Day 10: Hampton to La Pine State Park

Today's mileage: 89 miles
Total mileage for the trip: 731 miles

Two things woke me this morning: my alarm clock and the bitter cold. I think it would take some time to get used to the temperature fluctuations of the desert. During the day it's crazy hot and dry, so much that the mouth feels parched right after having gulped down water. At night, all of your clothes that were sweaty are now frozen stiff.

The owner asked me first thing if I wanted some hot coffee. He already knows me really well. We perused my maps as he opened the restaurant, but I could not stay for breakfast. The weather was good now, the smoke had cleared for the time being, and I had to get out of here. I shoved off, cementing in my mind a day of huge miles, even if it killed me.

The day stayed chilly. I wore my cold weather gear for a few hours as I pedaled with uncommon authority across the desert. I ate a delicious breakfast in Brothers and called home to let everyone know I was okay. Later, I passed through Millican, a town so small that it reportedly had a population of 1 for some time. I guess that person passed on, because the store that was recently open is now closed. Still pressing on, I realized that I had been in my big ring for quite some time, and I was approaching the outskirts of Bend.

I was a little afraid that Bend would be horrible and smokey, what with the fires nearby, but there was no problem. I ate at the McDonald's downtown, then hauled past Pilot Butte and out of town by way of Bend's rather odd red sand bike lanes.

Passing by Newberry National Volcanic Monument was awesome. It has a huge cinder cone and lava field by the road, and reminded me so much of when Ev and I visited Craters of the Moon National Park. I flew past Sunriver (where my four buddies from the springs lived, who told me to swing by and see them) with my aim firmly on La Pine State Park.

The last few miles I was fueled by frustration; I had received a text from Ev about some irritating news, and I grew anxious about things at home, Olive, etc... in my absence. I was in an awful mood when I made it to La Pine, only to find that they had no hiker-biker sites to speak of. Physically and mentally drained, I walked over to a park bench and slumped down to consider my options.

After a phone call home and a campground host who found a space for me, I was so relieved to finally take a shower after a few days without, make some dinner on the stove and pass out. I was out of the desert and back in the forest...