Another early and very cold start of the day. George felt that this is the coldest he has been since the start of the trip. Not that the temps were the lowest, but his body has gotten used to the heat and is no longer acclimated to the cold. To add injury to assault: there was a pretty brutal head wind, since he still had the Santiam pass to go over and the steep downhill with the cold wind can be pretty torturous; and there was the heavy traffic (as the McKenzie pass is closed, Santiam pass is the only way in and out of Sisters). I was concerned about George, so I decided to forgo my plans of climbing the Black Butte Observation Tower, and check on him after I checked out of the hotel. Of course, he did not really need any help but warmth, which there wasn't much I could do about. I was then rewarded by randomly finding this awesome hike. It was a very easy hike (so no real workout or anything) but filled with great, breathtaking, picturesque views of the bluest lake ("Clear Lake") I have ever seen. It was a pleasure to be on a very well groomed, marked, and single track hiking (parts of it allowed mountain bikes) trail where ATV's are not allowed (which is unusual for the western states). The hike started out with this lush green forest, which reminded of a park (Little River, easy loop) back home, except for tress (instead of the deciduous trees, this park had pine trees of course). Soon the trail lead me to the lake and it went alongside this beautiful lake on one side, with lava rocks on the other. Most part of today's ride was very pretty (going by McKenzie River), but there was a lot of traffic. George seems to be getting pretty sick of the cars, buzzing by him all the time and is just looking to do the mileage to get to the finish line, which is pretty much in sight now...woohoo...
We went from Sisters, OR to Eugene, OR
Total Miles: 93
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