Day 7: Baker City to Ontario, Oregon
June 26, 2004
Miles: 81
Weather: Comfortable the whole day, thunderstorms to the west and
south in the evening
This
probably the easiest day yet, welcome after the last few days in the
mountains. The route was downhill for large stretches with only
one climb to speak of.
Not that we didn't have our share of challenges, though. We knew
we'd be riding on the interstate. That turned out better than I
expected. In 2002 and 2003, our regular after work route at home
required about a mile's worth of riding on I-5, which had a lot of junk
on the shoulder to avoid. Happily, I-84 was much less junked up,
which made riding along in the mid to high 20's less of an obstacle
course. Traffic was lighter--and more polite--too.
What we didn't plan for was a cattle drive, just before we first got on
the interstate. We had to wait 10 minutes or so while the
cowboys, cowgirls and dogs drove them down this road and then up a road
to the right. Sue rode up on them and apparently spooked one of
the horses, who dumped its rider (she thinks he was trying to show off
when this happened).
This is a view back along the frontage road that led us to the cattle
drive:
Eventually, we made our way toward the Snake River. First we had
to change our clocks:
Here is a panoramic view of the Snake River (click the picture for the
big version):
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