Day 4 – June 7 – Ainsworth State Park to Hood River, Oregon – 30 Miles

Day 4 – June 7 – Ainsworth State Park to Hood River, Oregon – 30 Miles

You might notice from the mileage that we did not make a great deal of progress today.  We awoke this morning to rain.   Not a light rain, but a constant soaking rain.  Camping is great, but breaking camp and cycling all day in the rain takes its toll.  The temperature did not rise above the 50s so it was at times chilling.  Cycling of course builds up a good deal of body heat if you keep moving.  The danger is when you stop, and the sweat coupled with the wet clothing (yes, even wearing rain gear after a while you get wet) can lead to hypothermia.  The route also was sometimes hard to follow and also very challenging.  It took the better portion of the morning to break camp, stow the wet gear and cycle just 10 Mile to Cascade Locks.

We arrived at Cascade Locks and settled into a local restaurant for breakfast.  We spent a couple hours there refueling, warming and trying to dry. Joe and I were both feeling chilled and were tempted to find somewhere to take a rest day.  Blue skies started peaking through and we were hopeful that the rain would quit.  We continued east toward Hood River.

About a half hour out of town, the rains began again and persisted all the way to Hood River.  The rains alone were not the most menacing part of the ride, that was saved for a 13 mile stretch along I-84 through the Gorge.  In Oregon as in many western states, cycling on the interstate shoulder is legal.  When the Interstate was built in this area the old portion of US 30 was obliterated and there is no other option except for crossing to the Washington side.  That decision would have had to have been made upon leaving Portland.

Anyway, we made it to Hood River safely.  The sun broke through as we checked in to our room at the Lone Pine Hotel.  Our room looks like a jungle of drying tents, camping gear and cycling bags.  A Laundromat was only a block away, so were able clean all of our clothing.  Tomorrow there is no Interstate mileage.  Our first portion follows the traffic free Columbia River Gorge Highway State Trail, the remainder on relatively low traffic US 30.

A final note:  The rains in this area are a common phenomenon caused by the Cascade Mountains.  Clouds moving east drop their precipitation on the western slopes as they move over the range.  As we continue east we will experience the other part of that phenomenon as the climate becomes arid.