October 4
48mi/76km
1400ft/425m elevation gain
It was a cold morning this morning. When we started riding my bike computer said it was 36F/2C. It’s not particularly accurate a lot of the time, but it didn’t feel too far off. Even with gloves on, my fingers hurt with numbness for the first several miles. It was 16mi/25km to the tiny town of Fort Rock, where we hoped we might be able to get a bite to eat and charge up our batteries a bit. The cold weather has drained everything faster than usual, and we need a little extra juice to make it to Klamath Falls.
Unfortunately, the only place in town with food didn’t open until noon, and we were there before 10am. We knew the town of Silver Lake was only another 15mi/24km, so we figured we should just continue on. However, we needed water. There was some activity at the church, so we rolled up and asked some ladies if we could take water from the spigot. They said that was fine, but the water in town wasn’t good for drinking. They didn’t really elaborate why, but said they haul in their drinking water. After we chatted with them for a moment about the journey, one of them went inside and came out with a gallon of bottled water and topped us off with about a liter and a half so we could make it to Silver Lake without running out. We said thanks and headed on our way.
It was a dusty and bumpy ride to Silver Lake, but it was flat. We arrived at lunchtime and stopped in at the cafe. We were dismayed that the only working outlet was up high on the wall, but we managed to balance my battery bank on the plug to get a little juice while we ate. The cafe was bustling with hunters. From their conversations, it doesn’t sound like they are having much luck. We ate and chatted with a couple traveling in their RV to different hot springs in the area. Then we talked to a man who lives between Arizona and Alaska. He drove up to Deadhorse before heading back to Arizona, so he’s on the same journey we are.
After lunch we went to the convenience store to gather a few items, noticing again the lack of outlets around. We decided to check out the city park. It was right behind the fire station, which had a couple outlets on the back of the building. We plugged in the electronics while we washed the bikes down with a hose in the park. Because they were in the sun, a couple times the electronics overheated and shut down. By 3pm we decided we were good enough and headed out.
We filled our water bladders and all of our water bottles. A lot of campgrounds here have turned off the water for the season, and we’ve got another long dry stretch ahead and a hot day tomorrow. It might be cold at night, but it’s hot in the afternoons.
On the final stretch toward the campground, a couple hunters passed us and stopped to chat. One of them has spent a lot of time in Alaska, so we talked about the places we’ve been. They offered us water, and we accepted a top off, replacing the water we had consumed since leaving town. They also offered us snacks, but we declined, as we’ve got plenty.
We haven’t seen a ton of new birds, but the usual suspects around here are Black billed Magpies, California Quail, Dark eyed Juncos, White crowned Sparrows, Northern Flickers, American Kestrels and Red tailed Hawks. I’ve seen a lot of sparrows and flycatchers that I haven’t identified. They move too quickly!