This last week was the hottest one we have had in Oregon so far this year. I went camping in SW Washington for some mountain biking and road riding, and to try and find some cooler weather. I met up with the Cone Man, and we caravaned out to a nice campsite off FR88, situated on a nice saddle looking over at Mt. Adams. We rode a long loop on the Forest Service roads through Trout Lake, and over towards Mt. St. Helens. The next day we took the mountain bikes down the road to drop in on the Lewis River Trail, which I hadn't ridden in over 10 years! It is truly one of the nicest river trails in the NW, up there with the McKenzie and the Umpqua Rivers in terms of beauty and technical, rooty, muddy singletrack. It was very hot and humid and I probably lost about 10 pounds through sweating. The bonus was that we had the cold river next to us the whole time, and the swim at the end of the trail kept me from passing out in the shade somewhere. We heard that it had been 103 degrees back in Hood River.
By the time we made it back to Oregon we decided that it was too hot to ride, and we needed some time for recovery, so we spent the afternoon out at the Devil's Punchbowl, out towards Lost Lake on the Hood River. There are some huge cliffs to jump off, into some deep and cold water. Downriver is a small beach to lounge on, and Ginger was able to swim and play and cool down for a while. On the way back to Todd's place we stopped and checked out a rope swing under Tucker Bridge. Mr. Simmler showed the local kids how to make the most out the swing before dropping in.
I almost didn't mind working back here in Bend this weekend. We have air-conditioning in the shop so I was able to stand around and talk about bikes and gear and watch the Olympics on the big-screen. The annual Bend Brewfest was set up in the Les Schwab Amphitheater all weekend, so I pedaled down there after work. Not a bad way to beat the heat!
