Total Days on Road: 40
Home for the night |
Peanut butter milkshake at Bend Burger! |
Home for the night |
Peanut butter milkshake at Bend Burger! |
Rose City Park neighborhood during Halloween |
Forest Park in winter |
Powell's |
Matt's BBQ |
Frozen tent |
Lava |
My new favorite bar |
Lower Klamath Lake Road |
Grocery haul! |
You know how there is plan A and then plan B etc.? The last few weeks have been a lesson in always having a backup and/or being willing to go with the flow. I feel like I am currently on plan F or G of my trip already. The original plan had been to start from Grass Valley, CA and head over the Sierra toward Klamath Falls, OR, where I would meet up with some friends for about a week near Bend, OR before heading back to Klamath Falls to start north again.
Things were looking pretty good for a while; the snow was melting and Punxsutawney Phil had said that spring was coming early, which I was a big fan of. However, about a week before I had planned on starting, there was a big snow storm in the Sierra and things started looking bleak for me. I told my Dad that his ski season was going to need to be cut short, but in the end, he got lucky. This was not a horrible thing; it just meant that my plan to try to stay on dirt paths for the bulk of my trip just went out the window, and instead of going over the hills, I would need to take the road around through the valley. However, this did not mean I did not need to go through the mountains still; I would just do it in a lower place instead.
Country road, take me home...(table mountain in the distance) |
In the next couple of days, I got to Red Bluff via backroads, and then cut east to head up and over the mountains. Well, this day it started raining, then snowing and then I actually hit snow at about 4,200 feet, which is a bit lower than expected. So I tried to plod through it for a while, but ultimately it was very hard and it was uphill and my feet were getting cold, so I decided to head back down the hill to regroup. I was going to try to hitchhike to the town of Burney, but nobody would pick me (a very wet person) and Bob (a very wet bike) up. Luckily, I found a feed store that was on the side of the highway and I went in and begged Sonny, the owner (we became good friends), if I could use his heater to warm up and asked him if he knew anyone with a truck who would be willing to give me a ride.
After reviewing the weather in Burney and surrounds, I determined that the upcoming snow would make this journey a bit unpleasant and possibly dangerous, so in the end, I decided to go back to Redding, which is along highway 5 and wait for my friends there instead of in Klamath Falls. Luckily Sonny's friend was headed to town and he gave me a ride right to my motel! Thank goodness for friendly folks. After a week in Oregon, I was back in Redding, but ironically, though it had been nice for the last five days, it was set to snow again in the mountains! I decided to take a bus to Burney and start from there rather than trying to go up the snowy slopes of the highway.
Yup, those are my tracks (and a bunny) |
The pass I wanted to avoid |
This turned out to be a wise decision. The highway (299) to Burney was uphill, windy and had very little shoulder and there were a couple of snowy passes. In the end, I skipped about 7 miles, but I am okay with that. I started off in Burney and headed east and then north again. However, lest you think it was easy, it was uphill, snowing part of the time, and in the 20s in the mornings! But I made it to Klamath Falls safely in the end. The weather is still supposed to be a bit hit and miss, but this week's lows are supposed to be in the 30s and highs in the 50s/60s so that is much better than 20s! I have spent a lot of time looking at weather, routes, and webcams lately, but hopefully things will become more (and stay more) spring-like after this.
View of Mt. Lassen from highway 299 |
A few stats --> Dead animals seen on side of the road: snakes, squirrels, cat, deer, vole, birds, lots of unidentified bones. I have also seen lots of cans (but not as many as in Washington), cigarette packets, and beer bottles. Good things I've seen: many farms/ranches/live animals including goats, donkeys, ponies, horses, sheep, ducks, geese, hawks, unidentified birds, dogs & cats, many sunrises, many empty roads, fun small towns.
Now the fun part, the Q&A! If you haven't gone and asked any questions yet, you can do it here. Don't be shy! It can even be anonymous if you want it to! I thought I would answer a few in each post, except for some of Engie's questions, for which the answers will likely be an entire post! This time, I will answer a few logistic questions that I have recently been asked.
Where do you sleep? (Michelle and various other friends) - I am doing a mix of wild camping, established camping, motels and staying with friends. Most of this will not be planned in advance, as I will not really know how fast or how far I will go each day, but my expectation is that I will likely try to have a warm bed and a shower about once a week. If it rains or snows on me a lot, this number may increase. [edited to add: given the snowy conditions, I have so far stayed in a motel 4 nights and wild camped 2 nights, but I am hoping to do a lot more camping over the next week.]
