Beautiful Places in Eastern Oregon and Idaho and a Hashbrown.

It was a strange first half of the summer in Oakridge. Between the rain, more rain, hurting my knee and selling my Subaru it was a busy time in some ways, but slow and not bike centered in other more frustrating ways. However, to put the cart before the horse in the title, let me introduce you to Hashbrown my “new to me” 1995 Ford Aerostar! After all these years I’m finally living the minivan dream life! It only took me a few nights on the road to realize just how much better life on the road is in a van, even one as rudimentary (and beautifully invisible) as Hashbrown. You have to admit, Hashbrown really is the perfect name, no? I can not take credit for it, they were already named by their previous owner.

My only complaints about Hashie so far are that *both* the AC and the drivers window are currently not working. Did I mention that I’ve been in near continuous 90 degree weather for the last 10 days. Bwahahaa!! Both should be fixable, but we were working on a tight timeline. I found Hashbrown on Facebook in Santa Barbara, Jesse went and made the purchase and then had some more pressing work repaired before driving Hashbrown up to Oregon. I haven’t been in a big enough town to see if the AC can be easily fixed, meanwhile… I swelter a bit. Oh and Hashbrown doesn’t like to go very fast, but I’m not in a hurry!

First I explored the Ochoco National Forest in Eastern Oregon where I had a great sleep in the forest with a deer that decided the best grass around was under my van, swam in my first alpine lake of the summer, and did a big ride full of views and wildflowers.

From the Ochocos I continued east into the hotsprings rich area of Idaho. I went in three different springs in less than 24 hours. In addition to the riverside hotspots, the one below also had a private tub of the perfect temperature up in the hillside in a historic shack. Did I mention it has been hot? Springs need to be sampled early or late, or combined with lots of river cooldowns.

My friend Ellen generously drove all the way up to Idaho from Santa Barbara to meet me for a 4 day backpacking trip in the Sawtooth National Rec Area near Stanley. This area is capital W Wilderness which means no bikes allowed, so if I wanted to sample its beauty I had to go on foot. Three nights is pretty much the shortest backpacking trip Ellen would consider, and the longest I wanted to do — so four days and three nights it was. Besides, we were sharing Ellen’s bear cannister and there is no way we would have fit one more days food for two people! The Sawtooths did not disappoint — they are visually much like the high Sierra of CA, full of crystal clear alpine lakes and large rock formations, but with less people!

Following this backpacking trip it was time to re-find my cycling legs, as Jesse and I have a big ride coming up soon. I headed a bit south for camping and riding in the Ketchum/Sun Valley area — partially because it was impossible to get fresh vegetables in Stanley! 80 residents! And I was able to leave Hashbrown at the mayor’s house while backpacking, thanks to the Stanley mayor being a relative of my SoCal friends Dinorah and Dave.

I did one BIG fabulous backcountry ride where the flowers were popping! Mostly fields of purple. I was very impressed with the family with the ~10 year old daughter doing the ride; though they shuttled the final 1,000ft climb over eight miles back the the start. I can’t blame them — they want their daughter to love mountain biking, not just to remember the hot miserable grind at the end!

Today is life maintenance day – shower, laundry, shopping, and planning. Jesse arrives in Boise on Wednesday by airplane and then we head back up to Stanley for a music festival followed by 10 days of bikepacking on the Idaho Hotsprings Route — and oh it is forecast to be HOT. We will modify the route to stay in the high country with lakes and slightly cooler temperatures as much as possible. We are calling it our honeymoon and I can’t wait for Jesse to arrive! I am sure pictures will follow. With love.