each gate is opened for car traffic only after the snow has melted on that section of the road. Only the lowest gates on the road were open when we were there. Too bad for cars, but good for bikes. Sort of.

gated South road; the adventure begins

a little winter debris still on the road

cycling up the south side; still a long way to go

beautiful scenery, all to ourselves

uh oh........

snow!

tough going

what's doesn't belong in this picture? 
(hint: it's white and cold and you love it when you're a kid but not when you're on a bike)

 I gave up riding the south road after the fifth patch of snow. Chris soldiered on and made it nearly to the top.

Near the top of the south road
Alvord Desert in the distance

On the drive back to Frenchglen we saw these horses. I know they look like regular old horses, but they are part of a large herd of wild horses that roam the area. Some people visit the Steens just to try and get a glimpse of the wild herds... out in the distance... through binoculars. We lucked out coming across these guys without even trying to find them.

wild ponies

Steens Mountain - North Road

Because we are stubborn, the next day we tried for the top again, this time up the north road. Chris started at the bottom while I drove the car 10 miles further before starting my ride. Snow again, but not as bad as the south road. Success! We reached the top of Steens Mountain.

Chris makes his way up

large cracks in the road

last stretch to the top; this section was really steep

Chris is never satisfied riding to the top of the road;
here, he rides up just a little bit further

Made it !
Alvord Desert in the distance

highest road in Oregon

Boise Ironman 70.3 2014

Good luck to David, aka Muscles McGee, in this year's Boise Ironman on June 7th. Once again he will face the triple threat of swim, bike, run.

SWIM: Last year our wee lad's only goal for the swim was to make it out of the water without cramping. However, he did cramp in the last 150 yards. But, as he later reflected, at least he "made it to shore." Yes, at least he did not drown.

BIKE: Last year our hero faced a nasty headwind for more than half of the bike ride. Which meant he got a hell-of-a tailwind for the return trip. Despite ringing up once of his fastest rides ever, many other riders passed him. Repeat after me: "Pedal, Damn It"

RUN: Last year he had, in his words, a pretty slow run time. But it was 90 degrees and who the hell cared anyway, he just wanted to finish, which he did, slow jogging to the finish line so that he "would not pass out."

Our boy doesn't drown and he doesn't pass out. Sounds like a pretty good Ironman.

Good Luck on Saturday.

Gravel Grinding

Chris likes to explore uncharted territory on his road bike, that is, gravel and dirt roads that present themselves during road rides. I will sometimes humor him if the gravel road is very short, but because road bikes with their ultra-skinny tires are not made for gripping unstable surfaces I prefer to remain on paved roads when riding my skinny-tire bike. Last winter I considered buying a 'gravel' bike, which takes a much fatter tire than my current bike (but is not so cumbersome as a full on mountain bike) and so would let me explore unpaved roads without too much trepidation. I didn't purchase one last summer but started thinking about it again this winter. So when we returned from Tucson I figured I just ought to go buy myself a 'gravel grinder' before I came up with more excuses not to. After all, we're not getting any younger, are we!?

Here she is:

Chris had been thinking about buying a gravel-specific bike for some time and he decided to take the plunge also. So now we both have 'fat tire' bikes for exploring gravel.

ready to grind some gravel

Our maiden voyage was a 30-35 mile loop out of Hood River, of which about 20 miles was gravel. A new route for me, fun to explore new terrain. It would have been impossible for me to ride this route on my road bike.

yes, this is a paved road; gotta get to the gravel section !
Mt. Hood in the background (by the clouds)

gravel gravel; that's more like it

gravel roads = few cars

the hills were hard

pretty flowers

Chris goofing for the camera

Ice cream shop at the end of the route; how perfect is that?