Day 39, Lewis and Clark State Park to Sand Station, OR

Monday July 6, 2020, 72 miles (116 km) - Total so far: 2,162 miles (3,479 km)

Wow. Ok. What a day of riding. There were ups and 72 miles is not a short day, but it was all about threading the truck traffic needle.

Let me first start out by describing the weather/landscape. This is a high desert. It is dry--despite the river. The colors on the hillsides are muted, brown, taupe, the colors of deer. I'm not particularly inspired by it, but it is certainly dramatic. You don't know how high these hills are until you start to climb them--when at the top you discover you're crossing a range. That's how it was when I came down to the Walla Walla Valley.

About the weather. Mornings start off chilly, around the upper 40s. I am wearing 4 shirts, tights, and a jacket. Most come off within a few hours. When it heats up, it really heats up. Dry heat. So I have to be careful to continually drink. Again it suppresses my appetite.

Today after Touchet there were no more towns. No more opportunities for liquids. At Touchet I bought a Gatorade and a lemonade and had 2 full bottles of water. Traffic on route 12 was continuous. Trucks, campers, giant mobile homes, trucks with trailers. At times the berm was generous, at times it narrowed and I got swept along.

Where 12 turned and 730 came in right next to the Columbia River the berm started out great but when I entered Oregon it disappeared. There was one point like in that scene from Trains, Planes, and Automobiles where I was flat against a guard rail when a truck passed me with another truck on the other side. I could smell the driver's aftershave.

So I've been at hyper alert all day with traffic. There was also some cross winds coming through a pass. Relaxing now at Sand Station where camping isn't allowed, but I'm staying anyway. I've bummed some drinking water and have about 4 bottles.