Coast2Coast Day 9: Magnificent Melissa mounting three passes

We left the Historic Hotel Prairie with a send-off from new friends we met at this biker-friendly hotel where we stayed in Prairie City, OR. We exchanged Cathy’s bike pedals with Melissa’s so Melissa could ride today. Daniel (new friend from Sweden) left a bit before us because he was afraid his touring bike wouldn’t allow him to keep up with our road bikes and we nearly caught him in the last mile as we road into Baker City, OR. Baker City boasts a museum all about the Oregon Trail and we found a mural in town labeled “The World’s Largest Map of the Oregon Trail”. Daniel & Veronica plan to recreate a larger map when they return to Sweden and then send a letter back to Baker City telling them they no longer have the world’s biggest version of the map (hahaha).

The first climb was up Dixie Pass where as we approached the summit it started to snow/hail/grapple and as we turned to the descent it turned to cold, hard, stinging rain. Though we hoped to stay dry for the day, we were totally soaked so we stopped on a porch in Austin Junction to warm up and reassure ourselves we weren’t suffering from hypothermia (not really, but it felt like it). We turned the corner onto Route 7 and were blessed by some sunshine which was quite a contrast to the weather on the descent. Climbed up Tipton Pass and again, as per usual, Melissa beat me to the top. The descent from Tipton was in a mix of sunshine and cloud as we cruised through spectacular valleys and gorgeous woods. The third climb of the day (Sumpter Pass) was somewhat less challenging, but still significant. The total elevation for the day was approximately 4500 ft. Melissa was happy to be riding (thanks to Cathy’s loaner bike) while she waits to get hers repaired. The final 10 miles into Baker City were along the Powder River into a fairly strong headwind. Distant mountains had visible snow and the river was flowing high.

We were happy to see that there was a Mexican Restaurant (Delicioso) open as we rolled into town. We stopped by the local bike shop, where we met Monique and Kevin from Helena, MT who are also traveling the TransAmerica trail self-supported from Oregon to Virginia. Although the bike shop Trailhead was unable to help Melissa with her bike repair, we thought it was a pretty cool shop because it featured a bar with a few local beer taps for patrons to enjoy while they awaited their bike repairs to be completed. 

We spent the evening at a MCM AirBnB and enjoyed the company of our new friends Veronica and Daniel from Sweden. We sat around the fire pit listening to music and sharing stories. It was a special evening. Tomorrow Daniel & Veronica head towards Ontario, OR while we cross into Idaho at the Brownlee Damn. We are a bit sad to part ways with our new friends, but we are pretty sure we’ll see them again, as I repeatedly invited ourselves to visit them in Sweden (hahaha).

Let’s hope tomorrow’s weather forecast of no rain holds true. I’ll be getting up early to prepare the blue corn pancakes from a mix we purchased at Tocabe (a Native American Eatery in Denver) to share with our Swedish friends before heading out for Day 10.