Today I rode and out and back on the Middle fork trail enjoying a casual pedal. Deep wet forest cover. Big trees. I encountered a group of BLM employees doing stream plotting. Two ‘ologists slaked my curiosity, boils down to in hard times, eat your own. Varied vegetation cover that created sight line challenges. Fun to steer around the turns. My goal was just to pedal and keep exertion effort low. I succeeded. Chilly day.
Yesterday I rode Larrison rock again. My today ride was t0 have been for yesterday. Yesterday morning a man knocked on my van @ 8AM and in essences told me I was trespassing on private property, not his, but an investment company. I told him what i was doing to build trail here that had not weight. I did not challenge him as to his authority or what ever. I said I would finish bfast and be gone. I kept my word. I drove up Salmon creek road looking for spots. I crossed the creek then drove a short distance looking for a site. No luck. I baled and turned around. As I was crossing the bridge I saw a cow elk standing in the river. I stopped and watched. She shortly climbed the creek bank on my side. She hung around in the tree cover, several times coming out to the water. I heard unfamiliar sounds from the far side. I deduced that she was calling for her calf to cross the river which wasn’t eager to make a go of it. I left before the reunion.
I drove out to Greenwaters park to obtain h2o for my h2o tank. In the park is a small log cabin replica of original. Restoration work is on going. Someone was working today. An older man greeted me as the source of work. We chatted. He is a local historian and rattled off answers to my questions. He and his wife spent 30 years tracing the route of the Free Emigrant trail which crossed over the Cascades. He told me of a map he made showing the route. Cool. And I could have one by stopping by his Fun Museum.
Time got away from me to ride the river trail so I rode Larrison Rock again. 11.64 miles climbing 2330’ in 7 miles in 1 hr 20 mins. It took 26 mins to ride down the black diamond trail then a road piece back to my van. Zoom. I let gravity pull me downhill, I do not enhance my speed by pedaling. I adjusted my Formula T1 front brake such that I can lock up the front wheel going downhill. Necessary for controlling speed on these steep trails. Towards the bottom I encountered 2 guys pedaling up. They rode out and back, or really up and down the trail. One guy had a longer whiter beard than mine. Braided tail. We saw each other later @ the Pub for beer and dinner.
I stopped @ Del’s museum for more history and his map. Map is a GS custom spliced to show a wide landscape. The trail is from GPS data of their hikes. 1853 & 4 were only years it was used because the free land in the Willamette was gone.
I planned on driving out of town to fix dinner but I listened too long to Del. I drove up to the Pub for dinner and a beer. Matt and Michelle arrived She is co promoter w/ Derrick for the Cream Puff. She and Matt are planning on doing a recreation hospitality gig. I showered them w/ some applicable things I had learned along the way. They got it going. They offered me their vacation house in Westfir. Cool, a shower tonight. I drove up the Larrison rock road to camp. 2 miles up covered so quickly under diesel power. I hoped that I would have cell phone coverage which equals internet. No coverage.
Temps are in 40s @ night and damp. Still sleeping under the down blanket. Annual average rain data is printed on the Adventure map displaying the fact that Oakridge is wet in the winter: 8″ of rain in Dec and Jan. June and July are the least wet. I am seeing it in dry weather.
My poison oak gotten from Sat a week ago and later is still itching. I have patches of weeping sores. Oak bothers me more than ivy.
Still no plan to leave here. I have been thinking of living here. Settling down has all kinds of changes. I am able to see and experience different places365. To settle down would mean road trips always returning to the house anchor. I would be just like all the other people who are envious of my wandering life. I’m working on it.
Parked @ Rays on rt 58, going to make a Thai dinner then go for a beer. Matt and Michelle are to be there w/ the key to their house.