Wild camping in Modoc County, temps around 40 |
What do you eat? (Michelle and various other friends) - I carry enough food to get me to the next town, which will likely mostly be only a day or two's worth of food. However, there will be sections where I will need to carry several days worth of food or several liters worth of water. What I carry will be similar to backpacking food, like rice, beans and oatmeal, but I will also be able to carry some heavier things or fresher items like peanut butter, bagged salad and fruit/veggies. I will also stop in towns and eat real food from time to time! My favorite grocery store foods in town are ice cream, cheese and meat, but I will also be splurging on an omelet or a hamburger sometimes. I also do carry a stove and so I can have hot food like instant rice, oatmeal and coffee.
Typical snack food |
Coffee maker (aka the stove) |
Where do you use the bathroom? (My friend K's 10 year old daughter L) - This really depends on where I am. The first few days I was in small towns or rural roads. If there is no traffic and/or I can hide, I usually just pee in the bushes. If I am in a town, I may use a park restroom or a gas station restroom, but I don't really like leaving my bike out too long. If I am camping, I will go in the bushes. If I am in a motel, I will use a toilet!
Will I carry a weapon? (My aunt and my friend G) - Not this time. I am going to leave my Glock at home, but will likely get bear spray when I am closer to or am in Canada.
Progress report: 352 mi / 563 km | 7 days | 42 hours (6 per day) | gummy bears eaten: 76
How was your week last week? Did you get any snow? Is it cold where you are? What do you do to warm up when you are cold?
Currently here |
Bob is raring to go. |
As I mentioned last week, I have been struggling a little bit to concentrate on books lately. However, I am happy to report two things. First of all, per Engie's recommendation, I started reading A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking. I am about two thirds of the way through it and so far, it is just what I needed! It is light and fun and easy and there are gingerbread men who come to life. I will report back when I am done, but I think the reading funk has been banished!
Secondly, just because I have not had a lot of luck in March does not mean that the last quarter was all bad. Here are several books that I read during the first quarter of this year that I did enjoy!
The Secret Book of Flora Lee by Patti Callahan Henry: In 1939 Hazel and her younger sister Flora are sent out of London to the country to live to escape the bombs. One day, while playing near the river, Flora vanishes and Hazel blames herself for her sister's death. Years later, Hazel is working at a publisher when she reads a manuscript of a story that only her and her sister would know. This makes her believe that maybe her sister is still alive after all. I enjoyed the story itself and the author's writing style, and was even surprised from time to time as the story progressed.
None of This is True by Lisa Jewell: Unassuming Josie bumps into famous podcaster Alix in the bathroom of a local restaurant at their separate birthday celebrations. After that Alix runs into Josie several more times and eventually even agrees to interview Josie for her podcast. Of course Josie ends up being different than expected, and there are many twists and turns along the way before we find out what is really going on. This is another typical Jewell novel, but I mean that in a good way. Some of hers have been a little less exciting than others, but this one did not disappoint.
The Paris Daughter by Kristin Harmel: This is the story of two friends during WWII. When Elise becomes a target of the Nazis, she entrusts her daughter with her friend Juliette to care for until it is safe to send for her. When the war is finally over, she returns home to find Juliette's house reduced to rubble, Juliette nowhere to be found and no knowledge of what transpired during her daughter's final moments. She searches for years to find Juliette in order to get answers about her daughter so that she can have some closure in her life at last.
Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King: This is not your typical King horror novel; it is a thriller about murder and an ex-detective named Hodges who tries to solve the mystery of the killer and of course there are some twists and turns along the way. I was pleasantly surprised, as I was not sure what to expect after years of not reading a King novel (but I did read most or all of them back in the 90s!).
Evil Eye by Etaf Rum: The tale of the expectations placed on Palestinian-American women, this is the story of Yara. She married the right guy, moved to the suburbs, had children and is doing everything right, as her culture expects. However, after her husband forbids her to go as a chaperone to a school trip, she begins to wonder if she really is happy, and if she is not, how she can be happier but not rock the boat with her family. This seems impossible and is an interesting look into the struggles that some woman face even still.
The People We Keep by Allison Larkin: April leaves home early after a fight with her Dad and goes off to make her own way in the world. She moves from city to city trying to find her place in the world, and meets a lot of interesting people along the way. This is more of a character driven novel, which I am not always a big fan of, but I did find some of her trials and tribulations interesting and felt engaged with her throughout the story.
Kill Show by Daniel Sweren-Becker: This one got accolades from many of you, and I jumped on the bandwagon a little late, but I am glad that I jumped, as it did not disappoint! It is a story of a girl who goes missing and her family's struggles to find her. To do this, they agree to make a reality show about her disappearance in real time. The best part was that it was done in an interview style format, which really kept me engaged the entire time. It has an essence of Gone Girl, in that it keeps you guessing and tickles you a bit at the end.
What was your favorite book over the last three months? Have you read any of the above and/or did you enjoy them? What is your favorite genre?